DECEMBER 9

1906 - Frederick Alfred (Freddy) Martin (Death: September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Martin's band played in many prestigious hotels, including the Roosevelt Grill in New York City and the Ambassador in Los Angeles. A fixture on radio, his sponsored shows included NBC's Maybelline Penthouse Serenade of 1937. But Martin’s real success came in 1941 with an arrangement from the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s B-flat piano concerto. Martin recorded the piece instrumentally, but soon lyrics were added. The success of "Tonight We Love" prompted Martin to adopt other classical themes as well. In 1948, Freddy Martin hired Merv Griffin to join his band at Los Angeles’ Coconut Grove. With Griffin doing the singing, the band had a smash hit with I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts, a 1949 novelty song sung in a cockney accent.

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