Art Mooney
b. 1911, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. Mooney was a popular bandleader in the late '40s and '50s, leading a band mostly in Detroit and the midwest area during the '30s. After military service in World War II, he formed a new outfit with a similar style and sound to Glenn Miller, especially in the reed section. The band's arrangers included Neal Heftiand George Williams, and it made its New York debut in 1945, playing clubs, and appearing on radio. The big breakthrough came three years later, when Mooney recorded an old-fashioned version of Mort Dixonand Harry Woods’ 1927 song, I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover, featuring the banjo playing of Mike Pingatore, an ex- Paul Whiteman sideman. The record sold over a million copies and put Mooney in the big money bracket for the band's personal appearances. Once down that lucrative road, he frequently used arrangements which featured the banjo and unison singing. His other hits, through to 1955, included Baby Face, Bluebird Of Happiness, Again, Beautiful Eyes, I Never See Maggie Alone, Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye), Twenty Four Hours Of Sunshine, Hop Scotch Polka, M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I, Lazy River, Heartbreaker, Honey-Babe and the band's theme, Sunset To Sunrise. He also released Dance and Dream, BANJO BONANZA, ART MOONEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA IN HI-FI PLAY FOR DANCING and SONGS EVERYBODY KNOWS. In 1955, he provided the orchestral backing for seven year-old Barry Gordon's US Top 10 novelty, Nuttin For Christmas’. By the late '50s Mooney's popularity had declined, but he played on through the '60s into the '70s, and toured with the BIG BAND CAVALCADE from 1973-74.