Although Al Donahue (1904-1983) graduated from Boston University Law School, he was in such demand as a musician that he never took the bar examination. He attended the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. As leader of a big band, Donahue appeared at, among other top venues, the Rainbow Room in New York City, the Palladium in Hollywood, the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, and the Oriental Theater in Chicago. For quite a few decades, people linked his name to luxury cruiseships which sailed to the Bermuda Islands. Donahue's musical instrument was the violin, which he began playing at age 9. Sidemen who were in his band included, at various times, Ray Anthony (trumpet), Bart Varsalona and Lloyd Ulyate (trombones), and Allan Reuss (guitar). Donahue's longest-serving vocalists were Barry McKinley (performing the vocal on this great 1936 recording) and Paula Kelly, followed by Phil Brito and Dee Keating. Between 1935 and 1942, Donahue and his orchestra made a total of 23 titles for Decca, 103 for Vocalion, and 43 for Okeh. Throughout the rest of the '40s they appeared at such venues as Ciro's in Hollywood; the Meadowbrook in Cedar Grove, NJ; the State Theatre in Hartford, CT; Dowell Field in Bangor, ME; the Trianon Ballroom in South Gate, CA; and the Avadon Ballroom in Los Angeles. But by the end of the decade, the general public's attention had begun to turn to other kinds of entertainment. When, for example, Donahue and his orchestra took part in a revue in the Marine Room of the Edgewater Beach Hotel in May 1953, they were billed third, behind Liberace and Chandra Kaly and His Dancers. So Donahue decided to concentrate more on the business end of things and became a contractor for groups of varying sizes on Furness Lines steamships. (It was said that at one time he had 37 units working). Naturally, his own band was the featured attraction, playing for dreamy dancing on Furness' elegant cruiseships, the "Queen of Bermuda" and the "Ocean Monarch," which sailed on a regular basis between 1950 and 1963. As early as 1932, Donahue's orchestra had provided music aboard Furness' steamship, the "Monarch of Bermuda," and they were the featured attraction in regular engagements during 1936-38 at the Hotel Bermudiana in Hamilton, Bermuda. In 1941-42, the Alcoa Steamship Company had hired Donahue's band to perform aboard its fashionable "Aluminum Line" cruiseships, the "Acadia" and the "Evangeline," which sailed, variously, to Bermuda, Trinidad, and elsewhere in the West Indies. Donahue and his manager, Frank Walsh, even started a music and record store in Bermuda. In the 50s he returned several times to the recording studio. Donahue's first long-play album, "Low Down Music in a Top Hat", named after his theme, Low Down Rhythm in a Top Hat, was released in 1951. His stereo debut, "Invitation to Dance", made in 1957, concentrated on standards, including "Cruising Along to Bermuda" and "Cruising Along with Al Donahue: The Furness Way".