Moxie Whitney

Whitney, Moxie

Moxie (George Eugene) Whitney. Bandleader, b Brockville, Ont, 2 Jun 1919, d there 21 Jul 1989. Taking 'Moxie' from his mother's maiden name, Moxam, he began his career in Toronto in his teens as leader and guitarist of the Pacific Swingsters, a Hawaiian music group. He also played guitar for Stanley St John and other Toronto dance band leaders and was a trumpeter in the RCAF during World War II. In 1946 he formed his own dance band for the Granite Club, Toronto. The band subsequently performed at Lake Louise, Alta (summer 1946), the Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Alta (summers 1947-60, 1962), and the Royal York Hotel, Toronto (1948-60, 1962-71). The orchestra was heard regularly for many years on the CBC and for shorter periods on US networks.

After serving as bandleader in 1961 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu, Whitney opened his own booking agency in Toronto in 1962 and was music director until 1971 for the CP hotel chain in Canada. He lived 1971-5 on Grand Cayman Island in the Bahamas as a hotelier, then was bandleader 1976-82 at the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa. Whitney, whose theme was the Isham Jones and Gus Kahn song 'I'll See You in My Dreams,' made two LPs for the Harmony label, and others issued by Arc (Dancing Around the World, A-668), Columbia (Holiday in Banff, FS-252), CTL, and RCA.