The Andrews Sisters
Encyclopedia
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony
Close harmony
Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array expanding the harmonic range past the octave...

 singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...

 eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...

 LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

 Maxene Angelyn Andrews (January 3, 1916 – October 21, 1995), and mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

 Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews (born February 16, 1918). Throughout their long career, the sisters sold well over 75 million records (the last official count released by MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...

 Records in the mid-1970s). Their 1941 hit "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...

" can be considered an early example of rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 or jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...

.

The Andrews Sisters' harmonies and songs are still influential today, and have been covered by entertainers such as Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

, the Puppini Sisters and Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...

. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame was organized to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. It is headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes a theater and a museum....

 in 1998.

Early life

The sisters were born in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 to a Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 immigrant father and a Norwegian American
Norwegian American
Norwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and...

 mother, Olga "Ollie" (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....

 Sollie) Andrews (1886–1948) and Peter Andreas (proper probable Greek form of name Petros Andreou), who took the name of Andrews (1884–1949).

Patty, the youngest and the lead singer of the group, was only seven when the group was formed, and just 12 when they won first prize at a talent contest at the local Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where LaVerne played piano accompaniment for the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 showings in exchange for free dancing lessons for herself and her sisters. Once the sisters found fame and settled in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, their parents lived with them in a Brentwood
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...

 estate in Los Angeles until their deaths. Several cousins from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 followed them west. The sisters returned to Minneapolis at least once a year to visit family and friends and/or to perform.

Career

They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters
Boswell Sisters
The Boswell Sisters were a close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell , Connee Boswell , and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell , noted for intricate harmonies and rhythmic experimentation...

. After singing with various dance bands and touring in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 with the likes of Ted Mack, Leon Belasco
Leon Belasco
Leon Belasco was a Russian-American musician and actor who had a 60-year career in film and television from the 1920s to the 1980s, appearing in more than 100 films.-Musical career:Belasco attended St...

, and comic bandleader Larry Rich, they first came to national attention with their recordings and radio broadcasts in 1937, most notably via their major Decca record hit, Bei Mir Bist Du Schön (translation: To me, you are beautiful), originally a Yiddish tune, the lyrics of which Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

 had translated to English and which the girls harmonized to perfection. They followed this success with a string of best-selling records over the next two years and they became a household name by 1940.

World War II

During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, they entertained the Allied forces extensively in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Africa and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, visiting Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

, Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

, Marine and Coast Guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...

 bases, war zones, hospitals, and munitions factories. They encouraged U.S. citizens to purchase war bonds with their rendition of Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...

's song Any Bonds Today?. They also helped actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

s Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...

 and John Garfield
John Garfield
John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...

 found California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

's famous Hollywood Canteen
Hollywood Canteen
The Hollywood Canteen operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California between October 3, 1942 and November 22, 1945 as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen, usually on their way overseas...

, a welcome retreat for servicemen
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

 where the trio often performed, volunteering their personal time to sing and dance for the soldiers, sailors
Sailors
Sailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...

 and Marines (they did the same at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's Stage Door Canteen
Stage Door Canteen
Stage Door Canteen is a musical film produced by Sol Lesser Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Borzage and features many cameo appearances by celebrities, and the majority of the film is essentially a filmed concert although there is also a storyline to the...

 during the war). While touring, they often treated three random servicemen to dinner when they were dining out. They recorded a series of Victory Discs (V-Discs) for distribution to Allied fighting forces only, again volunteering their time for studio sessions for the Music Branch, Special Service Division of the Army Service Forces, and they were dubbed the "Sweethearts of the Armed Forces Radio Service" for their many appearances on shows like "Command Performance", "Mail Call", and "G.I. Journal." Perhaps only Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

 and his troupe did more to entertain the troops.

Career interruption

The Andrews Sisters broke up in 1953, the main catalyst being Patty's decision to go solo, with her husband acting as her agent. When Maxene and LaVerne learned of Patty's decision from newspaper gossip columns rather than from their own sister, it caused a bitter two-year separation, especially when Patty decided to worsen matters by suing LaVerne for a larger share of their parents' estate. Maxene and LaVerne tried to continue the act as a duo and met with good press during a 10-day tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, but a reported suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 attempt by Maxene in December 1954 put a halt to any further tours (Maxene spent a short time in hospital after swallowing 18 sleeping pills, an occurrence that LaVerne told reporters was an accident).

The trio reunited in 1956. They signed a new recording contract with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

 (for whom Patty had become a featured soloist) and released a dozen singles through 1959, some rock-and-roll flavored and not very well received, and three hi-fi albums, including a vibrant LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

 of songs from the dancing 1920s with Billy May
Billy May
William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...

's orchestra. In 1962, they signed with Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...

 and recorded a series of stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...

 albums over five years, both re-recordings of earlier hits, as well as new material, including "I Left My Heart In San Francisco
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in 1954 by George Cory and Douglass Cross, and best known as the signature song of Tony Bennett...

", "Still
Still (Bill Anderson song)
"Still" is a 1963 single by Bill Anderson. "Still" was Anderson's second number one on the country chart, staying at the top spot for seven non-consecutive weeks. The song crossed over to the pop chart peaking at number eight.-Chart performance:...

", "The End of the World", "Puff the Magic Dragon", "Sailor
Sailor (Song)
Sailor is a song written by Werner Scharfenberger and Fini Busch which via a 1960 recording by Lolita became an international hit, with its #5 peak on the Hot 100 chart in Billboard making "Sailor" the most successful American hit sung in German until 99 Luftballons by Nena in 1984.With English...

", "Satin Doll
Satin Doll
"Satin Doll" is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1953, the song has been recorded countless times, by such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, 101 Strings, and Nancy Wilson...

", the theme from Come September
Come September
For the Natalie Imbruglia song, see Come September .Come September is a 1961 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan, and starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin.-Plot:...

, and the theme from A Man and a Woman
A Man and a Woman
A Man and a Woman is a 1966 French film, written by Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, and directed by Lelouch. It is notable for its lush photography , which features frequent segues between full color, black-and-white, and sepia-toned shots, and for its memorable musical score by Francis Lai...

. They toured extensively during the 1960s, favoring top nightclubs in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and London, England.

The act came to an abrupt end in 1967 when eldest sister LaVerne died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 after a year-long bout with the illness, during which she was replaced by singer Joyce DeYoung. LaVerne had founded the original group, and often acted as the peacemaker among the three during the sisters' lives, more often siding with her parents, to whom the girls were extremely devoted, than with either of her sisters. Once LaVerne was dead, Maxene saw no need to continue as a duo (she taught acting, drama, and speech at a Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...

 college and worked with troubled teens), and Patty was once again eager to be a soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

.

Comeback

Both surviving sisters had something of a comeback when Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

 recorded her own version of their song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...

" in 1972. Their most notable comeback, however, was in the Sherman Brothers
Sherman Brothers
The Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....

' nostalgic World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

: Over Here!
Over Here!
Over Here! is a musical with a score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman and book by Will Holt. The original Broadway production was directed by Tom Moore and choreographed by Patricia Birch, with scenic design by Douglas W. Schmidt and costumes by Carrie F...

which premiered on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 at the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...

 in 1974 to rave reviews. This was a follow-up to Patty's success in "Victory Canteen
Victory Canteen
Victory Canteen is a musical comedy play with script by Milt Larsen and Bobby Lauher and song score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The play opened on January 27, 1971 at the Ivar Theatre and ran for seven months. The show featured Sherry Alberoni, Patty Andrews, Lorene Yarnell,...

" a 1971 California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

. The musical starred Maxene and Patty (with Janie Sell
Janie Sell
Jane Ann "Janie" Sell is an American actress.-Career:Sell won the Tony as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Over Here!, which also starred the then-surviving Andrews Sisters, Maxene and Patty...

 filling in for LaVerne and winning a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 for her performance) and was written with both sisters in mind for the leads. It launched the careers of many now notable theater, film and television icons (John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...

, Marilu Henner
Marilu Henner
Mary Lucy Denise "Marilu" Henner is an American actress, producer and author. She is best known for her role as Elaine O'Connor Nardo on the sitcom Taxi from 1978 to 1983.-Early life:...

, Treat Williams
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams is a Screen Actors Guild Award–nominated American actor and children's book author who has appeared on film, stage and television...

, Ann Reinking
Ann Reinking
Ann Reinking is an American actress, dancer, and choreographer. She has worked extensively in musical theatre, both as a dancer and choreographer, as well as appearing in film.-Biography:...

, et al.). It was the last major hurrah for the sisters and was cut short due to a lawsuit initiated by Patty's husband against the show's producers, squashing an extensively scheduled road tour for the company, including the sisters.

Patty immediately distanced herself from Maxene, who claimed until her death that she was not aware of Patty's motives regarding the separation. She appealed to Patty for a reunion, personally if not professionally, both in public and in private, but to no avail. Maxene suffered a serious heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 while performing in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in 1982 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, from which she successfully recovered. Patty visited her sister while she was hospitalized. Now sometimes appearing as "Patti" (but still signing autographs as "Patty") she re-emerged in the late 1970s as a regular panelist on The Gong Show
The Gong Show
The Gong Show is an amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976–1980 and 1988–1989. The show was produced by Chuck Barris, who also served...

. Maxene had a very successful comeback as a cabaret soloist in 1979 and toured worldwide for the next 15 years, recording a solo album in 1985 entitled "Maxene: An Andrews Sister" for Bainbridge Records. Patty started her own solo act in 1981, but did not receive the critical acclaim her sister had for her performances, even though it was Patty who was considered to be the "star" of the group for years. The critics' major complaint was that Patty's show concentrated too much on Andrews Sisters material, which did not allow Patty's own talents as a very expressive and bluesy vocalist to shine through.

The two sisters did reunite, albeit briefly, on October 1, 1987 when they received a star on Hollywood's famous Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

, even singing a few bars of "Beer Barrel Polka
Beer Barrel Polka
Beer Barrel Polka, also known as Roll Out the Barrel, is a song which became popular worldwide during World War II. The music was composed by the Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927. Eduard Ingriš wrote the first arrangement of the piece, after Vejvoda came upon the melody and sought Ingriš's...

" for the Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

cameras. Ironically, an earthquake shook the area that very morning and the ceremony was nearly cancelled, which caused Patty to joke, "Some people said that earthquake this morning was LaVerne because she couldn't be here, but really it was just Maxene and I on the telephone." Both sisters laughed and shared a hug. Besides this, and a few brief private encounters, they remained somewhat estranged for the last few years.

Shortly after her Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 debut in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in a show called Swingtime Canteen, Maxene suffered another heart attack and died at Cape Cod Hospital
Cape Cod Hospital
Cape Cod Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center located in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, as of 2011 it is the largest hospital on Cape Cod. The current administration is headed by CEO Michael K. Lauf....

 on October 21, 1995. Not long before she died, Maxene told music historian William Ruhlmann, "I have nothing to regret. We got on the carousel and we each got the ring and I was satisfied with that. There's nothing I would do to change things if I could...Yes, I would. I wish I had the ability and the power to bridge the gap between my relationship with my sister, Patty." Upon hearing the news of her sister's death, Patty became very distraught. As her husband Wally went to her, he fell on a flight of stairs and broke both wrists. Patty did not attend her sister's memorial service
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...

s in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, nor in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Said Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

 of Maxene's passing, "She was more than part of The Andrews Sisters, much more than a singer. She was a warm and wonderful lady who shared her talent and wisdom with others."

Retirement and deaths

Instrumental to the sisters' success over the years were their parents, Olga and Peter; their orchestra leader and musical arranger, Vic Schoen
Vic Schoen
Victor "Vic" Schoen was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000...

 (1916–2000); music publishing giant Lou Levy
Lou Levy (publisher)
Lou Levy was a music publisher during the Tin Pan Alley era of American popular music.Levy established Leeds Music in 1935 with his friends, lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Saul Chaplin. He is credited with the discoveries of Cahn and Chaplin, Bob Dylan, Charles Strouse, Richard Adler and Jerry...

, who died only days after Maxene, and was their manager from 1937-51 and was also Maxene's husband from 1941–49 ; and both Jack Kapp
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...

 (d. 1949) and his brother David Kapp
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...

, who founded Decca Records.

Patty Andrews married agent Marty Melcher in 1947 and left him in 1949, when he pursued a romantic relationship with Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

 (at the time of his death, Melcher left Day in millions of dollars of debt after mismanaging her money for years, unbeknownst to Day). Patty then married Walter Weschler, the trio's pianist, in 1951. LaVerne married Lou Rogers , a trumpet player in Vic Schoen
Vic Schoen
Victor "Vic" Schoen was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000...

's band, in 1948, and remained with him until her death (he died in 1995, five days after Maxene's and five days before Levy's deaths).

LaVerne and Maxene Andrews are interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

 with their parents, and room remains in the crypt for Patty if she chooses there as her final resting place.

At age 93, Patty Andrews lives quietly in Northridge, California. Wally Weschler, her husband of 60 years, died on August 28, 2010, at the age of 88. In interviews, when granted, she rarely speaks personally of her sisters. When asked about their legendary feuding, she jokes about it and quickly moves on to the next topic, as in 1985, when she told Merv Griffin
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W Broadcasting...

 during a television interview, "The Andrews Sisters only had one big fight. Really. It started in 1937 and it's still going!"

Legacy

The Andrews Sisters' recording of "Don't Sit under the Apple Tree" was sampled in Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult...

's song "Down to This" off their album Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom was Soul Coughing's 1994 debut album. The album's sound is a mixture of sample-based tunes , guitar based tunes like...

. Until the advent of the Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...

, the sisters were the most imitated of all female singing groups and influenced many artists, including Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...

, Les Paul and Mary Ford
Les Paul and Mary Ford
Les Paul and Mary Ford were a popular 1950s husband-and-wife/group musical team in which Les Paul played the guitar and Mary Ford sang. In 1951 alone, they sold six million records....

, The Four Freshmen
The Four Freshmen
The Four Freshmen is a multiple Grammy-nominated American male vocal band quartet that blends open-harmony jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires , The Pied Pipers , and The Mel-Tones , founded in the barbershop tradition...

, The McGuire Sisters
The McGuire Sisters
The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters: Christine McGuire , Dorothy McGuire , and Phyllis McGuire...

, The Manhattan Dolls, The Lennon Sisters
The Lennon Sisters
The Lennon Sisters are a singing group consisting of four siblings: Dianne , Peggy , Kathy , and Janet . They were all born in Los Angeles, California of German/Irish and Mexican ancestry. The original quartet were the eldest four in a family of twelve siblings...

, The Pointer Sisters, The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...

, The Puppini Sisters
The Puppini Sisters
The Puppini Sisters are a vocal trio. Arion Berger described them as part of "Retro's futuristic vanguard" and described their sound as "swing-punk". The group has sought to be associated with a burlesque revival....

, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

, and Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

; even Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 was a fan.

Most of the Andrews Sisters' music has been restored and released in compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 form, yet over 300 of their original Decca recordings, a good portion of which was hit material, has yet to be released by MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...

/Decca in over 50 years. Many of these Decca recordings have been used in such television shows and Hollywood movies as Homefront, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, The Brink's Job
The Brink's Job
The Brink's Job is a 1978 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Allen Garfield, Warren Oates, Gena Rowlands, and Paul Sorvino. It is based on the Brink's robbery in Boston, where almost 3 million dollars were stolen....

, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Christmas Vacation is a 1989 Christmas comedy film directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. It is the third installment in National Lampoon's Vacation film series, and was written by John Hughes, based on his short story in National Lampoon Magazine, Christmas ‘59...

, Swing Shift
Swing Shift (film)
Swing Shift is a 1984 feature film directed by Jonathan Demme and produced by and starring Goldie Hawn with Kurt Russell. It also starred Christine Lahti, Fred Ward and Ed Harris...

, Raggedy Man
Raggedy Man
Raggedy Man is a 1981 film starring Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek. Itwas filmed in Lockhart, Texas. The story is about people in the small Texas town of Gregory during World War II....

, Summer of '42
Summer of '42
Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...

, Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five (film)
Slaughterhouse-Five is a 1972 film based on Kurt Vonnegut's novel of the same name. The screenplay is by Stephen Geller and the film was directed by George Roy Hill. It stars Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, and Valerie Perrine, and features Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Holly Near, and Perry King. The...

, Maria's Lovers, Harlem Nights
Harlem Nights
Harlem Nights is a 1989 comedy-drama crime film starring Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. The film also featured Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx, Della Reese and Murphy's brother Charlie Murphy...

, In Dreams
In Dreams (film)
In Dreams is a 1999 psychological thriller film directed by Neil Jordan. It stars Annette Bening as a New England illustrator who begins experiencing visions of a missing child who turns out to be her own daughter; through her dreams, she begins having psychic connections to a serial killer ...

, Murder in the First
Murder in the First
Murder in the First is a largely fictitious 1995 film, directed by Marc Rocco, about a petty criminal named Henri Young who is put on trial for murder in the first degree.-Plot:...

, L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential (film)
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...

, Just Shoot Me, Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...

, Mama's Family
Mama's Family
Mama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It was cancelled in May 1984, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In September 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons,...

, War and Remembrance
War and Remembrance
War and Remembrance is a novel by Herman Wouk, published in 1978, which is the sequel to The Winds of War. It continues the story of the extended Henry family and the Jastrow family starting on 15 December 1941 and ending on 6 August 1945. This novel was adapted into a mini-series presented on...

, Jakob the Liar
Jakob the Liar
Jakob the Liar is a 1999 American tragicomedy film directed by Peter Kassovitz and starring Robin Williams, Alan Arkin, Liev Schreiber, Hannah Taylor-Gordon, and Bob Balaban. The movie is set in 1944 in a ghetto in German-occupied Poland in the times of the Holocaust and is based on the book by...

, Lolita
Lolita (1997 film)
Lolita is a 1997 French-American drama film directed by Adrian Lyne. It is the second screen adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel of the same name and stars Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert and Dominique Swain as Dolores "Lolita" Haze, with supporting roles by Melanie Griffith as Charlotte Haze,...

, The Polar Express
The Polar Express (film)
The Polar Express is a 2004 motion capture computer-animated film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the human characters in the film were animated using live action performance capture technique, with the...

, The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...

, Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha (film)
Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...

, and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!). Comical references to the trio in television sitcoms can be found as early as I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...

and as recently as Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...

. In 2007, their version of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" was included in the game BioShock
Bioshock
BioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...

, a first-person shooter that takes place in an alternate history 1960, and later in 2008, Civilization (with Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...

) was included in the 1940s-50s Atomic Age
Atomic Age
The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is a phrase typically used to delineate the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear bomb Trinity on July 16, 1945...

-inspired video game Fallout 3
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...

.

Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...

 used the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" to inspire her song "Candyman
Candyman (Christina Aguilera song)
"Candyman" is a swing jazz song written by Christina Aguilera and Linda Perry for Aguilera's third studio album, Back to Basics. It was released as the album's third and final American single in early 2007. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at 2008 Grammy...

" (released as a single in 2007) from her hit album Back to Basics
Back to Basics (Christina Aguilera album)
Back to Basics is the third studio album by American recording artist Christina Aguilera, first released on August 10, 2006 by RCA Records...

. The song was co-written by Linda Perry
Linda Perry
Linda Perry is an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer. Once best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, Perry has founded two record labels and has become a major songwriter and producer...

. The London based trio the Puppini Sisters uses their style harmonies on several Andrews Sisters and other hits of the 1940s and 1950s as well as later rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 hits. The trio has said their name is a tribute to The Andrews Sisters. The Manhattan Dolls, a New York City-based touring group, performs both the popular tunes sung by the Andrews Sisters as well as some of the more obscure tunes such as "Well Alright" and "South American Way."

In 2008 and 2009, the BBC produced a one-hour documentary on the history of the Andrews Sisters from their upbringing in Mound, Minnesota
Mound, Minnesota
Mound is a settlement in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. ZIP code: 55364. The population was 9,052 at the 2010 census. Mound is the birthplace of the Tonka truck, named after Lake Minnetonka. Mound is also the birthplace of actor Kevin Sorbo, who portrayed Hercules on the television...

, to the present. The American premier of the show was June 21, 2009 in Mound. In 2008, Mound dedicated "The Andrews Sisters Trail". The sisters spent summers in Mound with their uncles Pete and Ed Solie, who had a grocery store there. Maxene Andrews always said that the summers in Mound created a major sense of "normalcy" and "a wonderful childhood" in a life that otherwise centered around the sisters' careers. The Westonka Historical Society has a large collection of Andrews Sisters memorabilia.

Musical innovators

When the sisters burst upon the music scene in the late 1930s, they shook a very solid musical foundation: producing a slick harmonic blend by singing at the top of their lungs while trying - successfully - to emulate the blare of three harmonizing trumpets, with a full big band racing behind them. Some 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....

s of the day, such as Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....

 and his musicians, resented them for taking the focus away from the band and emphasizing the vocals instead. They were in as high demand as the big bandleaders themselves, many of whom did not want to share the spotlight and play back-up to a girl trio.

Nevertheless, they found instant appeal with teenagers and young adults who were engrossed in the swing and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 idioms, especially when they performed with nearly all of the major big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

s, including those led by Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...

, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

, Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...

, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...

, Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

, Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...

, Joe Venuti, Freddie Slack
Freddie Slack
Frederick Charles Slack was an American swing and boogie-woogie pianist and bandleader.He played with the Jimmy Dorsey Band in the 1930s and was a charter member of the Will Bradley Orchestra when it formed in 1939...

, Eddie Heywood
Eddie Heywood
Eddie Heywood was a jazz pianist who was popular in the 1940s. His father, Eddie Heyward, Sr. was also a jazz musician from the 1920s. Heywood, Jr...

, Bob Crosby
Bob Crosby
George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...

 (Bing's brother), Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...

, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...

, Les Brown
Les Brown (bandleader)
Les Brown, Sr. and the Band of Renown are a big band that began in the late 1930s, initially as the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils that Brown led while a student at Duke University. He was the first president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences...

, Bunny Berigan
Bunny Berigan
Rowland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter who rose to fame during the swing era, but whose virtuosity and influence were shortened by a losing battle with alcoholism that ended in his early death at age 33. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues"...

, Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...

, Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...

, Ted Lewis
Ted Lewis (musician)
Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...

, Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...

 and mood-master Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...

, whose orchestra and chorus accompanied them on such successful soft and melancholy renditions as "I Can Dream, Can't I?" (which shot to number one on Billboard and remained in the Top 10 for 25 weeks), "I Wanna Be Loved
I Wanna Be Loved
"I Wanna Be Loved" is a popular song with music by Johnny Green and lyrics by Edward Heyman and Billy Rose, published in 1933.The song is a standard, with many recorded versions.Grant Green plays on the song on his album Am I Blue....

", "There Will Never Be Another You
There Will Never Be Another You
"There Will Never Be Another You" is a popular song with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Mack Gordon for the Twentieth Century Fox musical Iceland starring Sonja Henie...

", and the inspirational "The Three Bells
The Three Bells
"The Three Bells", also known as "Jimmy Brown" or "Little Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by The Browns in 1959. The single reached number one on the U.S. country and pop charts,. outperforming a competing version by Dick Flood. The version by The Browns also hit number ten on the Hot R&B...

" (the first recorded English version of the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 composition), as well as several solo recordings with Patty, including a cover version of Nat "King" Cole's "Too Young
Too Young
"Too Young" is a popular song.The music was written by Sidney Lippman, the lyrics by Sylvia Dee. The song was published in 1951.In the United States, the best-known version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole on February 6, 1951 and released by Capitol Records as catalog number 1449...

", "It Never Entered My Mind
It Never Entered My Mind
"It Never Entered My Mind" is a show tune from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Higher and Higher , where it was introduced by Shirley Ross.-Notable recordings:...

", "If You Go
If You Go
If You Go is a 1961 album by Peggy Lee, arranged by Quincy Jones.-Track listing:# "As Time Goes By" – 2:48# "If You Go" – 2:39...

", and "That's How A Love Song Is Born".

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...

" can be considered an early recording of rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 or jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...

.

Many styles

While the sisters specialized in swing, boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...

, and novelty hits with their trademark lightning-quick vocal syncopations, they also produced major hits in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, ballads, folk
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...

, country-western, seasonal, and religious
Religious music
Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...

 titles, being the first Decca artists to record an album of gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 standards in 1950. Their versatility allowed them to pair with many different artists in the recording studios, producing Top 10 hits with the likes of Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

 (the only recording artist of the 1940s to sell more records than The Andrews Sisters), Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...

, Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....

, Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...

, Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....

, Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.McKinley got his start working with local bands in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, before joining Smith Ballew in 1929, when he met Glenn Miller. The two formed a friendship which lasted from 1929 until Miller's death in 1944....

, Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....

, Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...

, Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....

, Dan Dailey
Dan Dailey
Daniel James Dailey Jr. was an American dancer and actor.-Early life and career:Born in New York City on December 14, 1915, to James J. and Helen Dailey, both born in New York City. He appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in...

, Alfred Apaka
Alfred Apaka
Alfred Apaka was born Alfred Aholo Apaka Jrin Honolulu, Hawaii to vocalist Alfred Aholo Apaka Sr. Alfred was a graduate of President Theodore Roosevelt High School where he was an athlete and ROTC cadet captain...

, and Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...

. In personal appearances, on radio and on television, they sang with everyone from Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...

, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

 and Nat "King" Cole to Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)
James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.-Career:...

, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...

, and The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...

.

Films

Maxene, Patty, and LaVerne appeared in 17 Hollywood films. Their first picture, Argentine Nights, paired them with another enthusiastic trio, the Ritz Brothers
Ritz Brothers
The Ritz Brothers were an American comedy team who appeared in films, and as live performers from 1925 to the late 1960s.Although there were four brothers, the sons of Austrian-born haberdasher Max Joachim and his wife Pauline, only three of them performed together. There was also a sister,...

. Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

, always budget-conscious, refused to hire a choreographer, so the Ritzes taught the sisters some eccentric steps. Thus, in Argentine Nights and the sisters' next film, Buck Privates
Buck Privates
Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war...

, the Andrews Sisters dance like the Ritz Brothers.

Buck Privates
Buck Privates
Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war...

, with Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...

, featured the Andrews Sisters' best-known song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...

". This Don Raye-Hughie Prince composition was nominated for Best Song at the 1941 Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 ceremony. In 2001, the song was voted #6 on a list of 365 entries for Songs of the Century
Songs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...

, having also returned to popularity via a 1973
1973 in music
-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...

 rendition by Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

.

Universal
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 hired the sisters for two more Abbott and Costello comedies, and then promoted them to full-fledged stardom in B musicals. What's Cookin', Private Buckaroo, and Give Out, Sisters
Give Out, Sisters
Give Out, Sisters is a 1942 black and white American film starring The Andrews Sisters. The film co-stars Dan Dailey, and the teenage couple of the time, Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. Dailey and O'Connor went on to be in the 1954 film There's No Business Like Show Business....

(the latter portraying the sisters as old ladies) were among the team's popular full-length films.

The Andrews Sisters have a specialty number in the all-star revue Hollywood Canteen
Hollywood Canteen (1944 film)
Hollywood Canteen is a 1944 Warner Bros. film starring Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, and Dane Clark. The film was written and directed by Delmer Daves, and is notable for featuring many stars in cameo roles...

(1944). They can be seen singing "You Don't Have to Know the Language" with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

 in Paramount's Road to Rio
Road to Rio
Road to Rio is a 1947 comedy film, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby as Scat Sweeney, Bob Hope as "Hot Lips" Barton, and Dorothy Lamour as Lucia Maria de Andrade. It was the fifth of the "Road to …" series.-Plot:...

with Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

, that year's highest-grossing movie. Their singing voices are heard in two full-length Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

 features ("Make Mine Music
Make Mine Music
Make Mine Music is an animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on August 15, 1946. It is the eighth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series....

" which featured Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet, and "Melody Time
Melody Time
Melody Time is a 1948 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of several sequences set to popular music and folk music, the film is, like Make Mine Music before it, the popular music version of Fantasia Melody Time is a 1948...

", which introduced Little Toot
Little Toot
Little Toot is a children's story written and illustrated by Hardie Gramatky in 1939. It tells the story of Little Toot, an anthropomorphic tugboat child, who thought that work was a joke, and preferred to play around making figure 8s, and other games, that irritate the other tugboats, who call him...

, both of which are available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 today).

Stage and radio shows

The Andrews Sisters were the most sought-after entertainment property in theater shows worldwide during the 1940s and early 1950s, always topping previous house averages. Blonde Patty, brunette Maxene and redhead LaVerne headlined at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...

 in 1948 and 1951 to sold-out crowds. They hosted their own radio shows for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 and CBS from 1944–1951, singing specially-written commercial jingles for such products as Wrigley's chewing gum
Chewing gum
Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...

, Dole
Dole Food Company
Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, operating with 74,300 full-time and seasonal employees who are responsible for over 300...

 pineapples, Nash
Nash Motors
Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...

 motor cars, Kelvinator
Kelvinator
Kelvinator is an appliance brand. It takes its name from William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, who developed the concept of absolute zero and for whom the Kelvin temperature scale is named...

 home appliances, Campbell's soups, and Franco-American food products.

Setting records

They recorded 47 songs with crooner Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

, 23 of which charted on Billboard, thus making the team one of the most successful pairings of acts in a recording studio in show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....

 history. Their million-sellers with Crosby included "Pistol Packin' Mama
Pistol Packin' Mama
"Pistol Packin' Mama" is a 1943 song composed by Al Dexter. The song is notable in that it was the first number one on the Juke Box Folk Records chart, which would later be known as the Hot Country Songs chart...

", "Don't Fence Me In
Don't Fence Me In (song)
Don't Fence Me In is a popular American song with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter.-Origins:Originally written in 1934 for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by a poet and engineer with the...

", "South America, Take It Away", and "Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...

", among other yuletide favorites.

The sisters' popularity was such that after the war they discovered some of their records had actually been smuggled into Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 after the labels had been changed to read "Hitler's Marching Songs". Their recording of Bei Mir Bist Du Schön became a favorite of the Nazis, until it was discovered that the song's composers were of Jewish descent. Still, it did not stop concentration camp inmates from secretly singing it, this is most likely since the song was originally a Yiddish song "Bei Mir Bistu Shein", and had been popularized within the Jewish community before it was recorded as a more successful "cover" version by the Andrews sisters.

Along with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

, separately and jointly, The Andrews Sisters were among the performers who incorporated ethnic music styles into America's Hit Parade
Hit parade
A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined by sales and/or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936...

, popularizing or enhancing the popularity of songs with melodies originating in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, and Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

, many of which their manager chose for them.

The Andrews Sisters became the best-selling female vocal group in the history of popular music, setting records that remain unsurpassed to this day:
  • between 75-100 million records sold from a little over 600 recorded tunes
  • 113 charted Billboard
    Billboard (magazine)
    Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

     hits, 46 reaching Top 10 status (more than Elvis Presley
    Elvis Presley
    Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

     or the Beatles)
  • 17 Hollywood films (more than any other singing group in motion picture history)
  • record-breaking theater and cabaret runs all across America
    Americas
    The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

     and Europe;
  • countless appearances on radio shows from 1935 to 1960 (including their own)
  • guest spots on every major television show of the 1950s and 1960s, including those hosted by Ed Sullivan
    Ed Sullivan
    Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...

    , Milton Berle
    Milton Berle
    Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...

    , Perry Como
    Perry Como
    Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...

    , Frank Sinatra
    Frank Sinatra
    Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

    , Dean Martin
    Dean Martin
    Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

    , Sammy Davis, Jr.
    Sammy Davis, Jr.
    Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....

    , Johnny Carson
    Johnny Carson
    John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...

    , Joey Bishop
    Joey Bishop
    Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...

    , Art Linkletter
    Art Linkletter
    Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...

    , and Jimmy Dean
    Jimmy Dean
    Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...

    .


Early comparative female close harmony trios were the Boswell Sisters
Boswell Sisters
The Boswell Sisters were a close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell , Connee Boswell , and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell , noted for intricate harmonies and rhythmic experimentation...

, the Pickens Sisters, and the Three X Sisters
Three X Sisters
The Three X Sisters were an American all-girl harmony singing trio, initially known as The Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce. They were on stage singing together as early as 1922, and formed their trio in 1924, which was composed of Pearl Santos , Violet Hamilton , and Jessie Fordyce .The trio...

.

Hit records

Year Single Chart positions
US
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

US
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

US Country
1938 "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
"Bei Mir Bistu Shein" is a popular Yiddish song composed by Jacob Jacobs and Sholom Secunda for a 1932 Yiddish musical, I Would If I Could , that closed after one season...

"
1 - -
"Nice Work If You Can Get It
Nice Work If You Can Get It (song)
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" is a popular song.The music was written by George Gershwin, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was one of nine songs George Gershwin wrote for the movie A Damsel in Distress, in which it was performed by Fred Astaire with backing vocals provided by The Stafford Sisters...

"
12 - -
"Joseph, Joseph" 18 - -
"Ti-Pi-Tin" 12 - -
"Shortenin' Bread" 16 - -
"Says My Heart" 10 - -
"Tu-li-Tulip Time" 9 - -
"Sha-Sha" 17 - -
"Lullaby To a Jitterbug" 10 - -
1939 "Pross-Tchai (Goodbye)" 15 - -
"Hold Tight, Hold Tight" 2 - -
"You Don't Know How Much You Can Suffer" 14 - -
"Beer Barrel Polka
Beer Barrel Polka
Beer Barrel Polka, also known as Roll Out the Barrel, is a song which became popular worldwide during World War II. The music was composed by the Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927. Eduard Ingriš wrote the first arrangement of the piece, after Vejvoda came upon the melody and sought Ingriš's...

 (Roll Out the Barrel)"
4 - -
"Well All Right (Tonight's the Night)" 5 - -
"Ciribiribin
Ciribiribin
"Ciribiribin" is a merry Italian ballad in three quarter time, composed by Alberto Pestalozza in 1898 with lyrics by Carlo Tiochet. . It quickly became popular and has come to be recorded by many artists. The distinguishing feature of the song is repeated use of the five note phrase that forms the...

 (They're So In Love)"(with Bing Crosby)
13 - -
"Yodelin' Jive"(with Bing Crosby) 4 - -
"Chico's Love Song" 11 - -
1940 "Say Si Si (Para Vigo Me Voy)" 4 - -
"The Woodpecker Song
The Woodpecker Song
The Woodpecker Song Italian Lyric by C. Bruno DiLazzare Music by Eldo Di Lazzaro 1939 English Lyrics by Harold Adamson was a hit recorded by Glenn Miller, Kate Smith and the Andrew Sisters in 1940....

"
6 - -
"Down By the O-Hi-O" 21 - -
"Rhumboogie" 11 - -
"Ferryboat Serenade" 1 - -
"Hit the Road" 27 - -
"Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
"Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" is a song written in 1940 by Don Raye, with credit given to Ray McKinley. It follows the American boogie-woogie tradition of syncopated piano music. The song was first recorded in 1940 by the Will Bradley orchestra, with Freddie Slack on piano...

"
2 - -
1941 "Scrub Me, Mama, With a Boogie Beat" 10 - -
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...

"
6 - -
"I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" 11 - -
"(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time" 5 - -
"Aurora" 10 - -
"Sonny Boy" 22 - -
"The Nickel Serenade" 22 - -
"Sleepy Serenade" 22 - -
"I Wish I Had a Dime (For Every Time I Missed You)" 20 - -
"Jealous" 12 - -
1942 "The Shrine of St. Cecilia" 3 - -
"I'll Pray For You" 22 - -
"Three Little Sisters" 8 - -
"Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" 16 - -
"Pennsylvania Polka" 17 - -
"That's the Moon, My Son" 18 - -
"Mister Five By Five" 14 - -
"Strip Polka" 6 - -
"Here Comes the Navy" 17 - -
1943 "East of the Rockies" 18 - -
"Pistol Packin' Mama
Pistol Packin' Mama
"Pistol Packin' Mama" is a 1943 song composed by Al Dexter. The song is notable in that it was the first number one on the Juke Box Folk Records chart, which would later be known as the Hot Country Songs chart...

"(with Bing Crosby)
2 3 1
"Victory Polka"(with Bing Crosby) 5 - -
"Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...

"(with Bing Crosby)
19 - -
"Shoo-Shoo Baby" 1 - -
1944 "Down In the Valley" 20 - -
"Straighten Up and Fly Right" 8 - -
"Tico Tico
Tico-Tico no Fubá
Tico-Tico no Fubá is the title of a renowned Brazilian choro music piece composed by Zequinha de Abreu in 1917. Its original title was Tico-Tico no Farelo, but since Brazilian guitarist Américo Jacomino Canhoto had a work with the same title, Abreu's work was given its present name in 1931.Choro ...

"
24 - -
"Sing a Tropical Song" 24 - -
"Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"A Hot Time In the Town of Berlin"(with Bing Crosby) 1 - -
"Don't Fence Me In
Don't Fence Me In (song)
Don't Fence Me In is a popular American song with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter.-Origins:Originally written in 1934 for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by a poet and engineer with the...

"(with Bing Crosby)
1 9 -
1945 "Rum and Coca Cola" 1 3 -
"Accentuate the Positive"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"The Three Caballeros
The Three Caballeros
The Three Caballeros is a 1944 American animated feature film, produced by Walt Disney and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on February 3, 1945...

"(with Bing Crosby)
8 - -
"One Meat Ball" 15 - -
"Corns For My Country" 21 - -
"Along the Navajo Trail"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"The Blond Sailor" 8 - -
1946 "Money Is the Root of All Evil" 9 - -
"Patience and Fortitude" 12 - -
"Coax Me a Little Bit" 24 - -
"South America, Take It Away"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"Get Your Kicks On Route 66"(with Bing Crosby) 14 - -
"I Don't Know Why" 17 - -
"House of Blue Lights
The House of Blue Lights (song)
"The House of Blue Lights" is a popular song published in 1946, written by Don Raye and Freddie Slack. It was first recorded by Freddie Slack with singer Ella Mae Morse, and was covered the same year by The Andrews Sisters....

"
15 - -
"Rumors Are Flying"(with Les Paul) 4 - -
"Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland
"Winter Wonderland" is a winter song, popularly treated as a Christmastime pop standard, written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith . Through the decades it has been recorded by over 150 different artists.-History:...

"(with Guy Lombardo)
22 - -
"Christmas Island"(with Guy Lombardo) 7 - -
1947 "Tallahassee"(with Bing Crosby) 10 - -
"There's No Business Like Show Business
There's No Business Like Show Business
"There's No Business Like Show Business" is an Irving Berlin song, written for the musical Annie Get Your Gun and orchestrated by Ted Royal. The song, a slightly tongue-in-cheek salute to the glamor and excitement of a life in show business, is sung in the musical by members of Buffalo Bill's Wild...

"(with Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes)
25 - -
"On the Avenue" 21 - -
"Near You" 2 - -
"The Lady From 29 Palms" 7 - -
"The Freedom Train"(with Bing Crosby) 21 - -
"Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)"(with Danny Kaye) 3 - -
"Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...

"(with Bing Crosby)(re-entry)
21 - -
"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"(with Bing Crosby) 22 - -
"Christmas Island"(with Guy Lombardo)(re-entry) 20 - -
"Your Red Wagon" 24 - -
"How Lucky You Are" 22 - -
1948 "You Don't Have To Know the Language"(with Bing Crosby) 21 - -
"Teresa"(with Dick Haymes) 21 - -
"Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)" 3 - -
"I Hate To Lose You" 14 - -
"Heartbreaker" 21 - -
"Sabre Dance" 20 - -
"Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...

"(with Danny Kaye)
18 - -
"Blue Tail Fly"(with Burl Ives) 24 - -
"Underneath the Arches" 5 - -
"You Call Everybody Darling" 8 - -
"Cuanto La Gusta"(with Carmen Miranda) 12 - -
"160 Acres"(with Bing Crosby) 23 - -
"Bella Bella Marie" 23 - -
1949 "Christmas Island"(with Guy Lombardo)(re-entry) 26 - -
"The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Nyot! Nyow!)"(Patty Andrews w/Bob Crosby) 12 - -
"More Beer!" 30 - -
"I'm Bitin' My Fingernails and Thinking of You"(with Ernest Tubb) 30 - 2
"Don't Rob Another Man's Castle"(with Ernest Tubb) - - 6
"I Can Dream, Can't I?
I Can Dream, Can't I?
"I Can Dream, Can't I?" is a popular song written by Sammy Fain with lyrics by Irving Kahal. The song was published in 1938, included in a flop musical, Right This Way...

"
1 - -
"The Wedding of Lili Marlene" 20 - -
"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"(with Russ Morgan) 22 - -
"Charley, My Boy"(with Russ Morgan) 15 - -
1950 "Merry Christmas Polka"(with Guy Lombardo) 18 - -
"Have I Told You Lately That I Love You"(with Bing Crosby) 24 - -
"Quicksilver"(with Bing Crosby) 6 - -
"The Wedding Samba"(with Carmen Miranda) 23 - -
"I Wanna Be Loved" 1 - -
"Can't We Talk It Over" 22 - -
"A Bushel and a Peck" 22 - -
1951 "A Penny a Kiss, a Penny a Hug" 17 - -
"Sparrow In the Tree Top"(with Bing Crosby) 8 - -
"Too Young"(Patty Andrews) 19 - -
1955 "Suddenly There's a Valley"(Patty Andrews) 69 - -

Other songs

Highest chart positions on Billboard;
with Vic Schoen
Vic Schoen
Victor "Vic" Schoen was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000...

 and his orchestra, unless otherwise noted:
  • "Joseph! Joseph!" (1938) (#18)
  • "Ti-Pi-Tin" (1938) (#12)
  • "Shortenin' Bread" (1938) (#16)
  • "Says My Heart" (1938) (#10)
  • "Tu-Li-Tulip Time" (with Jimmy Dorsey
    Jimmy Dorsey
    James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

     and his orchestra) (1938) (#9)
  • "Sha-Sha" (with Jimmy Dorsey
    Jimmy Dorsey
    James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

     and his orchestra)(1938) (#17)
  • "Lullaby to a Jitterbug" (1938) (#10)
  • "Pross Tchai (Goodbye-Goodbye)" (1939) (#15)
  • "You Don't Know How Much You Can Suffer" (1939) (#14)
  • "Ciribiribin (They're So in Love)" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

     & Joe Venuti and his orchestra) (1939) (#13)
  • "Chico's Love Song" (1939) (#11)
  • "The Woodpecker Song
    The Woodpecker Song
    The Woodpecker Song Italian Lyric by C. Bruno DiLazzare Music by Eldo Di Lazzaro 1939 English Lyrics by Harold Adamson was a hit recorded by Glenn Miller, Kate Smith and the Andrew Sisters in 1940....

    " (1940) (#6)
  • "Down By the O-HI-O" (1940) (#21)
  • "Rhumboogie" (1940) (#11)
  • "Hit the Road
    Hit the Road
    Hit the Road is a crime comedy film featuring the Dead End Kids. Four juvenile delinquents are released from reform school into the care of a reformed gangster who now runs a ranch with his wife and intends to open a school for wayward boys...

    " (1940) (#27)
  • "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat
    Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat
    "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat" is a pre-Civil Rights 1940 hit boogie-woogie song written by Don Raye. A bawdy, jazzy tune, the song describes a laundry woman from Harlem, New York whose technique is so unusual that people come from all around just to watch her scrub...

    " (1940) (#10)
  • "I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" (1941) (#11)
  • "Aurora
    Aurora (song)
    "Aurora" is a song by Foo Fighters and the sixth track on their 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose.It is played live more than any other non-single track from the album.-Concept:...

    " (1941) (#10)
  • "Sonny Boy
    Sonny Boy (song)
    "Sonny Boy" is a song written by Ray Henderson, Bud De Sylva, and Lew Brown. The hyper-sentimental tearjerker was featured in the 1928 talkie The Singing Fool. Sung by Al Jolson, the 1928 recording was a hit and stayed at #1 for 12 weeks in the charts and was a million seller...

    " (1941) (#22)
  • "The Nickel Serenade" (1941) (#22)
  • "Sleepy Serenade" (1941) (#22)
  • "I Wish I Had a Dime (For Ev'rytime I Missed You)" (1941) (#20)
  • "Jealous
    JEALOUS
    "Jealous" is the first single by Dir En Grey and was released on May 10, 1998. The music videos of the title track and the B-side "Unknown・・・Despair・・・a Lost" are featured on the VHS Mousou Toukakugeki. A piano-vocal duet version of "Jealous" was later included on the "[KR] Cube" single...

    " (1941) (#12)
  • "I'll Pray For You" (1942) (#22)
  • "Three Little Sisters" (1942) (#8)
  • "Pennsylvania Polka" (1942) (#17)
  • "That's the Moon, My Son" (1942) (#18)
  • "Mister Five By Five" (1942) (#14)
  • "Strip Polka" (1942) (#6)
  • "Here Comes the Navy
    Here Comes the Navy
    Here Comes the Navy is a 1934 American romantic comedy film starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart, and Frank McHugh. The movie was written by Earl Baldwin and Ben Markson, and directed by Lloyd Bacon....

    " (1942) (#17)
  • "East of the Rockies" (1943) (#18)
  • "Down in the Valley (Hear that Train Blow)" (1944) (#20)
  • "Straighten Up and Fly Right
    Straighten Up and Fly Right
    "Straighten Up and Fly Right" is a 1944 song written by Nat King Cole and Irving Mills and performed by The King Cole Trio. The single became the trio's most popular single reaching number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for ten non consecutive weeks. The single also peaked at number nine on the...

    " (1944) (#8)
  • "Sing a Tropical Song" (1944) (#24)
  • "Tico-Tico no Fubá
    Tico-Tico no Fubá
    Tico-Tico no Fubá is the title of a renowned Brazilian choro music piece composed by Zequinha de Abreu in 1917. Its original title was Tico-Tico no Farelo, but since Brazilian guitarist Américo Jacomino Canhoto had a work with the same title, Abreu's work was given its present name in 1931.Choro ...

    " (1944) (#24)
  • "Corns for My Country" (1945) (#21)
  • "The Three Caballeros" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1945) (#8)
  • "One Meat Ball" (1945) (#15)
  • "The Blond Sailor" (1945) (#8)
  • "Money Is the Root of All Evil (Take it Away, Take it Away, Take it Away)" (with Guy Lombardo
    Guy Lombardo
    Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...

     and his Royal Canadians) (1946) (#9)
  • "Patience and Fortitude" (1946) (#12)
  • "Coax Me a Little Bit" (1946) (#24)
  • "Get Your Kicks on Route 66
    Route 66 (song)
    " Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961, The Rolling...

    " (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1946) (#14)
  • "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)
    I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)
    "I Don't Know Why " is a popular song.The music was written by Fred E. Ahlert, the lyrics by Roy Turk. The song was published in 1931. It had three periods of great popularity: in 1931, right after its publication; in 1946; and in 1961...

    " (1946) (#17)
  • "The House of Blue Lights
    The House of Blue Lights
    The House Of Blue Lights was the name given to a house on the far northeast side of Indianapolis. Decorated year round with blue Christmas lights, it was actually the home of eccentric Indianapolis millionaire Skiles Edward Test...

    " (with Eddie Heywood
    Eddie Heywood
    Eddie Heywood was a jazz pianist who was popular in the 1940s. His father, Eddie Heyward, Sr. was also a jazz musician from the 1920s. Heywood, Jr...

     and his orchestra) (1946) (#15)
  • "Winter Wonderland
    Winter Wonderland
    "Winter Wonderland" is a winter song, popularly treated as a Christmastime pop standard, written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith . Through the decades it has been recorded by over 150 different artists.-History:...

    " (with Guy Lombardo
    Guy Lombardo
    Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...

     and his Royal Canadians) (1946) (#22)
  • "Christmas Island
    Christmas Island
    The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....

    " (with Guy Lombardo
    Guy Lombardo
    Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...

     and his Royal Canadians) (1946: #7; 1947: #20; 1949: #26)
  • "Tallahassee" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1947) (#10)
  • "There's No Business Like Show Business" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

     and Dick Haymes
    Dick Haymes
    Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....

    ) (1947) (#25)
  • "On the Avenue
    On the Avenue
    On the Avenue is a 1937 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye. All of the songs in this film were composed by Irving Berlin.-Plot:...

    " (with Carmen Cavallaro
    Carmen Cavallaro
    Carmen Cavallaro was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation.-Music career:...

     at the piano) (1947) (#21)
  • "The Lady from 29 Palms" (1947) (#7)
  • "The Freedom Train" (1947) (#21)
  • "Your Red Wagon" (1947) (#24)
  • "How Lucky You Are" (1947) (#22)
  • "You Don't Have to Know the Language" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1948) (#21)
  • "Teresa" (with Dick Haymes
    Dick Haymes
    Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....

    ) (1948) (#21)
  • "Heartbreaker" (with The Harmonica Gentlemen
    The Harmonica Gentlemen
    The Harmonica Gentlemen was a "TRIO" consisting of George Fields , Leo Friedman , and Don Ripps . They are largely remembered now for recording with The Andrews Sisters and Danny Kaye...

    ) (1948) (#21)
  • "(Everytime They Play the) Sabre Dance" (with The Harmonica Gentlemen
    The Harmonica Gentlemen
    The Harmonica Gentlemen was a "TRIO" consisting of George Fields , Leo Friedman , and Don Ripps . They are largely remembered now for recording with The Andrews Sisters and Danny Kaye...

    ) (1948) (#20)
  • "I Hate to Lose You" (1948) (#14)
  • "The Woody Woodpecker Song" (with Danny Kaye
    Danny Kaye
    Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...

     and The Harmonica Gentlemen
    The Harmonica Gentlemen
    The Harmonica Gentlemen was a "TRIO" consisting of George Fields , Leo Friedman , and Don Ripps . They are largely remembered now for recording with The Andrews Sisters and Danny Kaye...

    ) (1948) (#18)
  • "The Blue Tail Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn)" (with Burl Ives
    Burl Ives
    Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....

    , vocal and guitar accompaniment) (1948) (#24)
  • "You Call Everybody Darling" (recorded in London with Billy Ternant and his orchestra) (1948) (#8)
  • "Cuanto La Gusta" (with Carmen Miranda
    Carmen Miranda
    Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...

    ) (1948) (#12)
  • "A Hundred and Sixty Acres" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1948) (#23)
  • "Bella Bella Marie" (1948) (#23)
  • "More Beer!" (1949) (#30)
  • "I'm Biting My Fingernails and Thinking of You" (with Ernest Tubb
    Ernest Tubb
    Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...

     and The Texas Troubadors directed by Vic Schoen
    Vic Schoen
    Victor "Vic" Schoen was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000...

    ) (1949) (#30)
  • "The Wedding of Lili Marlene" (with Gordon Jenkins
    Gordon Jenkins
    Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...

     and his orchestra and chorus) (1949) (#20)
  • "The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Nyot Nyow!)" (Patty Andrews and Bob Crosby
    Bob Crosby
    George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...

    ) (1949) (#12)
  • "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
    She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
    She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. The film was the second of Ford's trilogy of films focusing on the US Cavalry ; the other two films were Fort Apache and Rio Grande...

    " (with Russ Morgan
    Russ Morgan
    Russ Morgan was a big band orchestra leader and musical arranger in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...

     and his orchestra) (1949) (#22)
  • "Charley, My Boy
    Charley, My Boy
    "Charley, My Boy" is a song written by Gus Kahn and Ted Fiorito in 1924. The sheet music was published for voice and piano. The refrain is four lines, of which the first two are:...

    " (with Russ Morgan
    Russ Morgan
    Russ Morgan was a big band orchestra leader and musical arranger in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...

     and his orchestra) (1949) (#15)
  • "Merry Christmas Polka" (with Guy Lombardo
    Guy Lombardo
    Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...

     and his Royal Canadians) (1950) (#18)
  • "Have I Told You Lately that I Love You?" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1950) (#24)
  • "Quicksilver" (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1950) (#6)
  • "The Wedding Samba" (with Carmen Miranda
    Carmen Miranda
    Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...

    ) (1950) (#23)
  • "Can't We Talk it Over?" (with Gordon Jenkins
    Gordon Jenkins
    Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...

     and his orchestra and chorus) (1950) (#22)
  • "A Bushel and a Peck
    A Bushel and a Peck
    "A Bushel and a Peck" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser and published in 1950. The song was introduced in the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls, which opened at the 46th Street Theater on November 24, 1950. It was performed on stage by Vivian Blaine, who later reprised her role as Miss...

    " (1950) (#22)
  • "A Penny a Kiss-A Penny a Hug" (1950) (#17)
  • "Sparrow in the Treetop
    Sparrow in the Treetop
    "Sparrow in the Treetop" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill. The song was published in 1951.Charting versions of the song were made by Guy Mitchell , Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters , and Rex Allen...

    " (with Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

    ) (1951) (#8)
  • "Too Young
    Too Young
    "Too Young" is a popular song.The music was written by Sidney Lippman, the lyrics by Sylvia Dee. The song was published in 1951.In the United States, the best-known version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole on February 6, 1951 and released by Capitol Records as catalog number 1449...

    " (Patty Andrews with Victor Young
    Victor Young
    Victor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...

     and his orchestra) (1951) (#19)
  • "Torero" Capitol
    Capitol Records
    Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

     F 3965 (recorded on March 31, 1958)


Filmography

  • Argentine Nights (Universal Pictures, 1940)
  • Buck Privates
    Buck Privates
    Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war...

    (Universal Pictures, 1941)
  • In the Navy
    In The Navy (film)
    -Plot:Popular crooner Russ Raymond abandons his career at its peak and joins the Navy using an alias, Tommy Halstead. However, Dorothy Roberts , a reporter, discovers his identity and follows him in the hopes of photographing him and revealing his identity to the world.Aboard the battleship...

    (Universal Pictures, 1941)
  • Hold That Ghost
    Hold That Ghost
    Hold That Ghost is a 1941 comedy horror film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, and Shemp Howard....

    (Universal Pictures, 1941)
  • What's Cookin'?
    What's Cookin'?
    What's Cookin'? is a 1942 American musical film starring The Andrews Sisters, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige and Gloria Jean. The film was directed by Edward F. Cline and is based on the story Wake Up and Dream written by Edgar Allan Woolf.-Plot:...

    (Universal Pictures, 1942)
  • Private Buckaroo
    Private Buckaroo
    Private Buckaroo is a 1942 American Musical film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring The Andrews Sisters, Dick Foran, Harry James, Shemp Howard, Joe E...

    (Universal Pictures, 1942)
  • Give Out, Sisters
    Give Out, Sisters
    Give Out, Sisters is a 1942 black and white American film starring The Andrews Sisters. The film co-stars Dan Dailey, and the teenage couple of the time, Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. Dailey and O'Connor went on to be in the 1954 film There's No Business Like Show Business....

    (Universal Pictures, 1942)
  • How's About It (Universal Pictures, 1943)
  • Always a Bridesmaid (Universal Pictures, 1943)
  • Swingtime Johnny (Universal Pictures, 1943)
  • Moonlight and Cactus
    Moonlight and Cactus
    Moonlight and Cactus is a comedy film directed by Fatty Arbuckle....

    (Universal Pictures, 1944)
  • Follow the Boys
    Follow the Boys
    Follow the Boys , also known as Three Cheers for the Boys, is a musical film made by Universal Pictures as an all-star cast morale booster to entertain the troops abroad and the civilians at home. The film was directed by A. Edward "Eddie" Sutherland and produced by Charles K. Feldman...

    (Universal Pictures, 1944)
  • Hollywood Canteen
    Hollywood Canteen (1944 film)
    Hollywood Canteen is a 1944 Warner Bros. film starring Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, and Dane Clark. The film was written and directed by Delmer Daves, and is notable for featuring many stars in cameo roles...

    (Warner Brothers, 1944)
  • Her Lucky Night (Universal Pictures, 1945)
  • Make Mine Music
    Make Mine Music
    Make Mine Music is an animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on August 15, 1946. It is the eighth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series....

    (Walt Disney Studios, 1946)
  • Road to Rio
    Road to Rio
    Road to Rio is a 1947 comedy film, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby as Scat Sweeney, Bob Hope as "Hot Lips" Barton, and Dorothy Lamour as Lucia Maria de Andrade. It was the fifth of the "Road to …" series.-Plot:...

    (Paramount Pictures, 1947)
  • Melody Time
    Melody Time
    Melody Time is a 1948 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of several sequences set to popular music and folk music, the film is, like Make Mine Music before it, the popular music version of Fantasia Melody Time is a 1948...

    (Walt Disney Studios, 1948)
  • Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
    Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
    "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", also sung as "Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?", is one of the best-known American songs of the Great Depression. Written in 1931 by lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg and composer Jay Gorney, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" was part of the 1932 musical New Americana; the...

    (1975)
  • Breach
    Breach (film)
    Breach is a 2007 American historical drama directed by Billy Ray. The screenplay by Ray, Adam Mazer, and William Rotko is based on the true story of Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia for more than two decades, and Eric O'Neill, who worked as his...

    (background music) (2007)

Dance

  • Company B (1991; Choreographed by Paul Taylor
    Paul Taylor
    Paul Taylor is one of the foremost American choreographers of the 20th century.Paul Taylor is the last living member of the pantheon that created America’s indigenous art of modern dance...

    , Performed by Paul Taylor Dance Company
    Paul Taylor Dance Company
    Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a contemporary dance company, formed by Paul Taylor, an American choreographer of the 20th century. One of the early touring companies of American modern dance, the Company has "performed in more than 500 cities in 62 countries" and still spends more than half of each...

    , American Ballet Theatre
    American Ballet Theatre
    American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...

    , and Miami City Ballet
    Miami City Ballet
    Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida. It was created in 1986 by former New York City Ballet principal dancer Edward Villella and flourishes today as one of America's most respected ballet companies...

    )

In pop culture

In one episode of My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, co-starring Lucille Ball, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novel Mr. and Mrs...

 Liz (Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...

) claimed she was one of the Andrew Sisters, but she claimed she was their 'brother' Dana.

In the 2nd Season of Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...

, Patty guest stars in the episode "Lucy And The Andrews Sisters" where she, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...

 (as LaVerne), Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Désirée Arnaz is an American actress, singer, dancer and producer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and is the sister of actor Desi Arnaz, Jr..- Early life :...

 (as Maxene), and Desi Arnaz Jr. (as Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

) re-create the Andrews Sisters sound for a dinner being held in Patty's honor by the Andrews Sisters Fan Club. Although they were to lip-synch to the Andrews Sisters records, Lucy ends up breaking them and they are forced to sing the songs live.

The poet Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...

 included the following lines in his verses for the 'Birds' section of the Carnival of the Animals: "Suburban yards and rural vistas
are filled with avian Andrews Sisters."

Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

's 1979 comedy film 1941
1941 (film)
1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd...

features a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of the Andrews Sisters, called "The Anderson Sisters."

The band Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult...

 samples the Andrews Sisters' "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" in the song "Down To This" (from their 1996 album Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom was Soul Coughing's 1994 debut album. The album's sound is a mixture of sample-based tunes , guitar based tunes like...

)

Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...

's groundbreaking 1970 musical, "Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....

" features the song "You Could Drive A Person Crazy," written and performed in the style of an Andrews Sisters song.

In an episode of "A Different World", the girls sing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".

The Andrew sisters appear as a trio in the 1997 remake of the film The Shining
The Shining (TV miniseries)
The Shining is a three-part television miniseries based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. Directed by Mick Garris from King's teleplay, the series was first aired in 1997.-Plot:...

, originally written by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

.

In the episode “Flaming Forties” of Mama's Family the song of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy is lip-synced by Vicki Lawrence, Dorothy Lyman, and Rue McClanahan as Thelma Harper, Naomi Harper and as Fran Crowley.

In the sitcom "Step By Step" episode "Beauty Contest", Suzanne Somers and Angela Watson perform "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" as stepmother/stepdaughter during a bonding moment for a beauty pageant.

In the episode "Next of Shin" from King of the Hill, Hank Hill goes looking for his father in Las Vegas, and sees an ad for the Andrew Sisters performing at a casino. Saying, "I didn't know they were still alive, they were my dad's favorite group" he goes to the show in search of his father. After the show, he talks to one of the "sisters" only to discover it was actually a "drag" show and the sisters were not sisters at all.

In 2001 a Charmed episode "Muse to my Ears" shows a group acting as the Andrews Sisters on P3's 1940s night.

In the 2005 epic
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...

 fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...

 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Andrew Adamson and based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's children's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of...

, the Andrews Sisters' rendition of "Oh Johnny, Oh!" is used while the Pevensie siblings are playing hide-and-seek
Hide and seek
Hide-and-seek or hide-and-go-seek is a variant of the game tag, in which a number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or more seekers.-Variants:Numerous variants of the game can be found around the world...

.

In the 2008 video Game Fallout 3
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...

 (Xbox 360, PC, Playstation3) their song "Civilization" with Danny Kaye is featured on the soundtrack.

The 2007 video game Bioshock
Bioshock
BioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...

 uses the song "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön (Means You're Grand)" as background music during game play.

In a 2005 episode of Gilmore Girls entitled We've Got Magic to Do, Rory organizes a World War II themed D.A.R. function featuring musical guests "The Andrews Sisters".

The 2007 movie Breach
Breach (film)
Breach is a 2007 American historical drama directed by Billy Ray. The screenplay by Ray, Adam Mazer, and William Rotko is based on the true story of Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia for more than two decades, and Eric O'Neill, who worked as his...

that tells the true story of the worst breach in the United States of America's national intelligence and secrets, Robert Hanssen requested to listen to the Andrews Sisters when his assistant asked him what would he like to listen on the car radio.

The 2010 video game "Mafia II" contains 6 songs from The Andrews sisters in the 1940s portion of the game on the "Empire Central Radio" station.

The 2010 track "Andrew's Break" by famous electroswing French band "AlgoRythmiK" (Chaphi Records) is a tribute to "The Ferryboat Serenade"

R&B star Keri Hilson
Keri Hilson
Keri Lynn Hilson is an American R&B singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, Hilson began her music career as a songwriter, penning tracks for several artists in the mid-2000s as part of the five-person production and songwriting team, The Clutch...

 pays tribute to the Andrew Sisters in her video Pretty Girl Rock.

As Muppets

They were parodied on "Sesame Street" as the Androoze Sisters, named Mayeeme (Audrey Smith), Pattiz (Maeretha Stewart), and Lavoorrnee (Kevin Clash
Kevin Clash
Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters include Elmo, Baby Sinclair, Clifford, Splinter and Hoots the Owl...

).

Awards and recognition

The Andrews Sisters were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame was organized to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. It is headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes a theater and a museum....

in 1998.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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