Alec Templeton

In 1936, he moved from Wales to the United States as a member of Jack Hylton's Jazz Band, where he played with a number of orchestras and gave his first radio performances on The Rudy Vallée Show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour, Kraft Music Hall and The Magic Key of RCA. His first recordings were made for The Gramophone Shop Inc. of 18 East 48th St, New York in 1936 for their "Varieties" label. Two sets of 4 10-inch (25 cm) recordings were issued, the first set entitled "Musical Impressions" on nos. 1006–1009 included:- "Impressions of Old-Fashioned Italian Grand Opera," "A Trip Through a Music Conservatory," "The Shortest Wagnerian Opera," "Impressions of Two German Lieder Singers," "The Lost Chord," "An Amateur Performance of Gilbert and Sullivan," "The Music Goes 'Round and Around," and "Improvisations on Five Varied Melodies." The second set entitled "His Own Compositions" on nos. 1010–1013 included:- "Topsy Turvy Suite" nos. 1–3 ("Bach Goes to Town," "Soldier's Minuet," "Undertaker's Toccata"), "Ghost Rhapsody," "Longing," "Pines," "Voyage a La Lune," "Mother's Lullaby," and "Friendship." Signing a recording contract with RCA Victor in 1939, he made a string of amusing sides including "Man with New Radio" and a pseudo-operatic rendering of "And the Angels Sing" (written by the trumpeter and bandleader Ziggy Elman). A set of three 78-rpm records called "Musical Portraits" was issued by RCA Victor as catalogue number P-19; it continued in the catalogue until the late '40s, and included "Mozart Matriculates." He also did six sides for Columbia in August 1940, including an instrumental entitled "Redwoods at Bohemian Grove" (he had been accepted into that organization). In 1942 he did eight sides for Decca, six of them released as a three-record set with catalogue number A-314. Templeton's compositions sometimes presented tongue-in-cheek variations on classical composers, including "Mendelssohn Mows 'em Down," "Scarlatti Stoops to Conga," and "Bach Goes to Town," the latter covered by both Benny Goodman's band (1938) and The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street (1941). Templeton was an avid fan of the Lower Basin Street radio show, a weekly hot-jazz jam session, and often appeared as a guest soloist. Templeton developed his own following on radio. Alec Templeton Time, sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, was first broadcast from 1939 to 1941 (initially as a 1939 summer replacement for Fibber McGee and Molly), returning in 1943 and 1946–47. It was sometimes known as The Alec Templeton Show. Guests included Kay Lorraine and Pearl Bailey. He memorized the scripts for his shows by having them read to him 20 times. Templeton became so familiar as a summertime attraction that a reviewer in Variety called him "that perennial summer replacement favorite." From June 3 to August 26, 1955, his TV show It's Alec Templeton Time aired on the DuMont Television Network. He also appeared in the later DuMont series Jazz Party.