Hal Dickinson born 12 December 1913

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. 

Hal Dickinson

The Modernaires began in 1934 as "Don Juan, Two and Three," a trio of schoolmates from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York. The members were Hal Dickinson, Chuck Goldstein, and Bill Conway.(Jay Warner, in his book American Singing Groups: A History from 1940s to Today, wrote, "They called themselves Three Weary Willies". He added that the trio performed as Don Juan and Two and Three when they "headed for New York in the mid-'30s".)

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).

Ray Eberle & The Modernaires with Glenn Miller

Recordings with Charlie Barnet's orchestra in 1936 did not interest the public but brought them greater industry exposure, and in 1937 they joined the George Hall band, soon moving on to the Paul Whiteman radio show. They recorded many of the classic songs of that era, a few with Jack Teagarden, as part of the Whiteman orchestra in 1938.

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 

Paula Kelly & Hal Dickinson

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.

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).

The original members of The Modernaires (Top to bottom) Chuck Goldstein, Ralph Brewster, Hal Dickinson, & Bill Conway - circa: 1942

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.

                            

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."

Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, & The Modernaires

After Miller's disappearance, The Modernaires recorded vocal versions of several of Miller's instrumental hits, including "Moonlight Serenade", "Sunrise Serenade", "Little Brown Jug", "Tuxedo Junction", "Pennsylvania 6-5000", and "A String of Pearls". The Modernaires released a 45rpm single on Coral Records, 9-61110, A Salute to Glenn Miller, which included medleys in two parts from the movie soundtrack, A Salute to Glenn Miller, Parts 1 and 2 that reached number 29 on the Billboard charts in 1954.

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".

In the late 1950s The Modernaires were featured vocalists with the Bob Crosby Orchestra on his daily TV show. Copeland dropped out in 1956 and was replaced by Dick Cathcart. In the 60s they recorded the theme song for the TV sitcom Hazel, but by this time work began to slow down. They still recorded throughout the years and continued to perform in different variations.

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)