Radio & Recording Rarities, Volume 19

EDDY HOWARD: Eddy Howard (September 12, 1914, Woodland, California-May 23, 1963, Palm Desert, California) was a vocalist popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Howard studied medicine at Stanford University before dropping out to become a singer of romantic ballads on Los Angeles radio. Later he sang with bands led by Ben Bernie and Dick Jurgens. His hits with Jurgens include "Careless," which became his theme. In 1939, Howard started his own band, and the first #1 single for Eddy Howard and his Orchestra, "To Each His Own", stayed at the top of the charts for five weeks in 1946. In 1949, Howard signed to Mercury Records. His popularity continued into the 1950s with tracks such as "Maybe It's Because" and "Sin (It's No Sin)," which became Howard's second #1 tune (and was a hit for The Four Aces). The rise of rock music led to a decline in Howard's popularity. He died in Palm Desert, California in 1963. He is heard here from transcription recordings. FREDDY MARTIN, MERV GRIFFIN, THE MARTIN MEN: Orchestra leader Freddie Martin was probably the most respected tenor saxophonist of the dance band era. Martin's genius on his instrument helped make his sweet orchestra one of the most musical of its time and propelled him on a bandleading career that spanned four decades. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in an orphanage, Martin's interest in music began at an early age. In high school he led his own dance band, and on his free evenings he also sold musical instruments. Martin broke through in the mid-1930s during his group's successful residence at the Bossert Hotel in Brooklyn, and he soon had a recording contract with Brunswick. Martin's orchestra featured top performers and future bandleaders in its early days. During the 1930s and 1940s it contained such musicians as Claude Thornhill, Barclay Allen, Jack Fina, and Murray Arnold, and guitarist Alvino Rey. Merv Griffin started singing in his church choir as a boy. In 1948, Griffin joined Freddy Martin & His Orchestra, and he sang their #1 1950 hit, "I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts". This got Griffin into the movies, like 1953's "So This Is Love." But he disliked making movies, and bought his contract back from Warner Brothers. It was TV that beckoned Griffin. He was a regular, as a singer, on CBS's weekday "Morning Show" and "The Robert Q. Lewis Show," a weekday variety extravaganza. Griffin started his talk show career filling in for Jack Paar. He started in the game show biz filling in for Bill Cullen as host of "The Price is Right" in 1959. Always a "puzzle freak", in 1964 he devised his own game show where contestants had to come up with the questions instead of the answers. "Jeopardy" started on NBC in 1964, with Griffin not as host but as producer. Griffin also created "Wheel of Fortune" in 1975. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are the two most successful game shows ever on TV. DREAMING OUT LOUD: Dreaming Out Loud was a Southern California synth-pop band performing on the originals circuit of Huntington Beach to Los Angeles in the early 1980s. The band was reasonably popular for an originals band (no cover songs) and even played Doug Weston's "Troubadour" club. The band also shot several music videos which got repeated air play on local access cable. The performing band consisted primarily of Don Foster (keyboards, vocals) and Larry Smith (frontman, vocals). When recording, Dreaming Out Loud used several other vocalists, including Foster's school friends Diana Kersh (on "Finale") or Brian Sater (on "Dreaming Out Loud"). All Dreaming Out Loud compositions were written by Don Foster, with silent songwriting partner, Rex Strother. Included here are all their recordings, made inexpensively at home or on a budget at an Orange County studio.