- Dick Manning
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For other people named Dick Manning, see Richard Manning (disambiguation).
Dick Manning Birth name Samuel Medoff Born June 12, 1912
Gomel, Belarus
(formerly Russian Empire)Died April 11, 1991 (aged 78)
Marietta, Georgia [1]Occupations Songwriter Associated acts The Barry Sisters
Seymour Rexite
the Yiddish SwingtetNotable instruments piano Dick Manning (June 12, 1912 – April 11, 1991) [2] was a Russian-born American songwriter, best known for his many collaborations with Al Hoffman.
Manning was born in Gomel, and came to the United States with his family when he was six years old. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music.[2] Manning made the change from Medoff in 1948, when he was beginning to have success with his songwriting.[2]
In the early 1940s, he had a radio show on WHN radio in New York called Sam Medoff and His Yiddish Swing Orchestra; his band was called "The Yiddish Swingtet".[2] He and his band were also regulars on "Yiddish Melodies in Swing", also broadcast on WHN. The 15 minute weekly radio show, which blended traditional Yiddish folk music with swing and jazz, got its start on the station in 1938. Medoff and his Swingtet were hired to give a new twist to the traditional songs, as well as introduce new popular songs performed in Yiddish. The Barry Sisters (Claire and Merna) were hired as the vocalists.[3][4] The radio show was originally done live at the Lowes State Theatre every Sunday at 1PM; it was heard on radio until 1955.[5][6] Medoff also played piano and organ for Yiddish crooner Seymour Rexite's radio show.[7]
He was the co-writer of many popular songs, among them: "Takes Two to Tango," "Fascination", "Hot Diggity" and "Papa Loves Mambo." They were recorded by artists such as Perry Como, Sammy Kaye, Kate Smith and others; they have been published in 27 languages.[1][2] He also composed The Boys From Boise, the first full-length television musical, which was presented on the DuMont Television Network in 1944, appearing earlier in that year on DuMont's Key-Bored Televisual Presentations as a pianist.[8][9] Manning also was an arranger, vocal coach and wrote radio jingles.[1]
Contents
Published songs
Songs written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning
- Allegheny Moon (1956)
- Dennis the Menace (1960)
- Gilly, Gilly, Ossenfeffer, Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea (1954)
- Hot Diggity (1956)
- I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango (1954)
- Mama, Teach Me to Dance (1956)
- Moon Talk (1958)
- O Dio Mio (1960)
- Takes Two to Tango (1952)
Songs written by Al Hoffman, Dick Manning and another collaborator
- Are You Really Mine? (1958) (with Mark Markwell)
- Make Me a Miracle (1958) (with Mark Markwell)
- Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again (1958) (with Mark Markwell)
- Papa Loves Mambo (1954) (with Bix Reichner)
- Secretly (1958) (with Mark Markwell)
Other songs
- Jilted (with Robert Colby)
- Fascination (lyrics)
- Not I (with Sammy Gallop)
- Walkin' With My Honey (with Buddy Kaye) [10]
Work on Broadway
References
- ^ a b c "Dick Manning, 79, Composer and Lyricist". New York Times. 13 April 1991. Archived from the original on 17 March 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5xGIwe5px. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Dick Manning". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0543269/bio. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
- ^ "The Barry Sisters". Donttellyour friends. 31 October 2008. http://donttellyourfriends.blogspot.com/2008/10/barry-sisters.html. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ "Yiddish Radio Project; Story of the Long-Running Jewish Radio Program "Yiddish Melodies in Swing" Transcript". National Endowment for the Humanities. http://www.neh.gov/projects/transcripts/yiddishradiotranscript.html. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ Matt Temkin (December 2008). "American Yiddish Instrumental Fusion Music in the 1950s and 1960s". Matt Temkin. http://matttemkin.info/Masters_Thesis/Chapter_2.html. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ "The Rise of Yiddish Swing". Yiddish Radio Project. http://yiddishradioproject.org/exhibits/ymis/. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ "The Yiddish Crooner: Seymour Rexite". Yiddish Radio Project. http://www.yiddishradioproject.org/exhibits/rexite/. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ "The Boys From Boise". Musicals101.com. http://www.musicals101.com/tv2.htm. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
- ^ DuMont Television. Billboard. 4 March 1944. http://books.google.com/books?id=wQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT12&lpg=PT12&dq=sam+medoff&source=bl&ots=T3_z5WGK8f&sig=jA4r7Mgh7rpXcpe7omw4k8KpOQo&hl=en&ei=TgILTcfiPNi3nAeyzY2vDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBzgy#v=onepage&q=sam%20medoff&f=false. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ "Buddy Kaye". AllMusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/buddy-kaye-p92819/biography. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
External links
- Sam Medoff and the Yiddish Swingtet Amazon.com
- Sam Medoff and the Yiddish Swingtet Congregation Shaar Hashomayim
Categories:- Jewish composers and songwriters
- Jewish American musicians
- American songwriters
- 1912 births
- 1991 deaths
- American Jews
- People from Gomel
- Orchestra leaders
- Songwriters from New York
- American conductors (music)
- People from New York City
- Juilliard School alumni
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