Van and Schenck

Two of the best vaudeville entertainers, Gus Van and Joe Schenck -- commonly known as just Van and Schenck. This vaudeville duo is my all-time favorite because their songs have a special place in my heart. They were remarkably talented and humorous, but it's their style that I'm particularly fond of. And for your information, yes, I'm aware that I've never actually seen them perform live. But how I wish I could go back in time!  

 

They were a major inspiration to Bing Crosby, dear friends of Eddie Cantors, and Joe even dated 15-year-old Mae West! These two are another perfect example of celebrities who were huge then but are largely forgotten now. For the most part, I bet it has to do with the fact that they performed on the stage. It's also well been over 100 years since they came along. Plus, no one remembers or seems to even know that vaudeville once existed, yet several jokes and songs in popular culture originated in vaudeville. I hope I can make several people realize the importance of vaudeville.   

This book that I'm currently reading is fantastic. I recommend it to all of you who don't know anything about vaudeville or old theatre. Even if you do, It's still worth reading and I'm learning some things I never knew before. P.S. Baby Buster on the cover is adorable. 

 

Alright so Van and Schenck, a popular American entertainment duo in the 1910s and 20s, featured baritone singer Gus Van, and tenor singer Joe Schenck. They originated in vaudeville and appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918, 1919, 1920, and 1921. The pair also made numerous phonograph records for different record companies including Emerson, Victor, and Columbia.  

Gus Van was born August Von Glahn on August 12, 1886, in New York City. Joe Schenck was born Joseph Thuma Schenck on June 2, 1891, in Brooklyn, New York. The two were pals since boyhood days. They attended Catholic school together in Bushwick, where they studied music and art. Since Van was four years older than Schenck, he got his start before him. Van and Schenck first played together at a Brooklyn bar when Schenck accompanied Van's singing by playing the piano. The pair officially teamed up around 1909 and started to appear in vaudeville theatres. By that time, Schenck was singing in harmony with Van in his nice tenor voice.  

In 1912 they composed 'Teach Me That Beautiful Love', and four years later, they were hired to entertain at a social gathering hosted by Florenz Ziegfeld and Charles B. Dillingham. Ok, so I have two things I want to address. One, they mostly recorded/performed covers of songs, but they did write their own as well. Some of their own work included 'Mulberry Rose,' 'I Miss The Old Folks Now,' 'Carolina In The Morning,' and 'All The Boys Love Mary.' Two, the first time they appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies was in The Century Girl (1916). They would not appear again until about two years later and I think this had to do with two reasons: The War and Ziegfeld liked to buy stars already made, rather than make them. As stated before, once a particular performer that Ziegfeld had his eye on became a success, he would snatch them away from other producers. Beginning in 1918, the duo appeared in the Follies for three consecutive years straight.   

 

 

Apart from their typical musical acts, Van and Schenck were comedians as well. Van was especially adept at dialect humor and could imitate any number of regional and continental accents. In fact, during the First World War, they recorded humorous songs such as 'I Don't Want to Get Well' — which told the tale of an injured soldier who did not want to get well because he was in love with a nurse. 

 

Because they harmonized so well, the two became known as "the pennant-winning battery of songland." 

  

One of their novelty hits was Pastafazoola, a homage to Italian food sung in the appropriate accent. 

 

 

They appeared in early talking motion pictures -- used with both Vitaphone and MGM Movietone -- as far as musical shorts and one feature-length film, They Learned About Women (1930).   

 

Schenck passed away on June 28, 1930, shortly after the new medium came along. His cause of death was not given, unfortunately. He was buried in The Evergreens Cemetary in Brooklyn, New York.   

 

“There is only one reason I am now able to walk on a stage without my lost partner…if I didn’t believe absolutely that Joe Schenck’s spirit was listening to my every note—that he is keeping me on pitch, so to speak, as he always did when we were partners—I would never make another stage appearance. I would go back to railroading.” -- Van on loosing his partner Joe Schenck.

I'm sure Joe's death took a toll on Van, but he did continue to perform solo for about 38 more years. He passed away in 1968 when he was run over by a car in Miami Beach, Florida while crossing the road. :( His ashes were cremated and scattered by a family member or friend. 

"The best, in the opinion of many, of the two main piano acts." -- Vaudeville historian, Douglas Gilbert.