The DeMarco Sisters Sing “On the Sunny Side of the Street”

For 30 years The DeMarco Sisters were singing their hearts out on radio and on TV. There were many sister acts during this era like The McGuire Sisters and The Andrews Sisters, as the harmonious jazz tunes sung in this style were immensely popular. Beginning in the 1930s the sisters performed on the radio after their father pushed for an impromptu audition for NBC. After years on the radio and a along-time stint on The Fred Allen Show they appeared in the film Skirts Ahoy! (1952) staring Esther Williams. But, when TV came along they rolled with the changes and became frequent guests on variety shows and game shows.

On The Kate Smith Hour they performed with Kate Smith, another veteran of the radio airwaves who not only had her own variety show on TV, but continued to host radio programs during this time at a pretty strong clip. When Smith would have guests on her TV show she would sometimes sing with them, as she did when the DeMarco sisters guest starred in 1953.

The group of 5 singers started out as a trio of the true DeMarco sisters. After some success they added the other sisters in the family to make it a quintet. After one of the girls got married and retired they brought in singers who were not related to the DeMarco family.

The combination of voices brings to light the immense talent of the singers back then as this performance of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” was sung and recorded live, so they had to be pitch perfect.

Hear this happy tune again in the video below.