When he was 12, Don Neely bought a Victrola and started a record collection. He was drawn to the jazz/dance band sounds and Tin Pan Alley songs of the 1920s. While in college, he had his own traditional jazz band. Then, in 1975, he came across a set of arrangements from the 1920s and '30s and started to play. They eventually became the book for his Royal Society Jazz Orchestra. It was a struggle to get off the ground for several years, before a big break came when Turk Murphy offered them steady work at his club ~Earthquake McGoon's. Another milestone was a long-running engagement at ~the Mark Hopkins Hotel, where many famous big bands played during the 1930s. The RSJO recreated a long and successful series of 1930s Tea Dances with live radio broadcasts simultaneously transmitting over two radio stations.
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