Harry Breuer

Space-age pop percussionist Harry Breuer was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 21, 1901; he initially studied violin but shifted to xylophone -- then still a novelty instrument -- while in high school, and went on to play with early radio favorites the Cliquot Club Eskimos as well as a number of vaudeville acts. Stints with the stage bands at New York's Roxy Theater and Radio City Music Hall followed before Breuer spent the war years working for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> and Fox, not only contributing music to the studios' productions but also making appearances in several short subjects and educational films; during the mid-'40s, he signed on as a staff musician with NBC radio, remaining with the network for over three decades. In 1958, Breuer made his album debut with Mallet Magic, a collection of percussion instrumentals recorded for the Audio Fidelity label as a forum for demonstrating stereo technology; that same year he issued a sequel, Mallet Mischief, which was later featured on the cover of the book Incredibly Strange Music, Vol. 1, in the process becoming one of the more sought-after releases among latter-day space-age pop aficionados. Nearly a decade later, Breuer also teamed with electronic pioneer <a href="spotify:artist:09x9KmiHgFJgWySzkMRNGx">Jean-Jacques Perrey</a> to record The Happy Moog for Pickwick. Inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1980, Breuer continued performing until his final years, in 1986 even releasing a new LP, Mallets in Wonderland; he died in New York City on June 27, 1989. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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