Bert Kalmar (1884-1947) was a comedian in vaudeville, magician, and half of the renowned songwriting team of Kalmar and Ruby with Harry Ruby. The two began working together in Tin Pan Alley in New York City. Kalmar had hits on Broadway and, when the team moved to Hollywood, had hits in the movies. Some successful songs include I Wanna Be Loved by You, My Sunny Tennessee (the team's first hit song), and A Kiss to Build a Dream On.

Edgar Leslie (1885-1976) began writing songs for vaudeville but got his professional start collaborating with Irving Berlin, including Someone's Waiting for Me (We'll Wait, Wait, Wait) and Let's All Be Americans Now. Much success came with works he wrote for Al Jolson, including a song for the first talkie The Jazz Singer. His most well known hits include For Me and My Gal, used in the 1942 musical with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland, and Moon over Miami. In 1931, Leslie co-founded the Songwriters Protective Association, which evolved into the present-day Songwriters Guild of America union.

Pete Wendling (1888-1974) gained fame during the mid-1910s as a popular music composer with hits, such as Yaka Hula, Hickey Doola and Felix The Cat. He was also a top pianist and set a long-standing record when he appeared at the London Hippodrome for eight consecutive weeks. He then started to record his performances on paper rolls for player pianos in 1914. From 1925 until his retirement in the 1950s, he concentrated on his composing career.

The three wrote several songs together, including Take Me to the Land of Jazz, Take Your Girlie To The Movies (If You Can't Make Love At Home), Oh! What A Pal Was Mary, and All The Quakers Are Shoulder Shakers Down In Quaker Town.