[78-L] A question for our GG contingent...?!

[Donna Halper]

At 11:03 PM 7/27/2009, you wrote:

>Two of these are credited to "Ted and his Gang," while the third was issued
>as
>"The Polar Bear's Orchestra." All three credit "Will Dodge" as their
>director. I
>dimly recall (I THINK!) that "Ted" was, in fact, a local-to-Boston band whom
>GG decided to record (in place of their usual house band). BUT...does anyone
>know of/about "Will Dodge?" And...was "Polar Bear's..." simply another GG
>"nom du disque" (presumably inspired by "Cliquot Club Eskimos" who WERE
>a real band...?!)...?!

Actually, there really was a Ted and His Gang  on Boston radio (Ted 
was Jack Wardell, who later became an advertising executive).  Mr 
Barr is correct that this is a conversation that had a past 
life--  we first discussed it waaaaay back in 1998 (I keep a file on 
GG correspondence).  There really was a WNAC Polar Bears orchestra 
too.  WNAC was a popular station in Boston and its owner, the late 
great John Shepard III, hired the best talent to perform on the 
various stations he owned.  The Polar Bears performed circa 1928.  I 
can give you the names of who was in the band-- I have a promotional 
photo of them... sometimes the newspapers called them the  WNAC Polar 
Bears, and sometimes the Polar Bear Orchestra but yes, they were real 
house musicians,  although none of the members were especially famous 
outside of Boston.  Some of them also performed under other names on 
WNAC, like with the Shepard Colonial Orchestra.  Ted and His Gang 
worked for the Yankee Network (a New England radio network) off and 
on from 1928-1931.  Periodically Ted and Shepard would argue (Shepard 
was a major figure in early broadcasting but not the most fun guy to 
have for a boss), Ted would quit and go over to a competing station, 
but then Shepard would relent and hire him back.

Will Dodge  (William was the first name) was a very famous local 
bandleader here in Boston, and he was on a number of radio stations 
during the 1920s.  Shepard always hired a locally well-known 
bandleader to front his many radio orchestras.  He had Billy Lossez, 
Charles R. Hector, and Will Dodge.  Mr Dodge also became the head of 
a music school, and he died under rather mysterious circumstances in 
1935-- seems he had a wife and a girlfriend and ... well, we'll chat 
about that some other time.  But if you want more specifics, these 
were not just fake Grey Gull names-- Dodge, Ted & his Gang, and the 
Polar Bears were actual performers, usually on WNAC in Boston in the 
late 1920s.