The Sportsmen Show

[Yhtapmys]

Here's a newspaper piece from 1953:

Singers of Commercials Branch Into Own Show
By ALINE MOSBY
United Press Hollywood Correspondent
HOLLYWOOD, May 27. — That “Four Sportsmen” quartet which parlayed a “Hmm” into fame and fortune on Jack Benny’s radio program, said today they're branching into their own show so they can really sing.
The four male crooners thank Benny hourly for giving them overnight success on his CBS program. But, they sighed, they can only give out with a cigaret commercial and “hmmm” that's a running joke on the show.
Like Phil Harris, Dennis Day and other Benny alumni, they’re taking the plunge on their own.
Two Singers
“Bob Crosby sings on the show and so does Dennis Day, so they don’t need us for regular songs,” explained Guerney Bell, Bill Days, Jay Meyer and Marty Sperzel—only not all at once.
“We’ll still stay with Benny, but we have our own transcribed radio show now so we can really sing songs.”
The hit they made as Benny’s foils have brought them a string of other sideline businesses, too.
The Sportsmen incorporated themselves and invested in a housing project, an oil well, a company in the Philippines, a helicopter and a play that flopped.
They’ve scored success on personal appearance tours, after a battle to convince booking agents they could do something besides a musical “hmmmm.” They also plan a series of television films.
“We went into these businesses together on our motto, ‘United we sing, divided we fall,’” quipped Days.
The “Hmm” on the Benny show started a joke.
“Don Wilson, the announcer, was to do the commercial and rather than make it a stereotyped thing, they decided to have a quartet do a hum. Then Benny could say, ‘For
his I pay $500?’ and faint,” said Meyer.
Backing
The Sportsmen already were singing as “backing” for such name chirpers as Ginny Sims and Dinah Shore. The unknown quartet was hired for the Benny show. They were such a hit that Benny kept them on. On one program Benny threatened to sell them to rival Fred Allen, and CBS was flooded with irate letters defending the quartet.
One member of the combination has a pitchpipe to give the quartet their cue for the “Hmmm.”
“Once we missed the note, so on the next show Benny locked us in the closet and made us say the commercial 500 times,” grinned Sperzel.

[Moose Hatrack]

Jack locked them in the closet because The Sportsmen (assisted by, I would guess, Merrick and Bagby) spectacularly muffed an entire LSMFT segue in a Palm Springs Captain Benny episode. The botched cue was shocking to hear on the well-oiled Benny program. It was also hilarious. Jack ad-libbed, "That was the WORST thing I've ever heard!" It was so dreadful I bet it would have raised eyebrows on ANY network quality radio show. And, like the Grass Reek fluff and other such events, the Benny writers capitalized on it. In the following show Jack locked The Sportsmen in the closet to sing the seque in over and over. WIsh I had the dates handy. I'll look them up when I'm near my 39F's.

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

The muff was on the "Murder at Romanoff's" episode in January 1950.

[Moose Hatrack]

Thank you TSQ! Fellas, if you haven't heard this one, be sure to "tune it in" when you get a chance. And when you hear the crime I know you'll want to stick around for the punishment in the following show.
And muchas gracias senor yhtapmys for these latest gems.

[Yhtapmys]

And muchas gracias senor yhtapmys for these latest gems.

Unfortunately, Moose, my source has dried up on these. I hope it's only temporary.

Yhtapmys

[krledu]

I know the Sportsman sang for Benny and other groups. But sometime ago somebody mentioned that some of the group like Marty Sperzel got really jaded and angry later in life. He said that he wished he had never song in the Sportsman quartet. Does anyone know what happened with this group and Marty??

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

First off, Marty NEVER said he wished he had never sung with The Sportsmen. He didn't want to talk about any facet of his career.

After leaving The Sportsmen in 1957 he had a very successful career in advertising both writing and performing commercials. For those of you in Southern California he wrote the Sav-On drug store Jingle. I do not know what happened that soured him on his professional career but he told us that he threw out all his memorabilia and wished to be left alone.

[Yhtapmys]

Here's a cartoon which went with the original news story.

Sportsmen.png (245.48 KiB) Viewed 23730 times

[Chasitykins]

First off, Marty NEVER said he wished he had never sung with The Sportsmen. He didn't want to talk about any facet of his career.

After leaving The Sportsmen in 1957 he had a very successful career in advertising both writing and performing commercials. For those of you in Southern California he wrote the Sav-On drug store Jingle. I do not know what happened that soured him on his professional career but he told us that he threw out all his memorabilia and wished to be left alone.

How terribly sad. A mystery we will be pondering forever, I suppose.

[Moose Hatrack]

Perhaps he came to the conclusion "vanity vanity all is vanity". With the right temperament, that conclusion can lead to a secluded life cultivating pure spiritual joy. Not trying to start a religious discussion, just musing that things may have turned out well for him.

[Chasitykins]

Of course, I wouldn't fault the man in the least if he did find happiness in his life after show business.