The Singers Change, but the Harmony of ‘The Modernaires’ Still Resounds

They were first known in 1935 as “Don Juan, Two and Three.”

They became “The Three Wizards of Ozzie” after joining the Ozzie Nelson Band in 1936.

Then lead singer Hal Dickinson saw a “Modernaire Heating and Air Conditioning” advertisement in a New York subway car in 1937.

Perhaps the new name, “The Modernaires,” helped the group land a 10-year contract with the Glenn Miller Band in 1939. But undoubtedly it was the tight, inside chords the group introduced, a sound that caused listeners to tilt their heads in wonder like the beagle in the RCA gramophone trademark “His Master’s Voice.”

It was a new song, a new era. It was “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

Today, Paula Kelly Jr. of Tarzana carries on the tradition begun by her father, the late Hal Dickinson, and her mother, Paula Kelly, joined by Tommy Traynor, Rich Maxwell and Bill Tracy.

Kelly said the popularity of the group is still strong. “Maybe people are getting tired of this noise,” Kelly said of modern music. “Maybe romance is back. It brings back wonderful memories to people and words that you can understand and relate to. A lot of it was wartime--a lot of goodbys.”

The Modernaires regularly tour the United States and perform annually overseas. Backed by the Glenn Miller Reunion Band, the group will sing for Swedish royalty in October as part of Swedish-American week in Stockholm. The Modernaires recently helped close Donte’s in North Hollywood and regularly performed at Jerry Van Dyke’s in Encino, King Arthurs and the Palladium.

But it is the sellout tours, Kelly said, that prove their drawing power, especially in Australia where in 1986 they drew a crowd of 15,000 when they performed with nine original members of the Glenn Miller band.

“And one half of the audience is kids in World War II costumes screaming and yelling,” said Kelly, who joined the group in 1978 when her mother retired. “I think they like the Americana.”

Kelly said the original group was “a lot more hip, more modern than what anybody had ever tried before--rather than just the vanilla kind of stuff.”

Kelly, 44, began her career singing in church and school groups and later formed a trio with her sisters, The Kelly Sisters, who performed on the Bob Crosby and Dean Martin television shows. Her mother set the pattern before her with the original Kelly Sisters who sang at “DAR meetings, for our mother and for bridge clubs” and also on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, she said.

There have only been two female vocalists, but 15 male singers have come and gone since the first trio was formed in Buffalo, N.Y.

Tommy Traynor joined the group in 1949.

“I used to hear them on the Paul Whiteman broadcast,” Traynor remembers. “I thought they were just the living end. When I was in high school I went to see them at the Palladium. I just wanted to stand next to that girl singer and sing with that group.”

Traynor, 63, of Reseda, began his singing career with the Bob Mitchell Boys Choir in 1935. He appeared with Pat O’Brien, James Cagney and the Dead End Kids in “Angels With Dirty Faces” and a slew of swashbuckling movies “where we all had to wear those Prince Valiant-type wigs,” he said.

Traynor later sang with the bands of Jan Garber, Frankie Masters, Benny Goodman and Jerry Gray. He now handles the group’s arrangements, which never stray far from the classics the Modernaires are known for such as “Tuxedo Junction,” “I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.”

“Serenade in Blue,” and of course the wildly popular “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

“They were so modern, so far ahead of their time harmonically,” Traynor said of the original group. “The four blended perfectly.”

The astounding harmonics were arranged by Modernaire singer Bill Conway who “had a musical mind that was just out on cloud nine someplace.” Traynor said. “He came up with sounds that were just not done by other groups.”

The new sound gave impetus to many groups who began layering their own innovative chords. Among them were the Meltones, Pied Pipers, Merrymacs and Six Hits and a Miss.

Maxwell, 42, joined the Modernaires in 1974 after launching his career as featured tenor soloist with the late Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians and later with The Ray Charles Singers, Perry Como’s Las Vegas Revue and the Carol Burnett television show.

Tracy, like Traynor, began singing with the Bob Mitchell Boys Choir and in 1963 began a 10-year stint as comic Jackie Curtiss’ straight man. Tracy, 50, joined the group a year ago.

The “Mods” recently performed at a roast for song-and-dance man Donald O’Connor in Beverly Hills where host Milton Berle commented on the wonderful dinna .

“There are new additions,” Berle said when introducing the Modernaires. “But they’re the same voices.” The group performed “Little Brown Jug,” “April in Paris,” “Tuxedo Junction” and “Juke Box Saturday Night” where Maxwell let loose with his Streisand imitation and Traynor gave a hilarious Anthony Newley impression singing, “Who Can I Turn To?”

“I love ya, I love ya,” Berle said, taking time out to remove the cigar from his mouth. “Yer terrific.”

O’Connor called the group “a close second.”

“You can hardly tell the difference,” O’Connor said. “They sing right true to form.”

Berle starred in “Sun Valley Serenade” with the Modernaires in the 1940s. Swing-era audiences flocked to the movie, which was packed with performances of the Glenn Miller band. But the big draw was “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” sung by the Modernaires, that sold an unprecedented 1 million copies. “I think she’s great,” Paula Kelly, 69, said of her daughter. “But I’m a little partial. She’s a good kid.” After 53 years, Kelly doesn’t see an end to the group. “It’s just like any other business,” she said. “If someone leaves, someone else joins.”

Her daughter agreed. “I think we’ll keep it going as long as there are audiences, and believe me they’re sold out,” she said. “It inspires us to go on. We plan to stay around for a long time.”

Kelly said possibilities for future female leads are her daughter, Jennifer, 15, who loves to sing, dance and write poetry and lyrics, and her niece Kelly, 14, daughter of sister Julie.

The group rehearses at Traynor’s home in Reseda or at the home of their accompanist, Dave Moscoe. But wherever they perform, Traynor said, they are always mindful of including one particular song.

When you hear the whistle blowin’ eight to the bar

Then you know that Tennessee is not very far

Shovel all the coal in, gotta keep a rollin’

Woo woo Chattanooga there you are!