While researching the music for Canada in Love we noticed several names that continued to emerge. Two that are of note are Alex Kramer and Oscar Brand.
After studying music at McGill, Alex Kramer, started out playing piano in movie houses in Montreal. He then went on to conduct the radio orchestras on CFCF and CKAC radio before moving, like many other Canadian songwriters, to the United States of America. Alex Kramer chose New York. With his wife Joan Whitney, he wrote 125 songs, including Love Somebody and No Other Arms, No Other Lips. His songs were recorded and made famous by many of popular singers of the day, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, Dinah Shore, and Jimmy Dorsey. One of his biggest hits, Far Away Places, was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.
Oscar Brand was born in Winnipeg and also naturalized to the U.S. A folksinger, songwriter and guitarist, he became one of the most popular personalities in U.S. folk music. Brand maintained his ties to Canada and returned to host his very popular television show in the l960’s. His contribution to Canadian songwriting extended past the actual writing of songs. He was instrumental in creating a forum to showcase up and coming talent. His show, Let’s Sing Out, launched the careers of many young singer songwriters.
The other patron that we feel we must pay homage to is the CBC. This underappreciated organization has grown up with our great country. Without it, whether on radio, or television, we may never have met and heard the great singers and songwriters our nation has produced and continues to create.
Thank you for coming to the show today. We hope that you enjoy these songs of love: romantic and patriotic.
Rob and Stephanie
