Harold ‘Scrappy’ Lambert was not a scrapper nor scrappy. He was a US dance band singer who recorded over 1,500 records between 1926 – 1931 as well as radio transcriptions and musical movie shorts.  He is your Phantom Dancer Feature Artist this week.

The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 21 November) and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

SCRAPPY

‘Scrappy’ Lambert sang on thousands of recordings from the 1920s to the 1940s.

At Rutgers University, he was a cheerleader and played piano for a jazz group, the Rutgers Jazz Bandits.

In February 1925, he and fellow student Billy Hillpot (who you’ll aslo hear on this week’s Phantom Dancer) formed a musical duo impersonating the Smith Brothers.

They were discovered in 1926 by band leader, vaudevillian, Ben Bernie, who signed them to perform with his orchestra. Lambert and Hillpot appeared on many recordings with the orchestra and remained under Bernie’s employ until 1928. They also filmed a Vitaphone soundie with the Bernie Orchestra in 1928.

Other bandleaders who employed Lambert include Red Nichols, Frank Britton Wenzel, Fred Rich, and Sam Lanin.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, Lambert was one of the most prolific “band vocalists” (hired to sing the vocal chorus on recordings by both performing orchestras and studio groups). His voice is featured on hundreds of recordings and a series of vocal solo recordings for Brunswick.

In the 1930s, Lambert and Hillpot took their comedy routine to the National Broadcasting Company.

In 1943, MCA offered Lambert a job overseeing their radio department in Beverly Hills, California. This marked the end of his singing career. He worked for MCA until 1948

21 November PLAY LIST