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Justin "Judd" Conlon (born Justin Norbert Conlon; June 16, 1910 – July 28, 1966) was an American vocal arranger and conductor.[1]
Conlon was born in 1910 in Cuba City, Wisconsin. He relocated to Dubuque, Iowa, where he attended Columbia Academy and Columbia College. Conlon played the accordion and was active in musical groups including the Vested Choir directed by Father Alphonse Dress. This may have led to his mastery of vocal arranging. He played accordion at the Hilltop Casino until 4:00 a.m., slept, and then had to get up for his college classes. In high school he formed the Justin Conlon Orchestra. By the time he was in college, the group toured the Midwest and was often featured on Iowa radio stations WMT in Cedar Rapids, WHO in Des Moines, and WOC in Davenport.
Conlon's first major arranging work was with the Kay Kyser Orchestra.[2]
In 1945, the Kay Kyser band was at its peak. One of its main attractions was The Campus Kids, which Conlon had joined as a vocalist that July. His debut recordings with the group were "Choo Choo Polka" and "That’s for Me". At that time, the other Kids were Diane Pendleton, Donna Wood, Loulie Jean Norman, and Charlie Parlato.[3]
Conlon, trained on the accordion and as a vocal arranger and conductor, had an ambition to form his own vocal group. In The Campus Kids, he was exposed to two singers with a four-octave range and perfect pitch: Loulie Jean Norman and Gloria Wood. With them and his own basso profundo, plus Charlie Parlato as first tenor, Conlon had the makings of the new group he wanted. He assigned himself the baritone part, Norman was first or lead soprano, and Wood second soprano. He also recruited Mack McLean from the Six Hits and a Miss singing group as a second tenor.[3]
The formation of Conlon's group was likely hastened by the sudden departure of The CharioteersasBing Crosby's vocalists on his weekly radio program toward the end of the first Philco season in March, 1947. Several of the first season's final shows featured an unknown chorus that may have been the singers in the still unnamed group. Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires was christened and ready to go as recordings for the second Philco season commenced in August 1947. Conlon, Parlato, McLean and Norman bade farewell to The Campus Kids in December. (Gloria Wood remained with Kyser into 1948.)[3]
The Rhythmaires had launched an association with Crosby that would continue for almost a decade in more than 230 broadcasts and over 40 recordings. The group even helped to sell Minute Maid. The Rhythmaires' first commercial recording with Crosby took place on December 3, 1947, when "Ballerina" was laid down. Other notable recordings were "Home Cookin", "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", "Teddy Bears' Picnic", "It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas", "Zing a Little Zong", and "Road to Bali".[3]
Sometimes the Rhythmaires would be expanded into either The Jud Conlon Singers (e.g. "Stay Well", "Sorry") or The Jud Conlon Choir (e.g. "The Loneliness of Evening", "More I Cannot Wish You", "We Meet Again"). The Rhythmaires' final recordings with Crosby were made in April 1956, for the DeccaLPSongs I Wish I Had Sung.[3] The Rhythmaires also furnished background vocals for Crosby in Walt Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), released in 1949.[3]
After the conclusion of Philco Radio Time in 1949, the Rhythmaires continued with Crosby throughout his weekly Chesterfield radio series that ran until 1952. Each week the group sang the cigarette’s "Sound Off" jingle.[3]
In early 1958, the Rhythmaires appeared on the album "Jazz Goes Latin" with tenor saxophone player Georgie Auld for Capitol Records (T-1045).
For the first two seasons of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (CBS-TV, 1959-1963) the Rhythmaires performed the opening and closing theme song, "Dobie",[4] written by Lionel Newman and Max Shulman.
Crosby had used Conlon to make arrangements and vocal backgrounds for his radio series, and Conlon went on to work for Andy Williams and Guy Lombardo. In the mid-1950s, he began collaborating with satirist Stan Freberg. His arrangements appeared on nearly all Freberg's comedy records, as well as on his Stan Freberg Radio Show. He also worked on the television program Frankie Laine Time.
Conlon served as a musical arranger for Walt Disney. Among his credits are the Disney movies Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), and Babes in Toyland (1961).
Conlon married Charlotte Manley. They had one son, Michael. Conlon died on July 28, 1966, in Chicago at the age of 56. He was found dead in his Chicago hotel room of an apparent heart attack. He had been there as a delegate to the convention of American Federation of TV and Radio Artists. A requiem Mass was held a few days later at St. Victor's Roman Catholic Church in West Hollywood.[1]
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