Music Mercury Records (1948-54) Hayes was discovered by a personnel from
Mercury Records in 1948. Hayes was singing at the Leon & Eddie's nightclub in
New York City. He was approached by somebody who invited Hayes to perform on Art Ford's local Saturday night TV series on station
WPIX in New York. Hayes eventually became a regular performer on
Art Ford Saturday Night. A vice president from Mercury saw Hayes on the series and invited him to record for Mercury. Between 1948 and 1949, Hayes made three recordings for Mercury that weren't that successful. But his fourth recording, a version of the song "
The Old Master Painter", became an instant success. The song had been previously recorded by singers
Dick Haymes,
Peggy Lee &
Mel Tormé,
Phil Harris,
Snooky Lanson and
Frank Sinatra. But it was Hayes's recording of this song that made the charts. The song was ranked number 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 charts and remained there for twelve weeks. The next song he recorded for the Mercury label was a version of the song "
My Foolish Heart" in 1950. He again enjoyed the producing accompaniment of
Mitch Miller. Hayes also enjoyed another hit. Although not as popular as his previous song, "My Foolish Heart" did manage to rank number 21 on the charts. Shortly after the release of the song, Miller left Mercury and joined rival label
Columbia Records. Hayes remained with Mercury and recorded four more songs that did not place on the charts. But the fifth song he recorded, a duet with
Kitty Kallen entitled "Our Lady Of Fatima", managed to reach number 10 on the charts beginning in September 1950 and remained there for three months.
Television and military career Hayes was drafted into the military in 1953. He served in the
Army and was stationed originally in
Fort Dix,
New Jersey, then in
Governors Island,
New York. He served during the last few months of the
Korean War. During his service in the military, Hayes was selected to become the co-host of
Arlene Francis and replacement for
Steve Allen on the game show
Talent Patrol. He remained with the series until its cancellation in 1955 and left the military that same year. and
The Robert Q. Lewis Show between 1956 and 1964. Hayes also made frequent appearances on
Arthur Godfrey's radio and television programs between 1958 and 1972.
Later career Shortly after the release of his last record in 1964, Hayes worked on several
game shows. He first worked as an announcer on the original
ABC game show
Supermarket Sweep from 1965 to 1967, followed by a stint as host of the 1967–1968 series
The Baby Game. From 1971 to 1972, Hayes was the host of the Canadian syndicated hidden camera game show
All About Faces. In the late 1970s, Hayes moved back to New York where he became a congenial radio host. He first spent several years at
WMCA in New York, then went to
WWDB in
Philadelphia, and from there to WCAU 1210am (now
WPHT), where he stayed until 1990. While on radio in Philadelphia, he wrote and recorded his radio show theme song to the tune of "
Secret Agent Man". ==Personal life and death==