More music today from Frank Picher and Phil Reed, who recorded 78s on the Dance-Tone label, to be played at roller skating rinks in the 1940s and 50s. I thank Bill Picher for sharing his father's records and the history of the Dance-Tone record label with me (excerpts below). None of these records were ever offered on a format other than the original 78 rpm recordings--so without his careful and thorough documentation, the history of this interesting niche market might have been lost forever.
History of Dance-Tone Records of Revere MA from Bill Picher:
"Dance-Tone Records started out in Medford, Massachusetts in the late 1940's as a business owned by Fred Freeman. Freeman was a big shot in the roller skating world at that time, and owned several rinks in that area, as well as other places. Fred was also the first president of the Roller Skating Rink Owners Association (RSROA), which I think is still active, though maybe under a different name.
Anyway, my father had worked in several of Fred's rinks, as well as other rinks in the Boston area. He played at rinks with interesting names such as Bal-a-Rou, Wal-Lex, Chez Vous and others, and also played for national and regional competitions at Boston Garden. I have some programs for some of these events.
I'm told that Dad was among the best in his field (roller skating organ music), and very well known and loved in skating circles. He did this kind of work for many years.
A little background on Frank Picher - - he was born in 1903 to a musical family, his father played the cornet as did his brother, Ludger. In addition to learning cornet and french horn, he also took piano lessons.
In 1932, he was playing trumpet with a band called Roane's Pennsylvanians who recorded some sides for RCA Victor in NYC. These records turn up on eBay now and then, and were reissued on a CD recently. One of them showed up recently in a Ron Howard film, "Cinderella Man". At the time of the depression, Dad got involved with playing organ in roller skating rinks, and stuck with that as it was a more stable income to support his growing family.
Fred Freeman asked my father to be involved with the recording enterprise early on, which he had started with organist Phil Reed and an engineer by the name of Bill Watkins. Dad was reluctant, I'm told, as he didn't really enjoy the pressure of recording. But apparently Fred was persuasive, as Dad recorded quite a few sides along with Phil Reed.
Phil played organ in a rink in New York and traveled down to Medford, later Revere (MA), to make the records. Phil and Frank got along famously. They really enjoyed each other, and I think some of that comes through in the records. I have a photo of Phil Reed that he autographed for my Dad - - "To Frank, my favorite ten-fingered pal."
Dance-Tone produced quite a number of records, mostly Phil Reed by himself on the organ. Many feature Phil on the organ and Frank Picher at the piano. A few of the records have them switching roles - - Frank on the Hammond and Phil on the Steinway. Dad recorded some records by himself as well, but never approved them for release, despite Fred Freeman's constant encouragement.
I have a few of the acetate masters for Dad's things, as well as unissued takes of Phil and Frank, and even a fun one of them just "jamming" on a tune that Dad had made up. Sounds like they were having a good time." (note: "Untitled" in the download below)
(from left to right: Bill Watkins (engineer, pointing at record), Phil Reed (in pin striped suit), behind him Frank Picher (just his head), there is an anonymous person who is hidden, and on the right is Fred Freeman, owner of the studio.)
"Unfortunately, Dad could have cared less for the records themselves, and didn't take any steps to preserve them for posterity. In fact, he let me play with them as toys when I was a little kid and obviously many were destroyed! Later, when I would find one at a thrift store or flea market, Dad would just laugh. He said he didn't like to listen to them as he could always hear the mistakes in his playing. Having done a fair amount of recording myself, I can understand this!
I remember one night in the mid-1960's when we were flipping around on the family radio dial, and over the airways comes "Phil Reed on the Hammond and Frank Picher at the Steinway", recorded almost 20 years before! Dad was mildly amused that anyone would care to listen!
When they were first issued, the records were meant to be strictly for roller skating use. Hence the metronome markings and the dance steps indicated on the labels. Apparently, quite a few of them were sold to rinks. The advertisements speak of "the two top flight rink musicians whose popularity on Dance-Tone's records is sweeping the country", and another advertising campaign featured cartoons of the two musicians with the caption, "Meet Phil and Frank".
The records were distributed by Dance-Tone Record Company, as well as in the west by a company in Colorado called Bergin and Norcross. Fred Bergin was a rink organist himself, and later started his own company called "Rinx Records", enjoying success well into the 1980's. He was a friend of my Dad, and tried to talk my father into relocating to the west coast, and recording for Rinx Records. My father, the staunch New Englander, opted to stay East, and eventually moved the family to his home state of Maine.
As the records became more and more successful, Fred Freeman decided to go more commercial with them. He managed to get radio airplay for them, and diversified his stable of recording artists. Records were issued by Phil Reed and his Fourtones, Phil Reed and Mickey Gentile (another pianist, and a fabulous one), Gloria Carroll (a singer) with Pat Sands and His Orchestra, Denis Deleney (an Irish tenor) and even one featuring His Excellency Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston reciting a St. Patrick's Day Prayer! A couple records featured Tepper and Bennett, a song writing team, who later went on to write loads of songs. Some of Elvis Presley's early movie soundtracks, like "G.I. Blues", were written by Tepper and Bennett.
Dad said that the commercial approach never did catch on, and business finally ran out of gas. Fred Freeman went through a messy divorce (Dad said his ex-wife took him to the cleaners!) and he got out of the rink business eventually. Dance-Tone Record Studio eventually burned to the ground in a fire, I assume taking all of the masters with it."
"I guess Phil Reed (above) went back to New York and played successfully up there in rinks for many years after. He died the same year as my father, in 1982. Phil (Philip J. DeSanto) is buried in Ft. Myers, Florida next to his wife Mildred who died in 1985. I visited his grave site a few years ago when I had a gig down in Ft. Myers. Dad is buried in Scarborough, Maine with my mother, who survived him until 1993."
More Music from Picher and Reed (from 78rpm)
