Happy Birthday Carleton Coon 1894-1932...Band leader, vocalist, drummer and one of the founders of the legendary Coon-Sanders Nighthawk Orchestra, the first Kansas City jazz band to achieve national recognition. Founded in 1919, the band began broadcasting live in 1922 from the Muehlebach Hotel on clear channel radio which reached a nearly national audience. They were called the Nighthawks because of their late night broadcasts from 11:30-1:00am. By 1924, their fan club had reached 37,000 members and fans were encouraged to make requests for songs by letter, telephone or telegraph, a move that proved so popular that Western Union set up a ticker tape between Coon's drums and Sanders' piano so they could be read during the broadcasts. The orchestra moved to Chicago in 1924, first broadcasting from a roadhouse and then from the famous Blackhawk during the winter while they toured during the summer. At their peak, each member of the band had their own Cord automobile in a different color with the name of the owner and the orchestra embossed on the rear. They moved to New York in 1932 for an 11 month engagement but Coon came down with a jaw infection and died. Sanders tried to keep the band going but without Coon, the public lost interest.
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