Q+A with Larry and Lynn Elgart

Larry Elgart’s jazz music career on the alto saxophone began when he was 15. His parents raised $100 to buy him a saxophone, and then he went on the road, sending money to his family during the Great Depression. Elgart went on to create “Bandstand Boogie,” the theme song for “American Bandstand,” and record “Hooked on Swing,” a 1982 smash hit. Last year, Elgart and his wife of 51 years, Lynn, who owns Big Band Beads jewelry-making company, wrote “The Music Business and the Monkey Business,” which tells the story of Larry Elgart’s career and their marriage. Their book is available for purchase on Amazon.com and ArchwayPublishing.com.

Q: You’ve encountered many celebrities. Who were the nice and not-so-nice ones?
Lynn: “There are people who have a reputation of being bad, like Buddy Rich and Benny Goodman and Tony Bennett, but the three of them have all been wonderful to Larry and hugging him when he had ‘Hooked on Swing’ and congratulating him. They were all very sweet, so we can only judge people by the way they behave toward us.”

Why did you two decide to write the book?
Lynn: “Larry brought many generations into swing music, and he’s the kind of person who never brags, ever, and I thought we should tell our story as part of musician folklore.”

How did “Bandstand Boogie” get selected for “American Bandstand?”
Larry: “We were in Philadelphia, and we met Bob Horn, who was the original host of ‘Bandstand.’ My brother said to him, ‘If we record a theme for you, would you use it?’ He said yes but with certain requirements he thought were essential. So I went home, and we sat there for a couple hours trying to think of something that might be appropriate, and I started the song. Our next recording date, we recorded it and took it to Bob Horn, and he said, ‘Absolutely. That’s it’...If you hear Barry Manilow at times, he’ll say he wrote ‘Bandstand Boogie.’ It’s not true. He just wrote the lyrics.”

Do you watch shows like “American Idol” or “America’s Got Talent” that were inspired by “American Bandstand?”
Larry: “It’s worth watching some very mediocre talent because every once in a while there’s some shining light that comes through.”

Give me an example of the “monkey business” you refer to in your title.
Larry: “I always had the impression if a record company spends a lot of money on producing a product and really went after it, they would follow through what they intended. I was called in to do this Latin record called ‘Latin Obsession.’ It was quite a good record.”

Lynn: “They sent us to Rio for a week to make a video. They sent us out to California to record in Kenny Rogers’ studio…We went to Australia to break the record, and they gave us a big party and showered us with gifts and we were riding around in Rolls Royces. We were treated like the Beatles. In the middle of that, they called and said they were dropping him from the label. They never released the record, and to this day, we don’t know why. I don’t think we’ll ever know why.”

What role has Lynn played in your success?
Larry: “Lynn has been totally supportive in everything I do. She has very good musical ideas….I didn’t want to do ‘Hooked on Swing.’ Lynn said, ‘You have to do it.’ That would have been a terrible mistake if I followed my own instinct to not do it. It was the biggest thing I ever did, and it was strictly Lynn’s input.”

Larry, you’ll be 93 on March 20. Do you plan to celebrate?
Larry: “Every day is a celebration.”

Lynn: “...Every day we’re lucky to be here and be alive. I know how he ages gracefully. He’s so sweet, and he’s so good, and he’s not full of anger and rage, and that sweetness keeps him young. You’re very lovable, Larry.”