Free Kay Thompson by Sam Irvin

negotiated a special tie-in with WaltDisney, securing exclusive “first radio rights” to original songs from his Silly Symphonies cartoon featurettes. On the February 10 premiere broadcast, “The World Owes Me a Living,” from the brand-new Disney short The Grasshopper and the Ants, was performed by Kay as the Queen Ant and Pinto Colvig as the Grasshopper. Colvig had provided the same voice in the film and went on to be the original voice of Goofy, Pluto, and two of the Seven Dwarfs (Sleepy and Grumpy).
    After Radio Guide hailed the broadcast performance as “a brilliant novelty,” Victor Records cut a disc of the melody with Raymond Paige and his orchestra featuring Colvig and the Three Rhythm Kings—though sadly, because of her exclusive contract with Brunswick Records, Kay was not allowed to voice the Queen. Nevertheless, her vocal arrangement was utilized and, as always, she coached the Rhythm Kings’ harmonics.
    On subsequent installments, other familiar cartoon voices dropped by to sing with Kay, including Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse and Clarence Nash as Donald Duck.
    Although Spier was based in New York, he traveled to California to seal the deal with Disney. It was then that he came face-to-face with Thompson for the first time. From the moment he laid eyes on her, Bill was smitten, but because he had a wife back home in New York and Kay had Burt McMurtrie and Don Forker vying for her affections, the timing just wasn’t right. Not yet.
    Despite its promise, the ratings for Pontiac Surprise Party did not live up to the high-octane expectations of General Motors. Expensive Hollywood guest stars such as W. C. Fields and George Raft were hired for added oomph but the results were negligible, so the series was canceled after the show on March 17.
    Just two days later, when Kay and the Rhythm Kings asked for a raise to continue making appearances on Crosby-Woodbury, the request was denied and they were dropped from the series “to free up time for more Crosby solos.”
    In a fit of rage, Kay and her trio went on strike, refusing to appear on any of their other scheduled KHJ shows. The conflict of interest between her agent, Thomas Lee, and his father’s radio station had never been more evident, and she went public with her grievances in local newspapers. Late in the day on Friday, March 23, Don Lee caved, demands were met, and the walkout ended.
    “Everything is rosy now between KHJ, Kay Thompson and the Three Rhythm Kings,” reported the Los Angeles Times on March 24. Or at least that was the party line.
    “I expected to love Hollywood—but it was awful,” Kay later reflected. “I thought it would be gay and interesting, but I found myself hating it.” Disillusioned, she was itching for a change of scenery.
    In June, Kay received a telegram from Tom Coakley, begging her to come to San Francisco and perform with his orchestra for a two-week gig in the Rose Room at the Palace Hotel. Kay had loved working with Tom and his guys at the Roosevelt in Hollywood back in 1932, and the offer was just the excuse she needed for a getaway.
    On June 16, 1934, the Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express announced, “Kay Thompson was booked by Thomas Lee to sing with Tom Coakley’s organization for two weeks beginning today.”
    Although KHJ would collect a 20 percent commission on her outside earnings, Don Lee was not going to make life easy for her. “Kay Thompson will be heard nightly at the Palace, except Sunday,” explained a report in the San Francisco Call-Bulletin . “Over the weekends she’ll fly to Los Angeles [to be] on The Merrymakers broadcast.”
    Not only would she have to fly back-and-forth to KHJ in L.A., but Kay was also assigned two series on KFRC, Don Lee’s San Francisco station: The Kay Thompson Show and The Blue Monday Jamboree, both featuring Meredith Willson and his orchestra, and overseen by Pat Weaver (who had just been sent to San Francisco as reinforcement).
    What she had hoped would be