Threaded Thursday: Not an Automobile Dealership

Following yesterday’s Sophisticated Swing, we pick up the Hudson–DeLange thread for an overview of the band co‑led by songwriters Will Hudson and Eddie DeLange.

The two had co-written the enormously popular Moonglow in 1934 (with the ubiquitous Irving Mills also getting credit), and by 1935 they’d teamed up to form a band. The basic arrangement was simple: Eddie, who was also a singer, would front the group, while Will mainly stayed behind the scenes, contributing arrangements and original compositions.

They recorded steadily from 1936–38, so let’s spin some of their sides for the Brunswick label.

Searchin’ and Slummin’

Let’s start with the band’s theme song, Eight Bars in Search of a Melody:

That’s a quintessential Will Hudson original - bouncy, bright, and sporting one of his trademark whimsical titles.

The flipside, Hobo on Park Avenue, offers another such example:

First Canary

Ruth is in between Will  and Eddie.

Since Eddie DeLange was also a singer, the band didn’t need a male vocalist, but they always had a topnotch girl singer. The first such canary was the wonderful Ruth Gaylor, who sings Will’s song You’re Not the Kind: 

Ruth also sang with Bunny Berigan and Hal McIntyre during her career which lasted from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s, the core of the big band era.

Grinding Out a Big Hit

If we flip that record over, we find Organ Grinder’s Swing, one of Will’s most enduring compositions, and naturally part of the band’s book:

This was the first Hudson–DeLange recording I ever heard. I knew about them and had heard their songs by other artists, but hadn’t heard their band until this one popped up on a various‑artists big band CD back in the day.

Second Canary

Future vocal star Georgia Gibbs also recorded with the band. She’s billed as Freddy Gibson on I’ll Never Tell You I Love You,  another Hudson tune:

You can already hear the spark that would make “Her Nibs” a star - though I doubt anyone in 1936 would’ve predicted just how big!

A small mystery: since only Will Hudson is credited on the label, does that mean he wrote both words and music? And how did Irving Mills miss this one?

Eddie Takes the Mic

Flip the record and you find Remember When, credited to Will Hudson, Eddie DeLange, and (there he is!) Irving Mills, with Eddie handling the vocal:

Third Canary

Eddie leads the band while canary Nan warbles.

In addition to Ruth and Georgia, the band also featured Nan Wynn, one of the loveliest of all the canaries. Here she is on another piece co-written by Will, the novelty tune Popcorn Man:

Nan’s talent and good looks led to some movie roles, most notably in Abbott & Costello’s 1942 Universal picture Pardon My Sarong.

Retro‑crush mode activated!

The Flip Goes Haywire

The flipside of that record is Goin’ Haywire, another snappy Hudson original:

The Split: 1938

Although the band was popular, it was probably inevitable that Will and Eddie would part ways, which they did in 1938. Will kept the band; Eddie formed a new one. Both continued to record, but neither reached the success they’d enjoyed together.

Will Hudson on Brunswick

Will continued to record for Brunswick, with numbers such as 1938’s There’s Something About an Old Love with a vocal by Jane Dover:

You could easily mistake this for a Hudson–DeLange side - smooth arrangement, sweet canary vocal, the whole package.

Eddie DeLange on Bluebird

Meanwhile, Eddie recorded for Bluebird with his own canary, Elisse Cooper, who sings Stop! It’s Wonderful from 1939:

Eddie leaned more toward novelty numbers and arrangements, and you’d probably never mistake one of his records for a Hudson-DeLange one!

A Bright Spark

I really enjoy the Hudson–DeLange Orchestra. They sound exactly like a mid‑1930s swing band should sound - crisp, cheerful, and full of personality. They didn’t last long, but they left a bright spark behind.

And as for the title of this post: I’ve always thought “Hudson–DeLange” sounded more like an automobile dealership than an orchestra. Probably because Hudson was an actual car line, and DeLange reminds me of the DeSoto–Plymouth dealers Groucho was always plugging on You Bet Your Life.

But if it had been a dealership, I’d have gone down to the showroom, said “Groucho sent me,” and driven off in a sleek new two-tone auto with Nan Wynn in the passenger seat!

Note: For more Hudson-DeLange, you can listen to Mr. Ghost Goes to Town here and College Widow here. Enjoy!