KWXY Presents ● The Story and Music of Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller Orchestra, 1940-41 Credit: From Ray Anthony

Glenn Miller was a popular Swing Era bandleader, trombonist, composer, and arranger as well as a major in the United States Army Air Forces.  He was active between 1923 and his death in a military plane crash over the English Channel on December 15, 1944. 

Born Alton Glenn Miller on March 1, 1904 in Clarinda, Iowa to Mattie Lou and Lewis Elmer Miller, Glenn Miller attended grade school in Nebraska, later moving to Missouri with his family.  It was there he earned enough money to buy his first trombone and to become a member of the Grant City, Missouri town orchestra.  As a high school student in Fort Morgan, Colorado, Miller excelled as a football player and became interested in dance music in his senior year.  He later attended the University of Colorado at Boulder but dropped out to pursue a career in music.

Arriving in New York City in 1928, Miller married college sweetheart Helen Burger.  From then until the early 1930s, Miller was active as a freelancer, playing in pit orchestras.  Beginning in the early thirties, Miller worked for The Dorsey Brothers as a musician and arranger.  In 1936, he appeared in his first movie with The Ray Noble Orchestra, The Big Broadcast of 1936.

After failures with earlier bands, Miller decided to try for a sound which would differentiate itself from other orchestras.  In it, the melody was carried by the clarinet and tenor saxophone; the remaining saxophones contributed the harmonic line. Success came soon after an appearance at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York in front of a record-breaking crowd of more than 1800 fans. 

Glenn Miller / Ad on page 27 of May 16, 1942 Billboard magazine - Unknown author

According to the official Glenn Miller website: “The Glenn Miller Orchestra recorded 17 Top 10 Hits in 1939, 31 in 1940, and 11 each in 1941 and 1942. By the 1940s, Glenn Miller was earning around $20,000 a week.  His most well-known songs include ‘In the Mood,’ ‘A String of Pearls,’ ‘Little Brown Jug’ and ‘Moonlight Serenade.’”

The website also lists his awards as an Army officer:  The Bronze Star Medal, The World War II Victory Medal, The American Campaign Medal, The European, African and Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and The Marksman Badge with Carbine and Pistol Bars.

In 1945, Miller was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, presented to his widow.

Listen to The Story and Music of Glenn Miller on The Wink Martindale Show today at 1pm, on KWXY Music Radio 92.3FM ● 1340AM ● streaming at kwxy.com and ivoxradio.com