Sammy Kaye

Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter,<ref name="Larkin50">Template:Cite book</ref> whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era.<ref name="Larkin50"/> The expression springs from his first hit single in 1937, "Swing and Sway" (U.S. no. 15). He was the first to record and release the standard "Blueberry Hill" in 1940. During World War II, he co-wrote and recorded the anthemic "Remember Pearl Harbor" (U.S. No. 3). He was the first to record and release the no. 1 song "Daddy" in 1941.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Biography

Template:Moresources Kaye, born in Lakewood, Ohio,<ref name="Larkin50"/> graduated from Rocky River High School in Rocky River, Ohio.<ref>Bona, Marc (February 12, 2012) "Sammy Kaye: Your 2 p.m. Buckeye Bits A&E trivia" The Plain Dealer</ref> At Ohio University in Athens, Ohio he was a member of Theta Chi fraternity. Kaye could play the saxophone and the clarinet, but he never featured himself as a soloist on either instrument.

He was one of the leading exponents of the swing era's "sweet" bands, with a repertoire of sedate dance music (as opposed to "hot" bands, which played energetic rhythm numbers). Kaye made a large number of records for Vocalion Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Bell Records, and the American Decca record label. He was also a hit on radio; he was known for an audience-participation gimmick called "So You Want to Lead a Band?" where audience members would be called onto stage in an attempt to conduct the orchestra, with the possibility of winning batons.<ref name="Larkin50"/> Kaye was also known for his use of "singing of song titles", which was emulated by Kay Kyser and Blue Barron.Template:Cn

He was the first to record and release "Blueberry Hill" in 1941, a song which became a standard in several genres, including pop, jazz, big band, swing, and rock and roll. He was also the first to record and release the classic song "Daddy" in 1941, which hit no. 1 and which was recorded by other bands and singers.Template:Cn

Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), Kaye wrote the music and Don Reid wrote the words to "Remember Pearl Harbor", the tune of which was based on Ohio University's "Alma Mater". On December 17, 1941, RCA Victor recorded the song, with Sammy Kaye's Swing and Sway Band and The Glee Club. The 78-rpm single was released in 1942, reaching no. 3 on the charts.Template:Cn

After the big-band era

Sammy Kaye was one of the relatively few bandleaders of the 1930s who remained active in the 1950s. Many of his contemporaries had disbanded after World War II, when popular music emphasized singers over orchestras. In 1950 Kaye scored a number-one hit with "Harbor Lights". In 1955, Kaye recorded for the RCA Thesaurus transcription service,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> resulting in his orchestra being featured five times a week on several national radio networks.

His band members included Ralph Flanagan,<ref name="Larkin50"/> who later led his own band. Singers included Don Cornell, Billy Williams (the country music singer with the Pecos River Rogues), Tommy Ryan, Gary Willner, Barry Frank, Tony Russo, and Nancy Norman. All members of the band sometimes sang backing vocals in various combination as the "Kaydets". Although his musicians were always competent, the jazz critic George T. Simon described them as "magnificently trained and exceedingly unoriginal".<ref name="Larkin50"/>

Television

Sammy Kaye appeared semi-regularly on network television during the 1950s:

• The Sammy Kaye Show on CBS Television (1951–52)
• The Sammy Kaye Show on NBC Television (summer 1953)
• So You Want to Lead a Band on ABC Television (1954–55)
• Sammy Kaye's Music from Manhattan on ABC (1958–59)<ref>Alex McNeil, Total Television, p. 770</ref>

Death

Kaye died at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey of cancer.<ref>Obituary: Sammy Kaye, latimes.com. Accessed September 8, 2025.</ref> His body was returned to Lakewood, Ohio and after a Mass at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Rocky River, he was buried in the family plot next to his parents at Lakewood Park Cemetery. Prior to his death in 1987, Kaye left his orchestra to Roger Thorpe of New Paltz, New York.<ref name="Larkin50"/> Thorpe, an accomplished music professor at SUNY Dutchess and director of the Dutchess Jazz Ensemble, knew Kaye over the years. Thorpe led the Sammy Kaye orchestra for 33 years, appearing on tours and cruises;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thorpe died in 2023.

In popular culture

• In October 1939, Kaye's "sweet band" sound was satirized by Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra with the song "The Wrong Idea (Swing and Sweat with Charlie Barnet)" written by Charlie Barnet and Billy May.

Compositions

Sammy Kaye wrote or co-wrote the following songs: "Remember Pearl Harbor" (U.S. No. 3),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "Until Tomorrow (Goodnight, My Love)" (U.S. No. 10),<ref name="Larkin50"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "Belmont Boogie", "Kaye's Melody", "Wanderin'" (U.S. No. 11), "I Gotta See a Dream About a Girl",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "I Miss Your Kiss"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and "Bottoms Up (Let's Have a Ball)" with Sunny Skylar, "The Midnight Ride", and "Hawaiian Sunset".<ref name="Larkin50"/> "I Miss Your Kiss" was released as a U.S. War Department V-Disc in May, 1945 as 433A during World War II for American troops overseas.

Filmography

• Song of the Open Road (1944)
• Iceland (1942)

Legacy

Kaye was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992, and for his contribution to the recording industry has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

See also

• "Daddy (Sammy Kaye song)"

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Official WebsiteTemplate:Dead link
• Sammy Kaye recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.