Kay Kyser

The death of Kay Kyser brings back a flood of teen-age memories to those of us in a generation and time when sweet, lyrical love ballads were “in,” cutesy novelty tunes like “Three Little Fishes” the rage, and lines of us strung around the Paramount Theater down Hill Street waiting to hear the Kyser orchestra and the “Kollege of Musical Knowledge” do their thing for sellout crowds.

It was a time when the very theme song of any major big band would generate paroxysms of joy among the camp followers even when the first strains would emanate from behind the theater curtain. Kyser’s “Thinking of You” was surely a catalyst for this reaction.

The Kollege of Musical Knowledge was a regular Wednesday night “must” on radio, and big band “remotes” from dance halls across the country ever whetted the appetites of youth of the ‘40s to see in person their favorites whenever these orchestras had local bookings. Now, the death of the Ol’ Perfesser takes one more memorable figure from the thinning ranks of those who helped made the big band era a niche in time that will not be forgotten. Kyser has bid us a final “ . . . So long Evabody!”

FRANK R. WYNNE

Los Alamitos