I was working on a separate article and came across an amazing video from 1941:
You see that band? They were on their game. They were living the music.
Much to my surprise, the Glenn Miller Orchestra is still around.
Really? Yes, really.
Listen, I'm not here to disparage the new Glenn Miller Orchestra, I'm really not. They hit the notes they were supposed to hit. All I am saying is that watching the new Glenn Miller Orchestra is like going to a museum. The sounds of the Big Band seem like it was a long time ago.
And don't get me wrong, there's a place in America for that type of nostalgia.
I guess I'm just surprised.
Glenn Miller was presumed dead when his plane crashed in 1944. But what if Miller had lived?
The Rolling Stones are still currently touring into their late 70's. It is feasible that Glenn Miller could have kept his band together into the 1980's if he had lived. Would Glenn Miller's popularity after the war have eclipsed the popularity of Frank Sinatra?
Elvis?
Rock and Roll itself?
I remember Dick Dale touring at a local club at age 80, just a few years back. Glenn Miller lived a cleaner lifestyle than Dale, and certainly more so than the Stones.
Today's Glenn Miller Orchestra formed in 1956 after the success of the 1953 movie "The Glenn Miller Story." There is a direct 67 year lineage of the "new" Glenn Miller Orchestra.
The current incarnation's tour is booked through the Summer of 2024, coinciding with the 2024 Glenn Miller Festival.
Glenn Miller was born 119 years ago and I just watched a video of him playing on the computer a few hours ago....
My Grandfather loved Glenn Miller. I used to listen to the big band station that often played in the background of his home. In the Mood came out 28 years before I was born. You know what came out 28 years before my kid was born?
On Gene Simmons' 119th Birthday, you might still be able to buy KISS merchandise, but the KISS cover bands will probably be long gone.
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