At the height of the Great Depression three fun-loving young musicians
from the flatlands of Central Indiana began broadcasting a fifteen
minute daily radio show on WOWO in Fort Wayne. Veterans of the
vaudeville circuits, they performed without pay to promote local
appearances for $15 per night. The show quickly drew a large following
and this led to an opportunity to join the WLS National Barn Dance in
Chicago. Their happy, sometimes zany antics proved to be exactly what a
Depression-weary country needed. The line that began many of their
songs, "Are you ready, Hezzie?" became part of the American lexicon. The
Hoosier Hot Shots went on to make hundreds of phongraph records, appear
in 22 movies and have their own nationwide radio show. This account of
their boy-makes-good lives includes more than 80 photos, illustrations,
letters written by one of the original Hot Shots, movie highlights, a
discography and more.