Mel Henke, c. 1943
Mel Henke (Chicago, August 4, 1915 - Los Angeles, March 31, 1979) was an American jazz pianist, Chicago band leader, composer, arranger and jingle writer. Henke studied at the Chicago College of Music, then played with Chicago groups with Mitch Todd, Frank Snyder, Stephen Leonard and others. Henke recorded many jazz standards, with his own arrangements including a 1946 piano solo on Bix Beiderbecke's 1928 In a Mist. His best-known jingles included the Ajax cleanser, "stronger-than-dirt" jingle, for Colgate-Palmolive, and "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" jingle for Chevrolet.