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Herb Stark, one of the founders of the Ralph Flanagan fan club, remembers Peggy from her days with the band during the early '50'.s. He keeps the memory of the band, Peggy and the band's male singer, Harry Prime, alive by making regular contributions to the letters-to-the-editor columns of various periodicals around the country, such as the one illustrated below. The song you hear, Very Good Advice, from the Disney animated feature Alice In Wonderland, sung by Peggy with the Flanagan band, is also courtesy of Mr. Stark. Click here to watch a seven-minute-plus video clip of an excerpt from The Strange Journey of Jenny Hill, the episode of Maverick in which Peggy starred in a singing role opposite Jim Garner. Herb provided us with a copy of the episode, and another friend of this website, Mr. John Greenstreet, did the video editing.
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Here is a reprint of a letter Herb wrote to the Hudson Reporter.com to celebrate the life of an iconic music personality.
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Dear Editor: .
December 12, 1915: On what would have been his 99th birthday, I want to pay homage to Frank Sinatra, the man who gave us so many years of first class entertainment via radio, TV, personal appearances and films. If you read any of the many books written about Frank Sinatra, you come away feeling like you wish you could have lived such an incredible life. From the shy soft-voiced singer from Hoboken, to the swinging singer of the 1950s on, Sinatra did it all and left behind a legacy that will not diminish, not ever!
His legions of fans include Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Vic Damone, Jane Powell, Harry Prime, Peggy King and the Philly based All-Star Jazz Trio comprised of pianist Andy Kahn, drummer Bruce Klauber, bassist Bruce Kaminsky along with music notables Billy Jon Coogan (director of global live events at ‘22 Social Club Productions’), music director George Roumanis, music celebrity archivist Anthony DiFlorio lll and WYYR program director Chris Valenti.
A Happy Birthday to Francis Albert Sinatra who loves to ‘swing among the stars’ and doing it ‘his way’!
Herb Stark
Mooresville, NC
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Here is a reprint of a letter Herb posted to the Ocean City Gazette that appeared in their March 6, 2013 edition on the occasion of Peggy's being named grand marshal of the Doo Dah Parade in Ocean City, New Jersey in April:
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To the editor:
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Philadelphia chanteuse Pretty Perky Peggy King, who sang with the big bands of Charlie Spivack, Ralph Flanagan and later was the featured singer on the popular George Gobel television show in the 1950s, is to be the next grand marshal of the prestigious, world famous Doo Dah Parade in Ocean City April 13, and also honored with a lifetime achievement award by the city. The live press conference is on April 12 and Peggy will also be speaking.
As a fan of Peggy, I'd like to add, “It's about time!”
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Herb Stark
Massapequa, NY
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| Regular contributor Herb Stark has relocated from his long-time home on Long Island to Mooresville, North Carolina. Here is a recent letter from Herb to the editor of his new hometown newspaper, the Moorestown Tribune: |
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Editor's Note: Herb is a devoted Peggy King fan, but he has the chronology just a bit out of sequence in his letter to Downbeat. Here's how the story really unfolded:
Peggy had made the Hunt commercial well before ever hearing from Mitch Miller. Miller happened to hear Peggy's singing commercial on his car radio as he was driving through Manhattan one day, and he immediately thought that Peggy, her voice and her singing style had definite commercial possibilities. After some research, Miller tracked down Peggy to her home in California and gave her a telephone call. "This is Mitch Miller," Peggy heard, when she picked up the phone. Peggy replied, "Yes, and I'm Snow White," and she promptly hung up. Not to be deterred, Miller then enlisted the help of Columbia Records' star Jo Stafford, who also lived in California, to get in touch with Peggy and let her know that it was indeed Mitch Miller who was trying to reach her and that he had a recording contract for her in mind. The two finally did get together, and Peggy did get that Columbia Records recording contract - thanks to that earlier Hunt's Tomato Sauce singing commercial and Mitch Miller's keen ear.
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