Six Hits and a Miss
Six Hits and a Miss was an American swing-era singing group. The group consisted of six male singers and one female (thus the word "miss" in their name has a double meaning – the converse of the word "hit", and denotation of a young woman). They performed musical numbers in several Hollywood feature films of the 1940s, such as If I Had My Way (1940), Time Out for Rhythm (1941), The Big Store (1941), Hit Parade of 1941 (1941), and Girl Crazy (1943). The group was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1936 as a foursome, under the name Three Hits and a Miss, the members being Martha Tilton, Vince Degen, Marvin Bailey and Bill Seckler. In this configuration they appeared in the 1937 hit film Topper, singing Hoagy Carmichael's song, "Old Man Moon". The quartet also performed on actress/comedienne Charlotte Greenwood’s situation comedy program, The Charlotte Greenwood Show on radio broadcasts in the mid-1940s on the NBC Blue Network in the summer of 1944 and 1945-1946 after the network was forced to reorganize as the American Broadcasting Company. The group soon expanded to a septet. Members came and went, particularly due to wartime service, and included at various times Pauline Byrns, Howard Hudson, Tony Paris, Marvin Bailey, Jerry Preshaw, Lee Gotch, and Mack McLean. They were regulars on The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and recorded as backup singers for Judy Garland, Jimmy Durante, and Bing Crosby, whom they backed on his 1944 recording of "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (later the theme song from the 1946 Western film, The Harvey Girls, starring Judy Garland). The recording reached the Billboard charts on July 19, 1945, and lasted ten weeks on the chart, peaking at number four. They reached No. 11 or No. 16 on their own in 1943 with Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To". The group shrank to Four Hits and a Miss. This configuration briefly included a young Andy Williams. Under this name, they worked with Frank Sinatra and recorded into the late 1940s on the Decca label. They also recorded singles on their own for Exclusive Records in 1947 and for Crystal Records in 1950. At Decca from 1949 to 1952 they supported Evelyn Knight, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Jolson and Dick Haymes on record. At one point they were also part of Haymes radio show. The Bing Crosby association was renewed when they were the vocal chorus on “Misto Cristofo Columbo” in Here Comes the Groom. They followed this up on June 20th, 1951 when they accompanied Bing and Jane Wyman on “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” and “Misto Cristofo Columbo” with support from Matty Matlock’s All Stars. Alumni Vince Degen, Tony Paris, Howard Hudson, Pauline Byrns and Andy Williams (soon replaced by Jerry Duane) went on to form The Starlighters in 1946, continuing into the 1950s. Six Hits and a Miss is also the name of a 1942 musical short film in which the group appeared. Personnel at that time were Pauline Byrns, Marvin Bailey, Vince Degen, Lee Gotch, Mack McLean, Tony Paris and Bill Seckler. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Founded 1936
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1944
Roles Represented in DAHR: Vocal group
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decca | L 3480 | 10-in. | 7/26/1944 | Inka dinka doo | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3481 | 10-in. | 7/26/1944 | Umbriago | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3543 | 10-in. | 8/22/1944 | Would you like to take a walk | Russ Morgan’s Orchestra | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3612 | 10-in. | 9/26/1944 | I am Durante the patron of the arts | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3613 | 10-in. | 9/26/1944 | Start off each day with a song | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3624 | 10-in. | 10/3/1944 | Who will be with you when I'm far away? | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3625 | 10-in. | 10/3/1944 | Broadway my street | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3650 | 10-in. | 10/18/1944 | So I ups to him | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3651 | 10-in. | 10/18/1944 | Joe goes up—I come down | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 3652 | 10-in. | 10/18/1944 | Jimmy, the well-dressed man | Jimmy Durante | Vocal group | ||
| Decca | L 50707 | 8/22/1944 | The more we are together | Russ Morgan’s Orchestra | Vocal group |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Six Hits and a Miss," accessed December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/344050.
Six Hits and a Miss. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/344050.
"Six Hits and a Miss." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Six Hits and a Miss
Discogs: Six Hits and a Miss
IMDb: Six Hits and a Miss
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Six Hits and a Miss (Musical group) - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n95006959
Wikidata: Six Hits and a Miss - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7532758
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/138160140
MusicBrainz: Six Hits and a Miss - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4e8e6df6-422d-4304-8a7b-85c00cf1805e
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