In the mid 1930s, Lathrop was one of founding members of the Tune Twisters, a swing jazz vocal trio originally composed ofAndy Love, Robert Wacker, and himself. The Tune Twisters were featured on radio broadcasts and also recorded and performed with jazz artists that included Ray Noble in 1935, Bob Crosby in 1935, Glenn Miller in 1937, and Adrian Rollini in 1938. Lathrop performed with the Tune Twisters in the 1937 Broadway production, Between the Devil. They sang the song "Triplets." The production ran from December 22, 1937 to March 12, 1938. During the audition, the Tune Twisters were known as the Savoy Club Boys. Lathrop was a member of the Tune Twisters in 1938 when they recorded the first radio jingle of its kind for Pepsi – "Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot" . Lathrop was replaced around 1940 by Gene Lanham. The trio also performed in two 1935 films, Sweet Surrender and Melody Magic, directed by Fred Waller. Big bands
Lathrop was guitarist and vocalist with Glenn Miller from 1940 to 1942. While a member, Lathrop composed "Helpless", featuring vocals by Ray Eberle, and "Long Time No See, Baby", featuring vocals by Marion Hutton, which were released as 78 singles on RCA.
Solo artist
Jack Lathrop With The Drugstore Cowboys
Lathrop's first release with RCA Victor, the 78 single 20-3109, his first charting hit as a solo artist, was "Hair of Gold" released in 1948. This song was written by Sunny Skylar and first recorded by vocalist Jack Emerson on Metrotone Records, and became the label's best seller. Gordon MacRae's version was the biggest hit, but Lathrop’s version also fared well. It was his highest-charting song, reaching a peak of #19. The b-side of this record was "You Call Everybody Darlin", a words and music written by Sam Martin, Ben L. Trace, Clem Watts, and Albert J. Trace. This song also reached the charts at #27. These sides had been recorded as a response to the James Petrillo-led Musician’s Union recording ban of 1948. The instrumentation backing the harmonizing vocalists was limited to harmonicas, jug-blowers, and ukuleles. Despite the limited instrumentation Billboard reviewed both sides as "excellent." Jack Lathrop and His Orchestra
The second RCA release was “Dainty Brenda Lee,” which received a rating of "excellent" from Billboard. "Corn Belt Symphony" was placed on the other side of the 78rpm disc. This song was cited as both an "Operators Pick" and “Retailers Pick” for several weeks in late 1948 in Billboard, but despite the reviews and large marketing support from RCA, the disc had limited commercial impact. Eve Young and Jack Lathrop
His next release for RCA was "My Darling, My Darling", a duet with Eve Young. The song was from the 1948 Broadway musical, Where's Charley?. Lathrop and Young's version garnered negative reviews from Billboard and the New York Times, but it reached the Juke Box charts at #26. Yet, in 1949, Billboard ranked it #5 in its "Honor Roll of Hits" for the week ending January 21, 1949. Jack Lathrop with the Drugstore Cowboys and Orchestra
The success of the RCA recordings prompted Jack to hire Frank Hanshaw as a manager, and to go on tour with a trio consisting guitar, accordion, and bass. He recorded two more sides before touring, "Don't Hang Around" and "One Has My Name," which were reviewed as "good" by Billboard. Children's series
In addition to the popular material, RCA utilized his talent for a new series of children's records.
Discography
As of 2019, The Jazz Discography, a database of jazz sessionography and discography – which includes transcriptions of radio broadcasts – lists 135 recordings of Lathrop, as guitarist and vocalist with Glenn Miller and Hal McIntyre – between April 28, 1940, and July 22, 1942. The database neither includes Lathrop's recordings with the Tune Twisters nor his recordings with the Drugstore Cowboys.
Lathrop's parents, Margaret Lathrop and John Marcos Lathrop were married May 28, 1912, in Manhattan. According to the 1920 US Census, his mother was divorced; and in 1920, he, his sister Kathryn, and his mother lived with his widowed maternal grandmother, Kittie Isabel Lowell , who owned and ran a private boarding house in White Plains, New York. Jack Lathrop, on November 10, 1940, married Barbara Jane Mitchell in Manhattan. Barbara's father, Joseph James Mitchell had died in White Plains months earlier. Jack and Barbara Lathrop had three sons and a daughter.
