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Mickey McDougall Orchestra

Mickey McDougall was said to be a self-taught musician who in his early days played mostly by ear mastering a number of instruments including alto sax, clarinet, organ and violin.

He joined the Jack Pudney Band in the early 30s, a band that quickly became very successful and was soon working seven nights a week at Port Stanley Pavilion. This proved to be a heavy schedule for Jack, who had other business interests to look after besides the band. Jack realised that Mickey had the personality to front the band so he appointed him interim leader and announcer during the week. This allowed Jack to only show up at weekends. However the strain of playing seven nights a week became too much for the band and it eventually broke up.

Mickey McDougall then went on to form his own group and his prior experience leading the Putney Band served him well. His musicality and personality were right for the times and soon made his band very popular over all South-Western Ontario. In 1935 the band was chosen to play for the opening of “Canada's most beautiful dance rendezvous” - Wonderland Gardens in London Ont. Mickey played several seasons at Wonderland and made numerous broadcasts over radio station CFPL. The band also played the large clubs such as the Stork Club in Port Stanley and Silver Slipper, Embassy and Palais Royal in Toronto.

The band eventually dissolved, but Mickey maintained his life long interest in music. In the 1950s he became a member of Lloyd Wrights Radio Rangers and perfected his sparkling clarinet technique with this group. He then spent many years with the Dixieland group called “The Aggregation” playing clarinet.