Pianist, Orchestra Leader, Composer. A significant creator of dance music during the 1920s and of Hollywood soundtracks in the early 1930s. The St. Louis-born Rodemich had piano lessons as a child and made his performing debut at the 1904 World's Fair, where he was billed as the "Ragtime Paderewski". Following several tours as accompanist for Elsie Janis he returned to St. Louis and formed the Gene Rodemich Orchestra, which became the city's premier dance band. From 1919 to 1926 they made 87 recordings for the Brunswick label, landing Top Ten US hits with their versions of Con Conrad's "Margie" (1920) and Jelly Roll Morton's "Wolverine Blues" (1923). At various times the group featured saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer and trombonist-songwriter Larry Conley; its sound was said to have influenced Bix Beiderbecke and Jack Teagarden. Rodemich and Conley collaborated on several popular compositions for Brunswick, including "Easy Melody" (1923), "Shanghai Shuffle" (1924), and "One Stolen Kiss" (1924). Indicative of Rodemich's growing prestige was his invitation to serve as MC and orchestra leader of the new Metropolitan Theatre in Boston (1926 to 1928), after which he settled in New York City to lead his band in weekly performances over NBC Radio. Late in 1928 he accepted a gig as music director of Van Beuren Studios, a producer of animated films distributed by RKO. He worked on over 100 cartoon shorts through 1934; the odd "Synchronization by" screen credit he received reveals the extent of his involvement. Music was a vital component in synching sound and image in early talkie animation (storyboards were not yet standard). Before a single line was drawn Rodemich would attend story conferences to determine what music to use, and the scenarios were tailored to the music. He broke down the timing and tempo for each shot onto cue sheets for the animators to follow. Then he would get his band into a studio and lay down the soundtrack. The Van Beuren company was no Disney: its cartoons had no memorable characters, the animation was crude and the humor often cruder. But Rodemich's scores were always ebullient, mixing popular songs with original material and jazz band arrangements of the classics. Some entries, like "Piano Tooners" (1932), gave him a chance to show off his keyboard skills. In terms of quality and effectiveness Rodemich's music was the real "star" of these films. He successfully tackled a different challenge with Frank Buck's full-length jungle documentary "Bring 'Em Back Alive" (1932), also produced by Van Beuren. The footage was shot silent, so the composer had to provide a wall-to-wall accompaniment that dramatically underscored the visual action without competing with Buck's voice-over narration. It's the only clue we have of how Rodemich might have fared in Hollywood features. He died at 43 of lobar pneumonia, three days after falling ill during a recording session.