Six Hits and a Miss was an American swing-era singing group. The group consisted of six male singers and one female (thus the word "miss" in their name has a double meaning – the converse of the word " hit", and denotation of a young woman). They performed musical numbers in several Hollywood feature films of the 1940s, such as '' Time Out for Rhythm'' (1941), '' The Big Store'' (1941), '' Hit Parade of 1941'' (1941), and ''

Girl Crazy ''Girl Crazy'' is a 1930 musical by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Co-leads Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman made their stage debuts in the first production and Rogers became an overnight sta ...

'' (1943). The group was formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1936 as a foursome, under the name Three Hits and a Miss, the members being Martha Tilton, Vince Degen, Marvin Bailey and Bill Seckler. In this configuration they appeared in the 1937 hit film '' Topper'', singing Hoagy Carmichael's song, "Old Man Moon". The quartet also performed on actress/comedienne Charlotte Greenwood’s

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

program, '' The Charlotte Greenwood Show'' on

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

broadcasts in the mid-1940s on the NBC Blue Network in the summer of 1944 and 1945-1946 after the network was forced to reorganize as the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

. The group soon expanded to a septet. Members came and went, particularly due to wartime service, and included at various times Pauline Byrns, Howard Hudson, Tony Paris, Marvin Bailey, Jerry Preshaw, Lee Gotch, and Mack McLean. They were regulars on '' The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope'' in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and recorded as backup singers for Judy Garland,

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

, and

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

, whom they backed on his 1944 recording of " On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (later the theme song from the 1946

Western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

, '' The Harvey Girls'', starring Judy Garland). The recording reached the ''Billboard'' charts on July 19, 1945, and lasted ten weeks on the chart, peaking at number four. They reached No. 11 or No. 16 on their own in 1943 with

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

's " You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To". The group shrank to Four Hits and a Miss. This configuration briefly included a young

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

. Under this name, they worked with

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and recorded into the late 1940s on the Decca label. Alumni Vince Degen, Tony Paris, Howard Hudson, Pauline Byrns and Andy Williams (soon replaced by Jerry Duane) went on to form The Starlighters in 1946, continuing into the 1950s. ''Six Hits and a Miss'' is also the name of a 1942 musical short film in which the group appeared. Personnel at that time were Pauline Byrns, Marvin Bailey, Vince Degen, Lee Gotch, Mack McLean, Tony Paris and Bill Seckler.

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* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1936 Musical groups from Los Angeles 1936 establishments in California