The Skylarks were formed in the unlikely surroundings of the Panama Canal zone during World War II. The four army servicemen included Bob Sprague (first tenor), Harry Gedicke (second tenor), Hary Shuman (baritone), and arranger/leader George Becker. They toured bases throughout Panama starting in 1942 while starring in a weekly program on the area's Armed Forces Radio Network.
After their discharge they reorganized in Detroit and added lead singer Gilda Maiken, whom they had heard on WJR radio. The group rehearsed at the YMCA in Highland Park, Michigan, practicing songs like "Night and Day", and "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance." Through Gilda's connections the group appeared with the Don Large Chorus on a coast-to-coast radio show. Bandleader Woody Herman heard them and engaged the group to perform with his orchestra.
The quartet originall called themselves the Velvetones, but upon joining Herman they became known as the Blue Moods, since Woody's orchestra was billed as "the band that plays the blues." They recorded "Stars Fell on Alabama" in August 1946 in Los Angeles and then set off with herman for the National Theatre tour circuit.
In 1947 Herma's ban broke up while the Blue Moods were in New York, but they eventually had the good fortune to meed and record with Bing Crosby. He changed their name to the Skylarks and they recorded two sides with him, "Ko Ko Mo Indiana" and "Chaperone."
In 1948 they joined Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra and made several MGM recording before Dorsey's band broke up.
Music publisher Rocky Carr became their manager and wired them to come to California where work might be easier to find. The smooth-sounding quintet's reputation preceded them and without so much as an audition they were hired by Harry James. They recorded on Decca with trombonist Russ Morgan in February 1949 and had a million seller in the number one hit "Cruisin' Down The River." Its follow-up "Forever and Ever," charted for 26 weeks and also reached number one.
The group performed with such stars as Dinah Shore, eddie Fisher, Danny Kaye, Betty Hutton, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Frank Sinatra.
By the 1950s the group included originals Gilda Maiken and George Becker with Joe Hamilton, earl Brown, and Jackie Gershwin. They signed to RCA Records in the early '50s and had one chart single, "I Had the Craziest Dream" from the film Springtime in the Rockies (#28, April 1953). The group also appeard in the TV musical game show "Judge for Yourself" with Fred Allen in 1953.
Jackie Gershwin was later replaced by Carol Lombard, and the group kept performing. Included in their travels were four years of tours with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The Skylarks were staples of variety-show TV ranging from the Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore shows in the '50s to Carol Burnette's and Sonny and Cher's shows in the '60s.
In 1979 the Skylarks made their last public appearance in the Hollywood Palladium, 37 years after they were formed.
The individual members kept quite busy in show business after their group retirement. George Becker became production coordinatro for "The Tim Conway Show" and worked on Carol Burnett's shows for 15 years. Earl Brown became a material writer for TV and nightclub acts including The Osmonds, Steve Martin, Suzanne Somers, and the New Smothers Brothers. Joe Hamilton produced Carol Burnett's long-running TV show. Jackie Gershwin and Carol Lombard went on to work as backup singers as did Donna Manners and Peggy Clark, who has also spent some time with the group. Lively and charismatic Gilda Maiken (Anderson), the only lead singer the group ever had, opened her own talent agency and later became chairman of the celebrated Society of Singers.