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HARVARD ALBUM  |
BIG BAND DAYS. On November 11, 1938, Stan Brown '41 (at mike) and his Harvard Gold Coast Orchestra played Dunster House after the Army game. When the show was over, their singer, Dotty Sinatra, invited the group to the Copley Plaza to hear her "kid cousin" open with the Harry James Orchestra; Brown recalls that night as the "Chairman of the Board"'s first big-band appearance. Brown, who sang and played tenor sax, started his band as a freshman and led it all through college; one year they won a contest and spent spring break as ship's orchestra on a Holland America cruise to Bermuda. During World War II, Brown found time to start a temporary band at Fort Bragg and another on board a troop ship bound for the Philippines; after the war, he went into business. He still plays for pleasure, though now he favors the clarinet over the sax: the lifting is easy. |
