Horace Heidt led one of the most successful commercial orchestras of the dance band era. It was also one of the most musically inept??, relying upon the flashy showmanship of such artists as pianist Frankie Carle and guitarist Alvino Rey to dazzle the crowd and entertain the dancers. Heidt never took himself too seriously, though. He was a businessman, and he gave his listeners what they wanted. If that was a crime then Horace Heidt was guilty of being a master criminal. Though Heidt studied piano as a youth his main interest was athletics. He played football for the University of California at Berkeley and planned on turning professional. A back injury, however, ended his ambitions, and he decided instead to enter the music business, forming a small orchestra in 1923. Originally called Horace Heidt and His Californians, the band's popularity, and size, grew as the decade progressed. In 1929 the group joined the Fanchon-Marco vaudeville circuit and later toured Europe. Upon their return to the states they disbanded. Heidt formed a new orchestra in 1932. By 1936 Horace Heidt and His Brigadiers had their own national radio program out of the Drake Theater in Chicago. Heidt gained tremendous popularity when he began to feature cash giveaways to listeners. Called the Pot o' Gold program, it became a sensation and even spawned a feature film. Heidt's orchestra later came to be known by its best remembered moniker, Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights. While his early grouping ...