Ted Weems

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Ted Weems

Wilfred Theodore (Ted) Weems (originally Wemyes) (26 September, 1901 - 6 May, 1963) was a United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
bandleader

Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
and musician

Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
.

Born in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania

Pitcairn, Pennsylvania

File:PostcardPitcairnPABirdsEyeViewCirca1909.jpgPitcairn is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, fifteen miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
, Weems learned to play the violin and trombone. He attended the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is America's first university and is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States....
, where he and his brother Art organized a small dance band. Going professional in 1923, Weems toured for the MCA Corporation, recording for several years on Victor Records. Somebody Stole My Gal
Somebody Stole My Gal

"Somebody Stole My Gal" is a popular song from the 1920s written by Leo Wood. In 1923 Ted Weems & his Orchestra had a five-week run at number one with his million-selling version of Leo Wood?s 1922 standard....
became the band's first #1 hit in early 1924.

Weems moved to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
with his band around 1928.

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Wilfred Theodore (Ted) Weems (originally Wemyes) (26 September, 1901 - 6 May, 1963) was a United States

United States

Bandleader

Musician

Pitcairn, Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

Chicago

Novelty song

A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its Comedy. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs....
"Piccolo Pete", and the #1 hit The Man from the South.

The band gained popularity in the 1930s, making regular radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
broadcasts. These included Jack Benny

Jack Benny

Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
's Canada Dry

Canada Dry

File:Canada Dry logo.svg Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks marketed by Dr Pepper/Seven Up, a unit of Dr Pepper Snapple Group. Canada Dry is best known for its ginger ale, but also manufactures a number of other soft drinks and drink mixers....
program on NBC during the early 1930s, and the Fibber McGee & Molly program in the late 1930s. In 1936, the Ted Weems Orchestra gave singer Perry Como

Perry Como

Pierino "Perry" Como was an United States singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with it in 1943....
his first national exposure; Como recorded with the band (on Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
), beginning his long and successful career. Among Weems' other discoveries were whistler-singer Elmo Tanner, sax player and singer Red Ingle

Red Ingle

Best known for his comedy records with Spike Jones and his own Natural Seven sides for Capitol Records, Ernest Jansen "Red" Ingle was an American musician, singer and writer, arranger, cartoonist and caricaturist....
, Marilyn Maxwell

Marilyn Maxwell

Marilyn Maxwell , born Marvel Marilyn Maxwell, was an American actress and entertainer.Noted for her blonde hair and sexy persona she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War II and the Korean War on United Service Organizations tours with Bob Hope....
, who left the band for an acting career, and arranger Joe Haymes

Joe Haymes

Joe Haymes was an American jazz bandleader and arranger. He was born in Marshfield, Missouri.Haymes grew up in Springfield, Missouri and worked in a circus as a youth, performing as a trapeze artist and playing bass drum in the circus band....
, who created the band's unique jazz-novelty style.

During World War II, Ted Weems enlisted in the United States Merchant Marine

United States Merchant Marine

The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of United States of America civilian-owned merchant ships, operated by either the government or the private sector, that are engaged in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States....
, directing the Merchant Marine Band. Reorganizing his big band in 1947, he made records for Mercury

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the US, and are both subsidiaries of Universal Music Group....
, including the hits Peg O' My Heart and Mickey. However, the biggest hit of Weems' career was a reissue

Reissue

A reissue is the repeated issue of a Publishing work. In common usage it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
on his former Victor label: the Weems Orchestra's 1933 recording of Heartaches
Heartaches (song)

"Heartaches" is a popular music song with music by Al Hoffman and lyrics by John Clenner. The song was published in 1931 in music.The biggest recorded version of the song was by the Ted Weems Orchestra, with Elmo Tanner whistling....
topped the national charts for 13 weeks. Decca Records also seized the moment, and its reissue of I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now with vocals by Perry Como became another major chart hit.

Despite this sudden surfeit of popularity, the hits dried up after 1947. Weems toured until 1953. At that time he accepted a disc jockey

Disc jockey

A disc jockey is a person who selects and plays sound recording for an audience. Originally, disk referred to phonograph records, while disc refers to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling....
position in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River ....
, later moving on to a management position with the Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn is a brand name applied to hotels within the InterContinental Hotels Group ....
hotel chain.

Ted Weems died of emphysema

Emphysema

Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease . It is often caused by exposure to toxin Chemical substance, including long-term exposure to tobacco smoking....
in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population in the United States. With an estimated population of 384,037 in 2007, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 905,755 residents projected to reach one million between 2010 and 2012....
, in 1963. His son Ted Jr. led a revival band at times during the 1960s and 1970s.

Ted Weems

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