NBC BANDSTAND
-
NBC Bandstand was an easy old time big band radio-televison music show
simulcast weekday mornings in the 1950's with pop tunes, big band favorites
and s...
Translate
Search This Blog
Will Bradley 1912 - 1989
Wilbur Schwictenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989) was an American trombonist and bandleader who also performed under the name Will Bradley. He was known for swing and sweet dance music, as well as boogie woogie songs, many of which were written by Don Raye.
Born in Newton, New Jersey, Schwictenberg was one of the premier trombonists on the New York swing scene, and he often participated in jam sessions broadcast on The CBS Saturday Night Swing Club. In 1939 he and drummer Ray McKinley formed a big band, with Schwictenberg taking the professional name of Will Bradley. The Bradley band became well known for boogie-woogie, particularly its hit record, "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" with Freddie Slack on piano. This record, along with another big-band boogie woogie number, "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat," and the original version of the classic, "Down the Road a Piece", were all three in the top 10 on the Billboard popular music charts at the same time, in late-1940. "Down the Road a Piece" was recorded with a pared-down trio called the "Will Bradley Trio," made up of McKinley, Doc Goldberg, and Freddie Slack, with guest vocals by songwriter Don Raye.
Will Bradley was one of the first bandleaders who appeared in Soundies, three-minute musical films made for coin-operated "movie jukeboxes." Bradley's films, made in late 1940, were widely distributed and gave the Bradley band valuable exposure. Drummer Ray McKinley did most of the vocals.
WIKIPEDIA
In 1942 McKinley left to form his own band and a few months after joined the United States Air Force, where he played in the Glenn Miller Air Force band. Bradley tried to maintain his band, but problems caused by the war forced Bradley to disband. Bradley became a studio musician, and played for many years in the The Tonight Show Band during the Johnny Carson era.


Blog List
-
-
Big Band Singer and actress Noel Neill dies at 95 in Tucson AZ - Noel Neill, best known as an early Lois Lane in TV's The *Adventures of Superman *with George Reeves. Noel Neill, actress, was also a big band singer fo...
-
Miller Memories Links - GMA = Glenn Miller Archives at The University of Colorado, Boulder... Direct Link ABSIE = American Broadcasting Station in Europe... Direct Link OWI = Am...
blogs
-
-
Karl Haas (December 6, 1913 – February 6, 2005) - Karl Haas was a German-American classical music radio host, known for his sonorous speaking voice, humanistic approach to music appreciation, and populari...
-
-
Beautiful Music Station programmer, Philadelphia, Los Angeles (Pasadena) 1960's - 1970's - *WDVR 101.1 FM Philadelphia...* DAVE SHAYER Pioneers Pix
Popular Posts
-
The Wrigley family's purchase ushered in a golden era for Catalina in the 1920s and 30s, when the Island came to be a sought-after touri...
-
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely kn...
-
Pete Fountain, New Orleans jazz clarinetist who appeared on “The Lawrence Welk Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” h...
-
Kitty Kallen, her voice sweet and clear, welcomed the troops home from World War II, singing: “Kiss me once, then kiss me twice, ...
-
Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known as Kay Starr , was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed cons...
-
His major recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "...
-
Redman then formed his own band in 1931 (featuring, for a time, Fletcher Henderson's younger brother Horace on piano), which got a r...
-
WIKIPEDIA During the 1930s, Welk led a traveling big band that specialized in dance tunes and "sweet" music (during this peri...
-
Zentner played violin from age four and picked up trombone a few years later. As a teenager, he was awarded the Guggenheim Foundation Phil...
-
Van Alexander (born Alexander Van Vliet Feldman, May 2, 1915 – July 19, 2015) was an American bandleader, arranger and composer. Alexa...
You will enjoy...
-
ScottWorks: The Raymond Scott Festival - *RECKLESS NIGHT MUSIC PRESENTS: ScottWorks | The Raymond Scott Festival is coming to Los Angeles on September 8th. Check it out: here*
-
-
JOE FRANKLIN - We lost an American icon today. Joe Franklin passed at the age of 88. Joe and i had been friends for quite a while. We met at one of the Al Jolson Society...
-
Miller Memories Links - GMA = Glenn Miller Archives at The University of Colorado, Boulder... Direct Link ABSIE = American Broadcasting Station in Europe... Direct Link OWI = Am...
-
The OTR Revival Of The 1970s - [image: image] Photo Credit - Wikipedia Although I grew up hearing tales of old-time radio from my parents, for this child born in the mid-1950s,...
-