Who knew Smilin’ Jack’s creator was a crooner
For those of you too young to know what a crooner is, Wikipedia says, “A crooner is an epithet given to a male singer of a certain style of popular songs, dubbed pop standards.” So who knew that Zack Mosley could sing and write lyrics to music? Many of his close friends didn’t even know. The cat was out of the bag by November 1953.
The events that developed Mosley’s singing career began during the summer of 1953 when a popular orchestra leader, Barnee Breeskin, decided to take a vacation from his 23-year career at the Washington, D.C. Shoreham Hotel. He had started in its Blue Room orchestra back in 1931 and had become its bandleader years ago. Breeskin was quite renowned for knowing the names and faces of every famous person who visited the Blue Room and he played an appropriate piece of music in honor of their presence.
In August 1953, Breeskin had become a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) advisor, making the rank of Colonel. He decided to escort an international CAP cadet exchange group over to Italy at his own expense. Their good will mission was intended to promote aviation development. As luck would have it, aviation brought a famous music director and a comic strip writer together through CAP.
Music was changing; the big band orchestra sounds were giving way to rock and roll just as propeller driven aircraft were quickly being replaced by rocket-powered jets. Mosley’s singing career wasn’t jet propelled but was discovered one November night in 1953 when a friend, Henry McLemore, was driving through Stuart, Florida. “When I was still one-half block away from his house, which is built on the bank of the St. Lucie River, I heard a piano thumping, voices singing, and other indications that a party was in progress…” When McLemore reached Mosley’s house he said, “The house was jumping.” He knocked on the door; the maid answered and told McLemore that Mosley was busy and had left directions for no visitors. Not one to miss a party, McLemore found his way past the maid and moved towards the music and Mosley’s upstairs studio.
When he reached the studio, McLemore was greeted by an amazing sight. Betty Mosley, Zack’s wife, was playing the piano and Mosley, of all people, was standing in the middle of the room singing as loud as he could. McLemore, with a shout, called out to the duet, “What in the world is this all about?” Mosley answered, “Glad to see you, Henry; listen to this song I am singing. It is one I just wrote with Barnee Breeskin, and we think it’s going to be a hit.”
The song, like Mosley’s creation of Smilin’ Jack, was aviation connected. The song came about when Mosley mentioned to Breeskin, the orchestra leader, that the new guided missile technology was going to be featured in an upcoming comic strip sequence. Breeskin replied, “Let’s do a song about it” and said if Mosley would write the words, he’d do the music. A week later the song “Rockin’ in the Rocket Room” was done and Mosley was singing it. The song was a swing and sway, stomp and bounce number that they hoped would have a ride on the Hit Parade. Released on Lloyds Records in 1954, it was recorded by the Larks and the rest is history. The song made it up the charts to number 189 that year. Who knew …
John Cilio is an aviation historian and freelance writer. You can contact him via: questions@vintageflyer.com.