Eddie DeLange

Bandleader and lyricist Eddie DeLange worked in music from the mid-'30s through the 1940s, and is the lyricist of such popular tunes as "Moonglow" (1934) and "Solitude" (1935), and created music for several films of the 1940s, including 1942's When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Born in New York in 1904, DeLange eventually studied at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he moved to Hollywood and got bit parts in several movies and then moved to N.Y.C. and started working as a lyricist. His first published tune, "I Wish I Were Twins" (1934), was co-written with Frank Loesser. His two most popular songs, "Moonglow" and "Solitude," came within the next year. From 1936-1938, he fronted the swing and ballad-oriented Hudson-DeLange Orchestra with Will Hudson and featuring vocalist Ruth Gaylor. After this, DeLange led his own band for a while and was lyricist/librettist for the short-lived 1939 Broadway musical Swingin' the Dream. He focused strictly on songwriting during the 1940s, collaborating with such composers as Josef Myrow, Jimmy Van Heusen, Louis Alter, Sam H. Stept, and more. DeLange's music can be heard in movies, including When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1942), If I'm Lucky (1946), and his final project for New Orleans (1947). ~ Joslyn Layne, Rovi