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The Pied Pipers

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Pied Pipers are an American pop vocal group, formed in the late 1930s. The first line-up had eight members drawn from three ensembles: Jo Stafford of The Stafford Sisters and seven male singers. They sang in the film Alexander's Ragtime Band in 1938. The arrangers Paul Weston and Axel Stordahl heard them and brought them to Tommy Dorsey's radio programme. Dorsey could not afford eight Pipers and asked for a quartet. It consisted of Jo Stafford, her husband at the time John Huddleston, Chuck Lowry and Billy Wilson, who was later replaced by Clark Yocum.

Music and breakthrough

In 1940 Frank Sinatra joined Dorsey's orchestra. Together with the Pipers he made the big success I'll Never Smile Again. The group went on to have twelve hits with Dorsey, ten of them with Sinatra. Around Thanksgiving 1942 one of the Pipers was dismissed, whereupon the group left out of loyalty. Their last song with Dorsey, There Are Such Things, was at number one at the time.

Influence

In Los Angeles they signed with Capitol Records, where Paul Weston became arranger and bandleader. They also backed Johnny Mercer. Jo Stafford left in 1944 for a solo career, and June Hutton took her place. The Pipers had twelve hits at Capitol, including Dream, and appeared on Mercer's radio programme and with Sinatra. Their singing shows how in the 1940s a small vocal group could work both as accompaniment to a singer and as an act in its own right.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to I'll Never Smile Again by Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers and notice how the group supports Sinatra's vocal. When do the voices of the Pipers come in?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists