Grace Lane

Composer and singer Grace Lane was part of The Lane Sisters - Dorothy (later Walker), Grace and Betty Lane - who began their careers at Connecticut radio stations WICC in Bridgeport and WELI in New Haven. They lived at 1080 Morehouse Street and their father Bill Lane owned Bill's Diner on Broad Street and their mother was pianist Carrie Lane, who was instrumental in promoting the girls' career at various benefits and charitable events. When they joined the McFarland Twins Band just before World War II, they began being billed as the Norton Sisters (from their mother's maiden name) so as not to be confused with the Lane Sisters of films. Soon they began working with the orchestras of Tony Pastor, Carl Hoff and then Vaughn Monroe, with the latter recording several RCA Victor hits including "There I've Said It Again" and "Let It Snow." Middle sister Grace ended the trio in October of 1945 with her marriage to music publisher Al Gallico. Betty (later Frankhauser), the youngest sister, joined the bands of George Paxton and Hal McIntyre until she married and left the business in the early 1950s. But in 1961 the Lane Sisters reunited under their original name, encouraged by Al Gallico of the Shapiro Bernstein publishing company, and recorded "Peek A Boo Moon" and "Birmingham Rag" (written by Grace) for Landa Records. Grace Lane Gallico joined ASCAP in 1954 and her musical collaborators included Tom Glazer, Earl Shuman and Leon Carr. Her other popular-song compositions include "Pass the Plate of Happiness Around," "Fontainebleu," "Margarita," "Penny Was Lucky for Me," "Darling, You Make It So", "Twilight Waltz", Clinging Vine", "Believe in Me", and, for Titus Turner, "Bla Bla Bla, Cha Cha Cha."