Elvis Presley

Wesley Willis

Elvis Presley

Crying In The Chapel

Crying In The Chapel

Hit Parader HP-35

Unknown artist

1965

In 1923, a 24-year-old John Santangelo left Italy to immigrate to the United States.  Initially, he made his living as a bricklayer and masonry contractor. Then, in 1934, he came up with the idea of printing and selling the lyrics to the popular songs of the day. Soon he was making hundreds of dollars of supplemental income.  According to the official history of the Charlton company, Santangelo was blissfully unaware that he was breaking copyright laws until his activities came to the attention of American Society of Composers, Authors and Producers [ASCAP]. He was convicted of copyright infringement and sentenced to a year in the New Haven County jail. In jail he met white-collar criminal and former attorney Edward Levy.   Levy recognized a good idea, and they formed a partnership to legally publish song lyric magazines.  And because they both had infant sons named Charles, they christened their new venture Charlton Publishing. Their first publication was Hit Parader magazine in 1935, and it was published continuously until Charlton Publishing closed shop in 1991.

The company jumped into the field of cover records in 1959. 

 

Two labels were launched : Hit Parader and Song Hits.  They released six 45s every year (3 of each label) until 1966. The two labels shared numbering systems. Hit Parader were all ODD numbered and Song Hits were all EVEN numbered.  Song Hits and Hit Parader records, were distributed by Capital Distributing Co. of Derby CT,

Sources :

The Charlton Comics Story

45-sleeves : Hit Parader

Honey Bee

Gloria Wood

with Ivan Scott and the Four Jewels

Honey Bee

(Lawson, Blue River Music BMI)
A Pete Lofthouse arrangement
Diamond 3001
1956

THE KANSAS CITY STAR. SUNDAY. MAY 25. 1958. 

Gloria’s Voice(s) All Over TV, but She’s Never Seen By Hal Humphrey. 

HOLLYWOOD.—“! want to be seen on TV. Everywhere I go I have to be explained, and it makes me very unhappy.” This complaint comes from a 5-foot-2 bouncy blonde by the name of Gloria Wood who possesses more voices than the late Lon Chaney had disguises. On the “Disneyland” show Gloria Wood.  She is “Tinker Bell” in the peanut butter commercial. It’s Gloria’s high-pitched voice which emanates from the smoking penguin.  In the course of one day’s work her 4-octave range voice will be dubbed for Julie London’s on a radio cigarette commercial, the little cartoon characters in a TV beer commercial and i train whistle for a railroad plug. A few weeks ago Gloria stood in the wings of an N.B.C. studio here and sang the high notes for Betty Hutton who was doing a blues number. On a “live” show this made for some tricky timing on both Gloria and Betty’s parts. Years ago when Bing Crosby recorded “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” he had Gloria play the piping voice of Rudolph. She was on his radio show eight years. When Gloria opens up her mailbox in the mornings it is overflowing with what are called residual checks. Each time any of the nearly 2000 TV-radio commercials she has made is played again, she gets paid for the repeat performance. This lush monetary balm only partly soothes Gloria’s wounded ego. She would be willing to share a hefty chunk of it with anyone who would hire the whole Wood body, instead of just the voice. All Too Frustrating. “It’s all too frustrating.” says Gloria. “What good does it do to be Minnie Mouse’s voice—which I was—if ] body knows it’s mine?” There was a time when Gloria was hired “in person. After graduation from high school in Arlington, Mass., she got a job singing at a Boston radio station. In 1941 she became the vocalist for the Clyde Lucas band, then playing at Roseland in New York. After another stint with Horace Heidt, Gloria joined Kay Kyser’s band and did the vocalizing for such Kyser recording hits as the “Woody Woodpecker Song.” It was her vocal gymnastics on this novelty number which brought her to the attention of the genuises who turn out singing and cartoon commercials for radio and TV. Gloria thought it was fun at first. Suddenly her voice was in such great demand that she couldn’t find time for anything else. Advertising agencies both here and in New York would rearraange their schedeules and wait patiently for “that Wood girl.” On one occasion the producer of a wax commercial needed voices for a little girl, her brother and a mother. Hej^ had Gloria for the little girl,: but didn’t like those he had auditioned for the boy and mother. Gloria wound up do ing the boy’s voice, but the! producer was afraid that if he let her be the mother he would be lynched by the other performers auditioning. Made a Recording. In 1956 Gloria found time to make a record of her own. It was jazz song called “Hey, Bellboy!” and with the sexy overtones Gloria gave the lyrics, it was well on its way to hitdom. “Then the roof caved in,” Gloria says. “The networks banned it. There was really nothing wrong with the song, just a few dirty minds reading something into it that wasn’t there.” She has a new album (“Wood by the Fire”) coming out soon, and hopes it will get her launched as a personality. Meanwhile, Gloria will go on bearing her cross—making commercials, dubbing voices for big stars and shoveling the checks out of the mailbox

Gloria Wood

A partial discography

1941 Elite ? 

Clyde Lucas Band

no details

194? — Mastertone GW-2/3

Gloria Wood with The Bachelors :  

Rhumba at the Matzo Ball
In Brazil It's The Nuts  

1946 — 4 Star 1059

Tommy Todd And The 4-Star Orch, vocal Gloria Wood

Queen For A Day
Out Of A Dream

1946 — 4 Star 1076

Ted Fio Rito And His Orchestra (Vocal by Gloria Wood)

East Of The Sun Side 

other side vocal by Adriana (Snow Whote) Caselotti and Pinto Colvig

1946 — 4 Star 1077

Ted Fio Rito And His Orchestra (Vocal by Gloria Wood) : 

Now That's You're Gone

 other side vocal by Bob Scott

1947 — Columbia 37214  

Kay Kyser and his orchestra / 

vocal chorus by The Campus Kids  featuring Gloria Wood : 

Managua, Nicaragua
reverse :  vocal chorus by Michael Douglas and the Campus Kids

1948 — Columbia 37956

Kay Kyser and his orchestra /

vocal chorus by The Campus Kids  featuring Gloria Wood

Pass That Peace Pipe
reverse : Vocal chorus by Harry Babitt and The Campus Kids.

1948 —  Columbia 38067  

Kay Kyser and his orchestra / 

Vocal by Harry Babbitt and Gloria Wood : 

Teresa

 reverse vocal by The Campus Kids

1948 —  Columbia 38197 

Kay Kyser and his orchestra / Vocal chorus by Gloria Wood : 

Woody Wood-Pecker

Kay Kyser's Campus Cowboys, vocal chorus by Gloria Wood :

When Veronica Plays the Harmonica

1953 —  Capitol 2436 

Buddy Cole And Gloria Wood

Red Canary
Hello Sunshine

 1953 —  Capitol 2471

Anybody Hurt?

Hey, Bellboy!

1953 —  Capitol 2625 : 

Oh, Honey
By The Waters Of Minnetonka

1955 —  Coral 61396

Lover-Lover (Why Must We Part?)

Teen-Time  

1953 -  Capitol EAP 1-538

Anybody Hurt? 

Oh, Honey
Hey, Bellboy!
By The Waters Of Minnetonka

1955 —  Coral 61457 

Hey Mister! (Where Is My Baby Tonight?)
I Keep Telling Myself

1955 —  Decca 29756 

Jimmy Wakely with Gloria Wood

Are You Satisfied?

Mississippi Dreamboat

1956 —  Diamond 3001 : 

Gloria Wood,  Ivan Scott and his orchestra with the Four Jewels: 

The Rock And Roll

Honey Bee 

1956 —  Diamond 3005

Gloria Wood,  Ivan Scott and his orchestra with the Four Jewels:

Close The Door Gently
Wear a Smile

1957 —  Verve 10070

Ricky Nelson 

You're My One and Only Love (Gloria Wood, girl voice uncredited)

1957 — Zephyr 70-009   

Sabourin
Scoundrel Blues

 1957 —  Zephyr 70-010 

Lullaby in Blue

Someday Soon (from film "Bundle of Joy")

1958 —  Columbia 41070 

Mr. Sorrow
Back Door

1958 —  Columbia 41156 

I Won't Be A Fool Agai

 Heartless Kisses

1959 — Columbia CL1286 LP Wood By The Fire 

Painting The Town With The Blues
It's Monday Every Day
A Stranger in Town
It's The Talk of The Town
But Not For Me
In a Sentimental Mood
Penny Dream Blues
Mean To Me
I Got It Bad
I Don't Want To Cry Anymore
The Wrong Blues
Goodbye

1960 —  Vista 361 :

Gloria Wood and the Afterbeats : 

Ching Ching / 

Doo Dee Doo Doop

1962 —  Warner 1371  (LP)
Pete Rugolo And His Orchestra* ‎– Behind Brigitte Bardot - Cool Sounds From Her Hot Scenes

Paris B.B. (Vocals Gloria Wood)
the only title sung by her on this LP

Pretty Little Brown Eyes

Alice Grant

Orch Chic Morrison

 Pretty Little Brown Eyes

 (George Appleyard,  Cunha Music Publishing Company)

Arranged By Ralph Jones  
A George Appleyard Production

Blue Star 503

Hackensack, New Jersey or N.Y.C.?

1965?

The only recognizable name here is Chic Morrison. the orchestra leader.  Veteran musician Chic (Chick) Morrison played drums with Cab Calloway and other big-time entertainers, such as Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter.

Alice Grant previously recorded with Geo. Appleyard (also probably owner of the label) on Blue Star 501. which according to one comment  at 45cat.com, "is very much like something Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood would do"

Rhythm Un-Huh

Maurice White

Rhythm Un-Huh

Mila Pride, Cedarwood BMI

Pride 1003

1908 Lebanon Road, Pho. AL-6-0019 Nashville, Tenn.

1960

Mila (Shoemaker) Pride was born circa 1903 in Nashville, Tennessee and was an operator-clerk for the service of the Railway Company, Tennessee.  She also wrote songs in her spare time.  And she managed to recruit singer Maurice White for her vanity Gold and Pride labels.  "Rhythm Un-Huh" was previously issued on Gold in 1958.

Maurice White sounds here more like a Globe Studios song poem artist.  He also recorded, as Marty Wyte, a more energetic "Queen of The Mardi Gras" (issued three times, on Shammy, Revue and Brosh Records).  

A Maurice White/Marty Wyte discography can be found here (Rockin' Country Style)