Pete Wendling
Encyclopedia
Pete Wendling an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 composer and pianist, was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 immigrants.

He started his working life as a carpenter, but gained fame during the mid 1910s as a popular music composer - producing such hits as Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula, Take Me To The Land Of Jazz, Take Your Girlie To The Movies, Felix The Cat, and Oh What A Pal Is Mary.

However, Wendling was also one of the top pianists of his era, and set a long-standing record when he appeared at the London Hippodrome for 8 consecutive weeks. He joined the Rhythmodik Music Roll Company in 1914, and started to record his performances on paper rolls for player piano
Player piano
A player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...

s. In 1916 he recorded for American Piano Company (Ampico). In 1918, he joined the largest piano roll company, QRS, and rapidly became one of their most popular artists - his distinctive yet always fresh performances constantly topping their best-selling lists and are still in production as of 2003 - over 80 years since they were produced.

In 1925 QRS, who were tightening their belt due to declining sales, released Wendling, and he concentrated on his composing career until his retirement in the 1950s. Married to Anna, he had no children. He died in New York City.
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