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Phil Spitalny

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Bandleader

The Resume

    (November 7, 1890-October 11, 1970)
    Born in Tetiev, Ukraine
    Leader of Phil Spitalny's All Girl Orchestra
    Recorded 'People Will Say We're in Love,' 'Shine On, Harvest Moon,' 'Hello, Baby,' and 'I Want to Meander in the Meadow'
    Filmography includes 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1942),' 'Here Come the Co-eds (1945)' and 'Meet the Maestros (1938)'

Why he might be annoying:

    He spoke with a thick Eastern European accent.
    He looked like Bela Lugosi.
    He conducted for an Abbott and Costello movie.
    Few of his own compositions have received wide play contemporarily or stood the test of time.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was born to a family of Jewish musicians in the Russian Empire.
    His family immigrated to the United States when he was fifteen, and settled in Cleveland.
    He was a child prodigy on the clarinet.
    He directed local bands in Cleveland and Boston, including a 50-piece symphony orchestra in one of Boston's larger movie houses.
    He conducted his own orchestra on radio, in hotels, and on recordings and made a successful New York debut in 1930.
    He and violinist Evelyn Kaye Klein auditioned over one thousand women to fill the twenty-two piece orchestra. He and Klein later married in 1946.
    He said 'I always did, and still do, believe that women can do everything as well as men ... I always tell the girls that they have 10 strikes against them from the start. for instance, if a man trumpeter cracks a note, nobody says anything. But if a girl does —Well, it's just another version of that's‐a‐woman‐driver for‐you.'
    In retirement, Spitalny was a music critic for a Miami newspaper.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying