WWII Era
During World War II, he was in the Army Air Force, and continued to write lyrics for films and single songs. Loesser wrote the popular war songs "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" (1942) and "The Ballad of Rodger Young" (1943), among others. Loesser had started out his career writing lyrics for other composers, and "Praise the Lord" was the first song for which he wrote the melody as well as the lyrics.
In 1944, Loesser worked as the lyricist on a little known musical intended to be performed by and for US soldiers abroad, titled Hi Yank!, the music for which was composed by Alex North. Hi Yank! was produced by the U.S. Army Office of Special Services as a "blueprint special" to boost the morale of soldiers located where USO shows could not visit. The "blueprint" was a book containing a musical script with instructions for staging the show, using materials locally available to deployed soldiers. A document located at the US Army Centre for Military History states, "A touring company has been formed in Italy to tour a production of Hi, Yank!".
This unique Hi Yank! show, without stars or a conventional theater run, was generally forgotten until 2008, when the PBS History Detectives TV show researched the case of a long-saved radio transcription disc. The disc has two songs and a promotional announcement for the show's Fort Dix premiere in August 1944, when the disc was broadcast there.
Read more about this topic: Frank Loesser
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