SING ALONG WITH MITCH

Mitch Miller has died at the age of 99. Here are some things you probably didn't know about his career.

• When Orson Welles panicked the populace with his 1938 radio drama "War of the Worlds," Miller was part of the show. He was in the CBS Symphony Orchestra, playing the oboe.
• He produced Rosemary Cloony's breakout hit "Come On-A My House." Novelist William Saroyan wrote the song with his cousin Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville) who went on to record the chipmunk songs.
• In 1993 the FBI tried to drive David Koresh and his Branch Davidian cult members out or their Waco, Texas compound by blaring "Sing Along with Mitch" Christmas albums over loudspeakers. It didn't work.

(NYT)