Biography
Born on 17 February 1911 in St. Louis, Missouri, the multifaceted bandleader, saxophonist, vocalist, composer and lyricist spent his formative years in Wheaton, Illinois. While still attending high school and college he directed student dance ensembles and simultaneously performed as altoist-vocalist with Tweet Hogan. Once his studies ended he concentrated on his own orchestra, which gained strong favor at Chicago-area hotels throughout the early 1930s; the group’s signature melody remained “Drifting And Dreaming.” In 1936 Tucker engaged a spirited young vocalist named Evelyn Nelson and promptly rechristened her Bonnie Baker. Four years later her playful reading of the 1916 number “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” became a million-selling sensation that elevated both the orchestra and the newly dubbed “Wee Bonnie Baker” to nationwide prominence. Additional successes followed with “Wishing (Will Make It So),” “Stop! It’s Wonderful,” “Billy,” “At The Balalaika,” “You’d Be Surprised,” “If I Could Be The Dummy On Your Knee,” “Apple Blossoms And Chapel Bells,” “Where Do I Go From You?,” “You’re The One (For Me),” “Hi Neighbor,” “Dear Mom,” “She Don’t Wanna,” plus Tucker’s own pieces “Would’ja Mind?,” “My Resistance Is Low” and “Pinch Me.” The ensemble also enjoyed a season-long engagement on the CBS radio program Your Hit Parade, and Tucker and Baker later appeared together in the 1941 motion picture You’re The One alongside Edward Everett Horton and Jerry Colonna. Tucker enlisted in the US Navy in 1942; after the war he assembled another orchestra that performed regularly at leading American hotels and nightspots. During 1955 he hosted his own weekly television series from the Hollywood Palladium for several months, after which he stepped back from full-time performing to focus on business affairs. In 1959 he organized a seven-piece group and spent the ensuing years working venues around Lake Tahoe, Hollywood and Las Vegas. By 1975 he had acquired a ballroom on Sunset Boulevard, which he christened The Stardust Ballroom in tribute to a recent television appearance; his own orchestra supplied music there five nights each week, establishing a durable and profitable operation.