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| - There were two independently created and independently operating groups known as the Melodears or Melo-Dears in the 1930s and 1940s, one a band, the other a vocal trio, with similar names only by coincidence. There is no known connection between the two groups. The Melodears, also known as Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears, was an American all-female band. The band was led by singer Ina Ray Hutton and featured several musicians during its existence. The band formed in 1934, originally as a 15-member band, and was disbanded in 1939 by Hutton, who soon afterwards formed an all-male orchestra. They were the first all-female band to be recorded, initially for Vocalion Records in 1934 and later for RCA Victor. The Melo-dears vocal trio was a female trio in the American Midwest. The trio was founded and managed by singer of Chicago, with several and various vocalists rounding out the trio, with support personnel from her friends at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, also in Chicago. This vocal trio formed in the late 1930s when Arleen (1921–2013) was still a teenager, and disbanded in 1949 when Arleen married Rev. William H. Knoderer, Jr. and became choir director at several Lutheran Churches in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. Arleen also sang with the St. Louis Summer Musicals programs (latter 1940s) and with the Springfield Municipal Opera in Ohio (1956–1967) where she sang a number of lead and supporting roles. The Melo-dears made at least one appearance on the first television station in Chicago and traveled the midwest. See Bullet Point #3 for more information. (en)
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