Topic: Debbie Lang
Debbie Lang, who worked as a female vocalist with The New Glenn Miller Orchestra directed by Ray McKinley, died Friday, January 25, 2008 of a heart attack at the age of 67. She joined the band around the fall of 1960, in time to take part in an extensive (and typical) tour of one-night stands. At the beginning of November, for instance, the band was in North Carolina, then Pennsylvania, and on the 6th, played at The Tuxedo Ballroom in New York City, where, for example, she sang I'm Glad There Is You and Over the Rainbow, and a reviewer called her "young and attractive" and "wonderful." She and the Miller Orchestra then headed into the Midwest for a couple of weeks, followed by a couple of dates into the South including Louisiana and Texas. On New Year's Eve, they broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago and a few weeks later performed at President John F. Kennedy's inaugural ball in Washington, DC. Marriage must have been in the air with the Miller Orchestra, for lead alto saxophonist and road manager Lenny Hambro was wed to Lynn Michels on November 5, 1960, and not long afterwards, Debbie married the group's lead tenor saxophonist, Lou Chev, who had been with the band since 1957. Debbie and Lou left the road to start and raise a family.