Kay Kyser Kollege of Musical Knowledge and Kay Kyser Guest Appearances

Kay Kyser
(1905 – 1985)

Music quiz show (1937 July 29, 1949)

Kay Kyser was a well know cheerleader during his college days at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and somewhat of a local celebrity on campus due to his abundant enthusiasm and stage presence. He became a bandleader soon after college and soon developed his well know quiz show The College of Musical Knowledge which was a smashing success.

The Kollege of Musical Knowledge is a Music quiz show filled with hilarity and musical numbers. Quite popular during WWII, the show helped to fame many of Kyser's tunes, including "Three Little Fishies" and "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." Kyser and the band adorned themselves with costumes for the show. Bandleader Kay Kyser, known as "the old professor" on the show, wore a black robe and mortarboard hat. The band wore beanies atop their heads and letter sweaters spelling out the name of the sponsor (whether it was Lucky Strike, Colgate, or Pillsbury).

Kyser always enjoyed it when a contestant answered a true question "false" in the true-false part of the quiz, and shouted "That's right, you're wrong!" When a contestant would answer a question wrong, Kyser would then shout to the audience, "Students!" and the audience would together shout the correct answer at the contestant.

Kay Kyser was very active during WWII and was the first bandleader to performer in front of servicemen. As a bandleader he stood out because he danced with the music and was a basically over the top fun performer.

This updated collection includes seven newly found Kay Kyser Kollege of Musical Knowledge for 17 rare episodes in total (many are AFRS recordings). In addition to the Kollege of Musical Knowledge old time radio shows, we have found 30+ guest appearances by Kay Kyser on a number of comedy and variety shows including Amos and Andy, Burns and Allen, Command Performance, GI Journal, Jack Benny, Jubilee, Treasury Star Parade, Bill Stern, and more.

See also the Steven Beasley article 'Kay Kyser: Opening the Kollege Doors'. If you enjoy humorous quiz shows, see also You Bet Your Life and 20 Questions.