Charlie Spivak › Similar Artists

Martha Raye - 100% match to Charlie Spivak

Margaret Teresa Yvonne O’Reed, 27 August 1916, Butte, Montana, USA, d. 19 October 1994, Los Angeles, California, USA. On stage from the age of three with the family act, at 13 Raye sang with a band and in 1936 made her first film, Rhythm On The Range, with Bing Crosby. Through the late 30s she played comic roles in The Big Broadcast Of 1937 (1936, singing ‘Vote For Read more

Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra - 86% match to Charlie Spivak

10 August 1909, Terra Haute, Indiana, USA, d. 1 July 1965, New York City, New York, USA. Thornhill studied piano formally, playing jazz with a friend, Danny Polo. In the early 30s he was resident in New York City, playing with Hal Kemp, Don Voorhees, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman and many other leaders. In the mid-30s he worked with Ray Noble and André Kostelanetz. Lat Read more

Johnny Long - 85% match to Charlie Spivak

2 August 1915, North Carolina, USA, d. 31 October 1972, Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA. A talented left-handed violinist, Long established his 11-piece orchestra at the Duke University campus in 1932. Originally titled ‘the Freshmen’, upon graduation the same line-up remained intact and entered the professional world in 1935. Their vocalists included Paul Harman, Read more

Al Trace - 57% match to Charlie Spivak

USA. Formerly a drummer and vocalist in several smaller groups playing the Midwest, Trace formed his own dance band in 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. As well as Trace the vocalists included Toni Arden and Bob Vincent. Their first engagement was a prestigious one, at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933. Long runs at the Blackhawk Restaurant and Sherman Hotel (for three Read more

Louis Bellson - 57% match to Charlie Spivak

Bea Wain - 48% match to Charlie Spivak

Beatrice Wain, 30 April 1917, New York City, New York, USA. A vocalist, with a warm, easy and very musical style, Wain was at the peak of her popularity with the Larry Clinton Band in the late 30s. She played the piano as a child, and sang on NBC Radio’s Children’s Hour. Later, after broadcasting with vocal groups led by Fred Waring, Ted Straeter and Kay Thompson, Read more

Ken Colyer - 41% match to Charlie Spivak

18 April 1928, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, d. 8 March 1988, France. Of all the musicians involved in the British revivalist movement of the late 40s and early 50s, trumpeter Colyer was the only one to achieve the status of a jazz legend. He achieved this through a gritty determination to adhere to what he believed to be the true spirit of jazz. Colyer first demonstrate Read more

Teddy Powell - 40% match to Charlie Spivak

Alfred Paolella, 1 March 1905, Oakland, California, USA. As a boy Powell studied violin and music theory privately, then attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 1927 he was playing guitar and banjo with Abe Lyman’s band, staying with them until 1935 when he became a radio producer for an advertising agency. He also branched out as a songwriter, with hits su Read more

Betty Grable - 36% match to Charlie Spivak

Ruth Elizabeth Grable, 18 December 1916, St. Louis Missouri, USA, d. 2 July 1973, Santa Monica, California, USA. An actress, singer and dancer in movie musicals of the 30s, 40s and early 50s. A beautiful blonde with a peaches-and-cream complexion, during World War II the famous picture of her wearing a white bathing suit displaying her shapely legs (which were reportedly ins Read more

The Dorsey Brothers - 34% match to Charlie Spivak

Shep Fields - 30% match to Charlie Spivak

12 September 1910, Brooklyn, New York, USA, d. 23 February 1981, Los Angeles, California, USA. This saxophone and clarinet player was the leader of the 30s sweet band, Shep Fields And His Rippling Rhythm. Fields led his first band while at university, then turned professional, gaining important engagements in Miami and New York during 1934. He toured with the Voloz and Yolan Read more

Boyd Raeburn - 28% match to Charlie Spivak

Boyd Albert Raden, 27 October 1913, Faith, South Dakota, USA, d. 2 August 1966, Layfayette, Indiana, USA. Raeburn attended the University of Chicago, where he led a campus band, before becoming a professional musician leading a small, light music band, but in the 30s turned his attention to swing. In 1944 he formed a high-class band that featured some fine young musicians in Read more

Jan Garber - 24% match to Charlie Spivak

5 November 1897, Morristown, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 5 October 1977, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. Known as ‘The Idol of the Air Lanes’, Garber led both sweet and swing bands, although he is generally remembered as a creator of saccharine sounds. He attended the University of North Carolina and later became a violinist with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. After mi Read more

Ginny Simms - 23% match to Charlie Spivak

Ray McKinley - 23% match to Charlie Spivak

18 June 1910, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, d. 7 May 1995, Largo, Florida, USA. After drumming in the dance band led by fellow Texan, singer Smith Ballew, McKinley joined the Dorsey Brothers orchestra in 1934. When the band became Jimmy Dorsey’s, after his brother Tommy walked out, McKinley remained in the drum chair until 1939. In the autumn of that year he formed a band tha Read more