Pied Pipers

The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers in a 1945 advertisement
Background information
Origin	California, United States
Genres	popular music, big band
Years active	1938–present
Labels	RCA Victor, Capitol
Associated acts	Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra
Members	Nancy Knorr Don Lucas Kevin Kennard Chris Sanders David Zack
Past members	Jo Stafford John Huddleston Chuck Lowry Hal Hopper Bud Hervey George Tait Woody Newbury Dick Whittinghill Spencer Clark Billy Wilson Clark Yocum Frank Sinatra June Hutton Sue Allen Virginia Marcy Louanne Hogan

The Pied Pipers is an American popular singing group originally formed in the late 1930s. They had several chart hits through the 1940s, both under their own name and in association with Tommy Dorsey and with Frank Sinatra.

Originally they consisted of eight members who had belonged to three separate groups: Jo Stafford from The Stafford Sisters, and seven male singers: John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody Newbury, and Dick Whittinghill, who had belonged to two groups named The Four Esquires and The Three Rhythm Kings, all of whom were contributing to the 1938 movie Alexander's Ragtime Band. Multi-instrumentalist Spencer Clark was also a member at one point.

Paul Weston and Axel Stordahl, who were arrangers for Tommy Dorsey's big band, heard of the group through two of The King Sisters, Alyce and Yvonne. Weston had a jam session at his home and a visiting advertising executive signed the octet for Dorsey's radio program, broadcast in New York City. They sang with Dorsey's orchestra for about six weeks before a British representative of the sponsor objected to some of the songs in their repertoire and fired them. They went back to California, but in the time they had been in New York had recorded two records for RCA Victor Records.

While in Los Angeles, the group was reduced to a quartet: Jo Stafford, her then-husband John Huddleston, and Chuck Lowry from the original eight, and Billy Wilson. They were getting very little work, however, and were on the threshold of disbanding when they received a call from Tommy Dorsey (in Chicago). Dorsey said he could not afford to hire eight Pipers but would be happy to have them join him if they could cut the number down to a quartet. As they had already done that, and with only one unemployment check remaining, they were happy to comply.