Kalamazoo has long had a strong connection with the production and performance of music. Since the mid-nineteenth century, local, nationally-recognized and even world-famous instrument makers, educators and performers have actively pursued their craft in Kalamazoo. Yet perhaps few were as revered during their own times as were the bands and orchestras of Charles and Burton Fischer, known throughout the world as Fischer’s Exposition Orchestra.
Charles L. Fischer
“The Man with the Million Dollar Smile”
Born in Kalamazoo in 1879, Charles Leonard Fischer’s name became nearly synonymous with popular music during the early decades of the twentieth century as both an orchestra leader and a business manager. Educated locally, Fischer learned to play the violin while attending the Madam Jannasch-Shortt Musical Institute (228 E. Main), and formed his first orchestra in 1897 with his brother, Burton, while both were still in high school. This proved to be the humble beginning of one of the most popular dance bands in the Midwest.
“You have quite a famous composer right here in Kalamazoo… That ‘One Little Dance’ sounds good to me…”
– John Philip Sousa (1912)
“The Dean of Kalamazoo Musicians”
The younger of the two brothers, Burton Edward Fischer was a skilled pianist, instructor, prolific composer and music publisher. Born in Kalamazoo in 1882, Burton Fischer formed his first band with his brother when he was just fifteen. After a brief stint with the Lake View Casino orchestra at Woods Lake, Burton devoted his entire life to writing, performing, publishing and teaching music. During his lifetime, Burton Fischer composed and published dozens of popular tunes, including pieces written specifically for the Western Normal School (WMU) football team (“The Squad”), Kalamazoo College (“All Hail to Kazoo!”), the University of Michigan’s “J-Hop” (“A Toast to All the Girls”), and others.
Pan-American Exposition
During the summer of 1901, the Fischer brothers got their first big break when they signed on to play a twenty-week run at Statler’s Pan-American Hotel in Buffalo, New York, in conjunction with the Pan-American Exposition. With accommodations for more than 5,000, the Statler hotel provided a suitable venue where hundreds of thousands of guests could see and enjoy Fischer’s Orchestra.
“Meet Me in St. Louis”
After the 1901 World's Fair, the band returned to Kalamazoo and enjoyed several seasons of steady employment at area hotels, colleges and resorts. In 1904, the band got its next big break when Fischer signed on for a five month stint at the Saint Louis World's Fair, playing the famed Inside Inn, the 2,257-room “official” hotel located right on the Exposition grounds. Once again, Fischer’s musicians were able to showcase their expertise in front of the millions who flocked to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Thereafter known as Fischer’s Exposition Orchestra, the “boys” again returned to Michigan and performed tirelessly throughout the summer months at the Allendale resort on Gull Lake, Kalamazoo’s Oakwood Park, the Imperial Hotel in Petoskey, the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, and at least one tour with Redpath Chautauqua. Reports of audiences numbering in the thousands—even tens-of-thousands—were not uncommon. At one point, Fischer owned and managed no less than six different bands that toured continuously throughout the Midwest. Fischer’s band was also featured some sixteen times at the University of Michigan’s annual “J-Hop” in Ann Arbor.
912 South West Street
In 1908, Charles Fischer and his wife purchased a stately home at 912 South West Street (now 914 South Westnedge). Aside from being his family residence and orchestra business office, the Fischer home served as a rehearsal space where band members could work out the intricate arrangements of their latest compositions, and an instruction room for band members who gave music lessons to supplement their orchestra commitments and various “day jobs.” 912 South West Street would remain the primary address and business office of Fischer’s many orchestras and ensembles for some 22 years.
Local Enterprise
In addition to their orchestra work, the Fischer brothers were both active music merchants in the local economy. Charles Fischer owned and operated a retail music store (Fischer’s Music Shop) in downtown Kalamazoo from 1911 through 1919, where popular sheet music, Victrolas and records were sold. Burton Fischer formed his own music publishing company (The Burton E. Fischer Publishing Co.) as a commercial outlet for many of his own compositions and the work of others.
Today, we consume music by our favorite artists in a variety of ways; radio, CD, download, etc. A century ago, sheet music was all the rage. Without the ability to easily acquire an actual recording, fans simply bought the music sheets and recreated their favorite tunes for themselves.
As Fischer’s orchestras grew more and more popular, fans combed the music shops for copies of the latest pieces that the bands were playing, many of which were composed by Burton Fischer himself, with words by leading local and regional lyricists.
Victor Records
The Fischer brothers were driven to keep their organizations up-to-date, and always at the forefront of technology for their time. In October 1917, the orchestra traveled to Camden, New Jersey, to cut a few test “sides” for Victor Records. According to Victor ledgers, the band cut at least four numbers on 10 October 1917. These included “Casino Jazz” (a Burton Fischer composition) (2 takes), “Vienese Melodies” (1 take), “Oodles of Pep” (another Burton Fischer composition) (one take), and a Burton Fischer arrangement of “Annie Laurie” (2 takes), a trombone and cornet duet by Edward Snuggs and William Reifsnyder, both members of Fischer’s Orchestra. Unfortunately, it appears that none of these recordings were ever issued commercially and apparently no future contract with Victor resulted.
Radio
During the infant days of radio, Fischer’s orchestras were “on the air,” as well. In 1922, Fischer’s “Full” Orchestra became the first band outside of Detroit to broadcast over WCX (now WJR), just days after the station first went on. On Sunday evening, 28 May 1922, the orchestra performed before a crowd of some five thousand in Milwaukee, which was, in turn, broadcast live over the radio and played for the band’s home audience at a special Oakwood Park “Radio Dance.”
After the First World War, musical tastes began to change and audiences were drawn to newer, more modern “jazz” arrangements. Not to be left behind, the Fischer brothers formed a host of touring jazz bands during the nineteen-teens and early twenties to meet the growing demand for a “peppier” syncopated sound, including the Fischer Jazzadores, the Fischer Jazz Band, Fischer’s Banjo Phiends, and Fischer’s Serenaders.
Fischer’s star banjo player and long-time Gibson employee, Jas. H. “Jazz” Johnstone, made quite a name for himself around this time as a music instructor, by teaching eager students how to “jazz” on the tenor banjo. Several other members of Fischer’s Orchestra were part of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra’s 1921 inception, including Frank Newell, Charles Brocato, and William Reifsnyder.
In 1926, yet another big break came for the band when Fischer contracted for a four-month around-the-world cruise as the official shipboard orchestra aboard the Red Star Line’s SS Belgenland. During the 29,000 mile, sixty-city journey, Fischer’s Orchestra performed both on the ship and in the ports they visited along the way, including luxury hotels in Tokyo, Peking, Bombay, Cairo, and Naples.
The 1926-27 excursion proved successful enough that the Fischer Orchestra was again engaged for three subsequent world cruises; 1927-28, 1930-31, and a fourth in 1931-32.
During the 1930 cruise, Albert Einstein was a passenger on the SS Belgenland and, after borrowing Charles’ violin, even “sat in” with the orchestra for a few numbers. According to one newspaper account, Einstein also borrowed Charlie Fischer’s hat during the same trip when they went ashore for a stroll, only to have the hat stolen by an apparent souvenir hunter. Amused by the incident, Fischer told the reporter, “I still laugh when I think how someone must be treasuring that hat. I wonder what they’d do if they knew who really owned it.”
For more than fifty years, Fischer's motto was “You Don't Have to Dance To Fischer’s Music, Just Get On and Ride.” Even in later years, the Fischer name continued to be an integral part of the Kalamazoo music scene. Charles Fischer, Burton Fischer and Ed Snuggs performed frequently during the forties as the “Twilight Serenade Trio” and were often broadcast locally over WKZO radio. Fischer’s “Globe Trotters,” including long-time Fischer alumni Ed Snuggs and Will Reifsnyder, continued to perform locally and around the region until Charles’ death in 1948. Burton Fischer continued to write and perform right up until his death in 1965, as did fellow bandmate Edward Snuggs, who led a popular series of Sunday band concerts in Milham Park until his death in 1971.
Continuing Research
This essay is by no means a definitive study, rather it is very much a work-in-progress. If you have new information, corrections, or items to share, please contact the author or the Local History Room.
Written by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library Staff, 2009.