James Ellsworth Lowe (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1956 number-one hit song, " The Green Door". He also served as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

and radio host and personality, and was considered an expert on the

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

of the 1940s and 1950s.

Biography

Born in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, Lowe graduated from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

in Columbia in 1948. He worked for several radio stations in Springfield, Indianapolis and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, before moving to WCBS in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1956. Steve Grant, "Famous radio host, native Springfieldian, Jim Lowe dies at age 93", ''Ky3.com'', December 13, 2016
/ref> A million-seller and

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

recipient, Lowe's 1956 hit "The Green Door" was written by Marvin Moore and Bob Davie. The song reached No. 8 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in November 1956. Lowe earlier wrote "Gambler's Guitar", a million-selling hit for

Rusty Draper Farrell Haliday "Rusty" Draper (January 25, 1923 – March 28, 2003) was an American country and pop singer-songwriter and radio and TV host who achieved his greatest success in the 1950s. Biography Born in Kirksville, Missouri, United State ...

in 1953. His most notable run as a disc jockey was with WNEW AM in New York, from 1964. Lowe also worked at WNBC AM in New York where he was heard both locally and on the coast-to-coast NBC Radio weekend program ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

''. He retired in 2004 at the age of 81, and lived in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

.''Notable Ridgefielders'', published by The

Ridgefield Press ''The Ridgefield Press'' is an American weekly newspaper published each Thursday for Ridgefield, Connecticut. The newspaper was established in 1875, and has a paid circulation of about 4,753 copies. It is currently owned by Hearst Media, which ...

, December 2000 For contributions to the music industry, Lowe was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6341

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

. Lowe died on December 12, 2016, at his home in East Hampton, Long Island, after a long illness.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Jim Lowe information and partial discography
* Jim Lowe at Allmusic
WNEW tribute site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Jim 1923 births 2016 deaths American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters American radio DJs Dot Records artists Musicians from Springfield, Missouri Singer-songwriters from Missouri University of Missouri alumni Country musicians from Missouri Country musicians from New York (state) Singer-songwriters from New York (state)