in, Weems was impressed enough to add a whistling segment to one of the band's sets. Tanner whistled the Show Boat song, "Make Believe"; the audience asked for an encore. Tanner's whistling became so popular that Perry Como, another featured performer in the band, said “The whistler was the whole band.” On occasion, Tanner's lips would pucker up, interfering with his whistling. Although generally noted for his graciousness as a bandleader, Weems would have fun at Tanner's expense, running him through the most difficult songs in his repertoire when he noticed Tanner was struggling. Tanner became known as "Whistler’s Mother’s Boy", "The Whistling Troubador," and "the nation’s best-known whistler". Tanner was noted for the ease with which he hit high notes and performed trills. He had the ability to whistle while triple-tonguing, and like Bing Crosby, he was able to whistle from his throat due to the muscles in his larynx. His range was from low G to high B. Professional whistler Joel Brandon has named Tanner as a "top pick". Ted Weems considered Tanner's whistling so important to his band, he insured the musician's throat with Lloyd's of London for $10,000 in 1939. The policy provided payment for any medical expenses related to Tanner's possible inability to whistle and included payment to the holder if Tanner was unable to perform. In an era when whistling was commonly featured on popular recordings, Tanner was often confused with Fred Lowery, who was blind and worked with Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights. People would come up to Tanner and ask if it was true that he was blind. “Only on Saturday night,” he would reply. When not singing or whistling, Elmo played guitar in the band. The primary purpose was evidently to show Tanner was "doing something" while keeping him in view, as it became a standard joke that the guitar he was playing had rubber bands in place of strings. Tanner began appearing in films as part of the Ted Weems Orchestra in 1936; his first film role was in The Hatfields and McCoys, In 1938 he appeared in the movie Swing, Sister, Swing with the Weems outfit. Tanner also featured with Ted Weems and his Orchestra in a 1942 musical film short, Swing Frolic. During this time period Tanner appeared on the popular radio show Beat the Band with Weems; the program ran from January 28, 1940 until February