Art Mooney

American bandleader, who formed his first group in Detroit during the late 1930's. Never a particularly swinging outfit, it only lasted a few years until Mooney entered military service at the onset of World War II. In 1945, he organised a proper dance orchestra with a reed section organised along the lines of Glenn Miller, with arrangements by, among others, Neal Hefti, and featuring vocals by Fran Warren. The band played in New York clubs and hotels, as well as being prominently featured on radio. It's theme song was "Sunset to Sunrise". Recording for MGM, Mooney turned out several dud singles, until hitting the big time in 1948 with the corny tune "Im Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover", which was atypical of the band's style up to then. Due to its commercial success, however (over a million records sold), Mooney henceforth insisted on keeping ensemble singing and banjos prominent in his arrangements over the next twelve years, notching up twenty-one Billboard pop hits for MGM in the process. Though his popularity had waned by the early 1960's, he continued to remain in the music business for another two decades.