Al Plunkett - She Must be a wonderful girl (1923)
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Al. Plunkett
"She Must Be a Wonderful Girl"
1923
Lyrics by Jack Macolm
Music by A. W. Herbert
Albert William Plunkett was born around 1899, and he died in 1957.
He made records in Canada in the 1920s.
Al. Plunkett entered the 58th Infantry Division of the Canadian Army and was deployed overseas in 1916. After being wounded, he worked as an entertainer to the troops and was invited by his brother Mert Plunkett to join a vaudeville group called The Dumbells, founded in 1917 .
The brother's full name at that time was Captain Merton Wesley Plunkett.
There were about 30 concert troupes performing across France, but the most famous by far was The Dumbells.
The troupe was founded by Mert Plunkett, a YMCA entertainment director who organized amateur concerts at Canadian encampments in France. The commander of the army’s Third Division gave him permission to assemble an entertainment unit.
Mert Plunkett recruited some of his favorite soldier-performers, who were seconded from their own units for his troupe. It was named for the red dumbbells on the Third Division’s insignia — but with one “B” instead of two because of a spelling error, allegedly. They debuted in mid-1917.
Al Plunkett remained an important member of the Dumbells ensemble. He sang in tails and cloaks, danced, and appeared in humorous sketches.
He was associated with the songs "Those Wild, Wild Women Are Making a Wild Man of Me" and "I Know Where the Flies Go in Wintertime."
He was in the play Biff, Bing, Bang on Broadway.
After the dissolution of the Dumbells in 1932, Plunkett appeared on radio and nightclubs in Canada and the US.
In the Second World War Plunkett served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
After the war he was a road inspector in the Ontario district. Finally, he led a nursing home with his wife until his death in April 1957.
More info: "In June 1919, Plunkett returned to Canada, borrowed $18 000, and created a civilian version of the Dumbells which included Merton Plunkett (the impresario), Jack Ayre (musical director) and Allan Murray from the 3rd Division, and others from the London tour and the H.M.S.One of several Canadian Army concert parties in France during WWI, the original Dumbells were drawn from the 3rd Division by Merton W. Plunkett at Ferfay, France, in 1917 and included Jack Ayre (pianist and musical director), Elmer A. Belding, Ted Charters, and Allan Murray. Taking their name from the 3rd Division's insignia, a red dumbell, the group entertained front-line soldiers with popular songs and collectively conceived skits about army life. In the summer of 1918, after recruiting Ben Allan from the 16th Battalion's Party, "Red" Newman and Charlie MacLean from the Y-Emmas, and Ross "Marjorie" Hamilton from the Maple Leaf Concert Party, Plunkett brought the Dumbells to London where they performed at the YMCA's Beaver Hut, the Victoria Palace, and the Coliseum before returning to France.
"She Must Be a Wonderful Girl"
1923
Lyrics by Jack Macolm
Music by A. W. Herbert
Albert William Plunkett was born around 1899, and he died in 1957.
He made records in Canada in the 1920s.
Al. Plunkett entered the 58th Infantry Division of the Canadian Army and was deployed overseas in 1916. After being wounded, he worked as an entertainer to the troops and was invited by his brother Mert Plunkett to join a vaudeville group called The Dumbells, founded in 1917 .
The brother's full name at that time was Captain Merton Wesley Plunkett.
There were about 30 concert troupes performing across France, but the most famous by far was The Dumbells.
The troupe was founded by Mert Plunkett, a YMCA entertainment director who organized amateur concerts at Canadian encampments in France. The commander of the army’s Third Division gave him permission to assemble an entertainment unit.
Mert Plunkett recruited some of his favorite soldier-performers, who were seconded from their own units for his troupe. It was named for the red dumbbells on the Third Division’s insignia — but with one “B” instead of two because of a spelling error, allegedly. They debuted in mid-1917.
Al Plunkett remained an important member of the Dumbells ensemble. He sang in tails and cloaks, danced, and appeared in humorous sketches.
He was associated with the songs "Those Wild, Wild Women Are Making a Wild Man of Me" and "I Know Where the Flies Go in Wintertime."
He was in the play Biff, Bing, Bang on Broadway.
After the dissolution of the Dumbells in 1932, Plunkett appeared on radio and nightclubs in Canada and the US.
In the Second World War Plunkett served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
After the war he was a road inspector in the Ontario district. Finally, he led a nursing home with his wife until his death in April 1957.
More info: "In June 1919, Plunkett returned to Canada, borrowed $18 000, and created a civilian version of the Dumbells which included Merton Plunkett (the impresario), Jack Ayre (musical director) and Allan Murray from the 3rd Division, and others from the London tour and the H.M.S.One of several Canadian Army concert parties in France during WWI, the original Dumbells were drawn from the 3rd Division by Merton W. Plunkett at Ferfay, France, in 1917 and included Jack Ayre (pianist and musical director), Elmer A. Belding, Ted Charters, and Allan Murray. Taking their name from the 3rd Division's insignia, a red dumbell, the group entertained front-line soldiers with popular songs and collectively conceived skits about army life. In the summer of 1918, after recruiting Ben Allan from the 16th Battalion's Party, "Red" Newman and Charlie MacLean from the Y-Emmas, and Ross "Marjorie" Hamilton from the Maple Leaf Concert Party, Plunkett brought the Dumbells to London where they performed at the YMCA's Beaver Hut, the Victoria Palace, and the Coliseum before returning to France.