Popular Music

Van Alexander co-wrote “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” with Ella Fitzgerald while both worked in the Chick Webb Orchestra back in 1938. The success of that song led to a job as arranger for Webb as well as Benny Goodman and Paul Whiteman and super stardom for Ella. Van formed his own band during the wonderful swing era but gave it up to work in the movies when Bing Crosby offered him a job in 1948.

Billy Ashbaugh remembers with a smile his first drum kit as a kid and the desire to play professionally almost from the very beginning. He learned the ropes as a sub drummer and studio player before landing the gig as drummer for the boy super-group N’Sync. The explosive popularity of the group’s tours and recordings provided Billy with the opportunity to present clinics and classes to inspiring drummers around the world.
 

Milton DeLugg wrote many remarkable and popular songs such as "Orange Blossom Sky," recorded by Nat King Cole. He wrote TV theme songs and stacks of movie music. All the while, he was working with and becoming friends with the great American tunesmiths, being one of them himself. Luckily for our archives, Milton's interview includes several incredible stories from the all-but-forgotten days of Tin Pan Alley.

Martin Denny cornered the market on the musical style of the early 1950s known as exotica. The smooth melody of the songs were enhanced by hundreds of different tropical sounding instruments, jungle noises and the call of birds. Martin began his musical career as a composer and piano playing bandleader in the era of the swing bands. He was booked for a 3-week engagement in Hawaii where he developed the idea of creating "mood music" for the island.

Peter Frampton is known around the world as a musician and singer who took the charts by storm in the 1970s. To the music products industry Peter is best known as a friend and promoter of the talk box. Bob Heil created a talk box that he gave to Peter as a Christmas gift in 1973. Peter later used it on his album Frampton Comes Alive! featuring the talk box on the hit singles “Show Me the Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do.” Peter later established Framptone Products to sell his own line of talk boxes, among other gear. 

Eddie and Brian Holland are among the most popular songwriting teams in the world. For decades, they have created the words and music to Motown classics that have forever changed the way people dance, fall in love, or celebrate life. The key to their success appears to be rather basic, "We balance each other and watch out for each other. We never stop being brothers and that has proven to be a blessing."

Ray Johnson can be heard playing the rhythmic piano parts on such classics as "Traveling Man" by Ricky Nelson and "Rambling Rose" by Nat "King" Cole. After several sessions with his brother, sax man Plas Johnson, Ray recorded several sides with soul singer Sam Cooke. Ray provided great insight on his own career, placing his main inspiration on his mother. He also talked about Cooke's last recording session before his tragic death in 1964.

Frankie Laine earned over 20 gold records as one of America's leading crooners of the 1950s. Over his long career he sold over 100 million records. Months after his first big hit, “That’s My Desire,” Frankie was the headliner at the 1947 NAMM Show in Chicago, back in the days when the recording industry was still part of the music products industry. On the way from the hotel to the show his toupee blew off in the wind and was run over by a truck—just minutes before a booth appearance.

Vic Mizzy wrote a number of hit songs for popular music, movies and television beginning in the 1940s. He wrote “The Jones Boy” for the Mills Brothers and is perhaps best known for writing TV theme songs for Green Acres and The Addams Family (for which he also sang on the original recording). As he began to work in the movies in the 1960s, Vic became active in ASCAP and other elements within movie contracts to ensure the rights of the songwriter and his art was protected.