Johnny Long(1916-1972)

A left-handed violinist who started an eleven-piece campus band at Duke University in 1932, originally called 'The Freshmen' (later the 'Duke Collegians'), who went on to turn professional upon graduation. Long's success was largely based on a single 1940 hit song, "A Shanty In Old Town", which sold over a million copies. The band subsequently landed a lucrative recording contract with Decca and national radio broadcasts followed. Long eventually expanded the outfit to seven saxes and seven brass for a bigger sound. This group, performing a hybrid mix of swing and sweet, enjoyed a fair amount of popularity, particularly with younger audiences in the South and Midwest. Not surprisingly, one of the sponsored radio shows the band appeared on was 'The Teen-Timers Show'. The main female vocalist was Helen Young, whose rendition of "Takin' A Chance On Love" was another big hit. Notable sidemen included Ernie Caceres, Allan Reuss and Ted Nash. Possibly the band's most enduring claim to fame was being featured in the Abbott & Costello comedy Hit the Ice (1943), with Long himself cast as a straight romantic lead.

At the end of the big band era in the 1950's, Long reduced the size of the band and went on tour, performing several times at the Hotel Fremont in Las Vegas. An easy-going, personable character, he quit the music business in the following decade to retrain as an English teacher but died aged 56 in January 1972.