Ray Bloch
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Ray Bloch
| image = Ray Bloch 1951.jpg
| image_size =
| landscape =
| alt = Ray Bloch in 1951
| caption = Bloch in 1951
| birth_name = Raymond Arthur Bloch
| birth_date = August 3, 1902
| birth_place = Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire
| origin =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1982|03|29|1902|08|03}}
| death_place = Miami, Florida, US
| genre =
| occupation = composer, songwriter, conductor, pianist, and arranger
| instrument = Piano
| years_active =
| label = Signature Records
| past_member_of = Ray Bloch Orchestra
| website = {{URL|raybloch.com}}
}}
Raymond Arthur Bloch (August 3, 1902 – March 29, 1982){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlEhAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22ray+bloch%22+august+1902&pg=RA1-PA379|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series, Volume 3, Part 5A, Number 1: Published Music|place=Washington|publisher=Copyright Office, The Library of Congress|year=1949|page=379}} was an American composer, songwriter, conductor, pianist, author and arranger. He is best remembered as the arranger and orchestra conductor for The Ed Sullivan Show during its entire run from 1948 to 1971.
Biography
Career
During the 1920s, he performed with small groups on piano and also conducted ballroom bands. Later in the decade he began appearing as a pianist on radio stations. He began working as an arranger and composer for the Four Eton Boys in the early 1930s, and followed that as a conductor for choral groups. In 1939 he joined the CBS radio variety show Johnny Presents as choral director and was promoted to orchestra conductor. This was the beginning of a long and successful career in "conducting, coaching, orchestrating, and choral directing" on radio, television, and albums.
=Radio=
Bloch and his orchestra were featured on numerous radio variety shows of the late-1930s and 1940s. These included: Johnny Presents (1939-1946),{{sfn|Terrace|1998|p=179}} The Gay Nineties Revue (CBS, 1939–1944),{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22The+Gay+Nineties+Revue,+musical%22&pg=PA280 |last=Dunning |first=John |authorlink=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |section=The Gay Nineties Revue|date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=280 |edition=Revised |access-date=2025-01-19}} Let Yourself Go (CBS, 1944–1945),{{sfn|Terrace|1998|p=105}} The Continental Celebrity Club (1945-1946),Dunning, op. cit., [https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22The+Continental+Celebrity+Club%22&pg=PA180 "The Continental Celebrity Club" p. 180] The Milton Berle Show (NBC, 1948–1949),{{sfn|Terrace|1998|p=229}}Dunning, op. cit., [https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22The+Milton+Berle+Show+comedy%22&pg=PA460 "The Milton Berle Show" pp. 460-461] and The Mary Small Revue (1945).Dunning, op. cit., [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Mary+Small+songs%22+%22The+Mary+Small+Revue%22&pg=PA441 "The Mary Small Revue" p. 441] From 1943 to 1956 Bloch and his orchestra also performed on Here's to Romance, a weekly musical variety show broadcast by the American Forces Network.{{sfn|Mackenzie|1999|p=62}} In 1951 Bloch hosted his own show, The Bloch Party, a 60-minute variety show on CBS Radio featuring Judy Lynn, the Russ Emery Chorus, and the Ray Bloch Orchestra.{{sfn|Terrace|1998|p=45}}
The orchestra was a fixture on several game shows, including Take It or Leave It (CBS, 1940–1947).{{sfn|Terrace|1998|p=325}} Quick as a Flash (1944–1949) – during which "clues were elaborately dramatized or were musically illustrated by Ray Bloch's orchestra"Dunning, op. cit., [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Quick+as+a+Flash+quiz%22&pg=PA558 "Quick as a Flash" p. 558] – and Sing It Again (1948–1951).Dunning, op. cit., [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Sing+It+Again+musical%22&pg=PA616 "Sing It Again" p. 616] Bloch also worked on Philip Morris Playhouse (CBS, 1939–1943),{{sfn|Terrace|1998|p=171}} and in several Orson Welles drama presentations.
In 1945 Bloch signed an exclusive contract with Signature Records to serve as "musical conductor for all disks by individual singers".{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kRgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT4|title=Majestic, Signature Sign Two Leaders|magazine=Billboard|date=24 November 1945|access-date=14 November 2015|volume=57|issue=47|page=24}} The Ray Bloch Orchestra backed many singers, including The Five DeMarco Sisters,{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mxgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT27|title=Advance Record Releases|date=17 November 1945|volume=57|issue=46|page=28}} Kay Armen, and Monica Lewis.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT130|title=Record Reviews: Monica Lewis-Ray Bloch|magazine=Billboard|date=19 April 1947|page=131}} The orchestra itself was featured on Signature Records' The Merry Christmas Album (1947), Best Loved Christmas Music Album (1947),{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VAwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT29|title=Advance Record Releases|magazine=Billboard|date=6 September 1947|page=30}} and a 78 record with the songs "I Must Have Your Love" and "Together" (1953).{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8QwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39|title=Popular Record Reviews|date=7 February 1953|magazine=Billboard|page=39}} Bloch wrote songs such as "When Love Has Gone", "You're Everything That's Lovely", "In the Same Old Way", "In My Little Red Book", "The Wide Open Spaces", "Sam the Vegetable Man", "Let's Make Up a Little Party", and "If You Were Mine".{{sfn|ASCAP|1966}} He often worked with W. Edward Breuder and Paul Rusincky.{{sfn|ASCAP|1966}}
=Television=
Bloch was the arranger and orchestra conductor for The Ed Sullivan Show from the show's debut on June 20, 1948{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19700111&id=NClPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tgEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2051,3750646&hl=en|title=Bloch On Job for 21 Years|newspaper=Toledo Blade|date=January 11, 1970|access-date=November 14, 2015|page=12}} until its final show in June 1971. He also led the orchestra for The Jackie Gleason Show. Each week during his show, Jackie Gleason would introduce Bloch as "the flower of the music world".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/01/obituaries/ray-bloch-conductor-on-tv-and-radio-79.html|title=Ray Bloch, Conductor On TV and Radio, 79|newspaper=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date=1 April 1982|access-date=11 November 2015}}
When asked for a comment after The Beatles' performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964 Bloch said, "The only thing that's different is the hair, as far as I can see. I give them a year."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/nyregion/the-beatles-debut-on-ed-sullivan.html|title=Historic Hysterics: Witnesses to a Really Big Show|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 February 2014}}
Other activities
He was on the original board of governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and also on the board of the New York Friars' Club. In the 1950s he founded Ray Bloch Productions, which continues to produce events for the entertainment and corporate industries.{{cite web |url=http://www.raybloch.com/about/|title=About Us|publisher=Ray Bloch Productions|access-date=14 November 2015}}
Later years
Bloch retired to Miami. He died of a heart attack there on March 29, 1982.
References
=Notes=
{{Reflist|30em}}
=Sources=
- {{cite book|title=The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OaujnQEACAAJ|year=1966|publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|edition=3rd |ref={{sfnref|ASCAP|1966}} }}
- {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/n301 280]|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|first=John|last=Dunning|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0199840458}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L3WyZ9A4_XEC&pg=PA62|title=The Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series|first=Harry|last=Mackenzie|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0313308128}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EhOBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA179|title=Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|first=Vincent|last=Terrace|year=1998|publisher=McFarland|isbn=1476605289}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0088643}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Ray}}
Category:American male composers
Category:American music arrangers
Category:People from Alsace-Lorraine
Category:American conductors (music)
Category:American male conductors (music)
Category:Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Category:Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States
Category:American radio bandleaders
Category:20th-century American male musicians