The name "Messner" isn't looked at too closely today by most, but the name has a quite musical history in the 30s and 40s, split across five different people. Those who do recognize the name probably do so only because of Johnny Messner, who lead a swingin' "Music Box Band" staying near the Hotel McAlpin area and recording for Varsity & Bluebird in the late 30s and early 40s which gave him proper credit as a respectable B-list band. Though for almost everyone that's where their knowledge ends. What they don't know probably was that Johnny and four other Messner's were under another orchestra of their own in the mid 30s. This was the case with Dick Messner.
Sometime in the mid 20s (i couldn't find a set date), the five Messner's; Dick, Johnny, Bill, Charlie, and Fred started a musical act called The Five Musical Messners. Reportedly they were a vaude act, and they performed quite well, and eventually getting fair radio coverage by the CBS for years too, and booking some of the top hotels in the New York Area. Mostly doing novelties and pop songs like most others. Dick did piano, probably lead, and also advertised the band, Fred did the strings, Bill was a solo sax, Johnny arranged while also playing sax, leaving Charlie doubling guitar and banjo. Seems like some of them (including clearly Johnny) would sing as well. Then around 1932 they decided to officially lead as "Dick Messner & his Orchestra", Dick now leading Getting increased coverage by CBS and booking the top hotels in the upper-east coast area, mainly Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. 1935 seems to have been the zenith point of the band itself, as this year Dick and the others decided to increase the band's size to an 11-peice band, though the Five Musical Messners remained as an acting band-in-a-band arrangement.
1935 seems to have been the zenith point of the band itself. Vocalists such as Irene Collins and Peter Schipper were in the band apart from Johnny, and the harmony provided by the other Messner's. Their music being often described as "...an everchanging pace from the soft, dreamy music to fast, lively music interpolated with vocal trios, quartets [by the other Messners] and ensembles." (Daily Times. Salisbury, MD 11/27/35 page 6 as one source.). In addition to novelties and pop, they also did spirituals and ballads also. Eventually the ARC gained interest in the Messner outfit and decided to sign them in the latter half of that year. Having them cut a good 6 records worth of songs and issuing them across Melotone, Romeo, Conqueror, and Perfect (possibly others) into the next year. These--apart from transcription work for radio--seem to be the only records the band produced. In 1936 the Orch rounded to an even 12 sidemen and continued onwards. Sometime in 1936, Kea Rea aka Katherine Marlowe joined the band before going onto her Hollywood career in May. Following into mid 1937 when the band would eventually be handed over to Johnny who reformed it and turned it into his own band while Dick went back into advertising.
Dick later formed another band of his own in 1938, but that's a story for another video's description. I saw no real info about Dick apart from a basic Wikipedia page, so I decided to sort through Newspapers.com for a few hours to find stuff out.
Dick never had any hits.
The A Side is called When The Leaves Bid The Trees Good-Bye which you can listen to here: • Dick Messner & His Orchestra - When The Le...
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