BIG BANDS JUMP STARTED IN CHICAGO BALLROOMS.

The popularity of the hotel dance bands of the 1920s was also an important factor in the evolution of Big Band’s being heard on the radio. 

Band leader, Freddie Martin

The main source of revenue for budding band leaders, like Freddie Martin, came from playing for ballroom dance crowds and doing radio remote broadcasts in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Freddy Martin and his Orchestra, was featured on, The Maybelline hour in 1935-1937. The one hour radio show, called Penthouse Serenade, often included, Maybelline founder, Tom Lyle Williams and his family, riding up on the elevator, and entering the Ballroom on the top floor. 

This video of Freddy Martin and his orchestra, gives a bit of the flavor from a 1940s radio show.

Recording of Tom Lyle Williams doing his radio show, Penthouse Serenade, with the Williams family.


Read more about Freddy Martin and The Maybelline Hour’s, Penthouse Serenade in my book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.