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

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh at donnahalper.com>
> 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.
>
Oddly enough, I had already learned most of this through a web search...I
particularly say "ODDLY enough," because Ms. Halper was the author of
most of the documents I found!

In any case, the consecutive matrix numbers indicate that "Ted and his Gang"
and "The Polar Bear's Orchestra" were one and the same on these GG sides.
I also made a note on the sleeve: "Audibly NOT the usual GG house band"
(though Arthur Fields is the vocalist on at least one of the sides...!). It 
would
appear that GG decided to try using a local (and probably affordable) band
for the three sides (c. mid-1928).

Steven C. Barr