Fond Memories of Cab Calloway

As a publicist in New York in the ‘40s and ‘50s, I was fortunate to represent a number of the great talents of the musical world, including Cab Calloway.

I handled his publicity at a time when he was in a popularity decline, and my most vivid memory of that association was the time I “gave him away” as a prize on the TV quiz show “Stop the Music.” He had just returned from a disastrous engagement in a Philadelphia nightclub, where business had been terrible; I proposed that he needed more exposure on the new electronic medium, television. Unlike some clients, he listened and cooperated.

At the time, “Stop the Music” was one of the most popular programs on TV, giving away prizes to people on the telephone who could correctly identify the name of a song the orchestra was playing. I proposed to the producers that instead of merchandise, they “give away” Calloway and the band for one night. (Calloway and the band, of course, were to perform on the program each week until there was a winner.) Calloway and the producers readily agreed.

After about three or four weeks of national exposure on “Stop the Music,” Calloway and the band were “awarded” to an elderly couple in Providence, R.I. They had them play at a benefit dance for their church, but first we had them perform at the couple’s tiny home, seated on cases of canned foods, appliances and other items.

A month later, the band returned to that club in Philadelphia, and it filled so quickly that the ropes were up nightly by 9.

I can say, without hesitation, that he was a wonderful man and a delight as a client. I already miss him.

DIXON GAYER

Huntington Beach