Harold H. Dickinson Jr., (December 12, 1913 in Buffalo, New York - November 18, 1970) was composer, songwriter, producer and singer with the orchestras of Paul Whiteman, Fred Waring, Charlie Barnet, Glenn Miller and Bob Crosby and the founder and leader of the jazz harmony group, The Modernaires.
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| Hal Dickinson |
After singing on radio station WGR in Buffalo, New York, for "the enormous sum of $10 a month", the trio went to New York City and gained an engagement of 26 weeks on CBS network radio.
The group's first engagement was at Buffalo's suburban Glen Falls Casino, with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. Fio Rito also used them on electrical transcription recordings. They then joined the Ozzie Nelson Band, and became known as "The Three Wizards of Ozzie." They next recruited Ralph Brewster to make a quartet and, performing with the Fred Waring Orchestra, became The Modern-Aires (later changing the spelling).
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Ray Eberle & The Modernaires with Glenn Miller |
In October 1940, Glenn Miller engaged them to record It's Make Believe Ballroom Time, a sequel to the original Make Believe Ballroom, which they had recorded earlier for Martin Block's big band show of the same name, on WNEW New York. In January
1941, Miller made The Modernaires an important part of one of the most popular big bands of all time. Paula Kelly was added to the Miller band between March–August 1941; she and Modernaire Hal Dickinson had married in 1939.
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| Paula Kelly & Hal Dickinson |
The group had ten chart hits in 1941 after appearing with Miller's orchestra in the movie Sun Valley Serenade. The group became a quintet when Kelly became a permanent member of the group after Miller joined the U.S. Army, and for the next few decades they toured internationally with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Johnny Drake replaced Chuck Goldstein (who left the Modernaires the day after the Miller band broke up in 1942), and Fran Scott replaced Bill Conway (who left during the war and never returned to the group).
Songs made popular by Miller and The Modernaires included "Perfidia,""Chattanooga Choo-Choo," with Tex Beneke (the first-ever "gold record" with over one million copies sold), "I Know Why,""Elmer's Tune,""Serenade In Blue,""Connecticut," and "Kalamazoo" with Beneke, among others. "There! I've Said It Again" became The Modernaires' first top-twenty hit in 1945.
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The original members of The Modernaires (Top to bottom) Chuck Goldstein, Ralph Brewster, Hal Dickinson, & Bill Conway - circa: 1942 |
The group was featured in television programming produced by Philco in 1947, using what apparently was an early version of lip synching. An article in Variety magazine's September 10, 1947, issue reported that David Street and The Modernaires guest starred on the Philco program, "simulating singing to off-screen recordings."
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Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, & The Modernaires |
Hal was president of Compass Productions. Joining ASCAP in 1956, his chief musical collaborators included Alan Copeland, Jack Lloyd, Sidney Lippman and Jack Elliott. His popular-song compositions include "These Things You Left Me", "Everytime I See You", "Jingle Bell Polka", "Romantique", "Birds and Puppies and Tropical Fish", "Tabby the Cat" and "Too Young to Know".
Dickinson had three daughters who were singing sisters on TV and stage in the early 1950s ("The Kelly Sisters Trio") and later were The Modernaires replacements: Paula Kelly Jr., Martha Dickinson (Martz) and Julie Dickinson.
Hal Dickinson died in 1970 at the age of 56, Goldstein died in 1974, Conway died in 1991 at the age of 77, Kelly died in 1992 at the age of 72, and Kelly Jr. died in 2012 at the age of 67. Martha, who also sang with the Ed Winters jazz trio, died of congestive heart failure in 2006 at the age of 65. Julie does studio work.
The Modernaires were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000.
Latest line-up as of 2014.. Ginger joined in February 2012 and her husband Scott in September 2012. Judie (2nd from right) is the youngest sister of Hal Dickinson's daughters.
(Compiled and edited from Wikipedia & IMDb)