Felicia Sanders (born Felice Schwartz; April 26, 1921 – February 7, 1975) was a singer and musician of
traditional pop music
Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standard ...
.
Early years
Sanders was born in
Mount Vernon, New York but was raised in Southern California. She studied merchandising at the University of Southern California.
[
Sanders married Michael Snider (who was in the Army), and they had a son, Jefferson. During World War II Sanders "decided to give singing a try," thinking it was her duty to sing at camps and hospitals.]
Career
In 1950 Sanders sang at ''Café Gala,'' a Hollywood nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
. About this time she recorded some test transcriptions for bandleader Jerry Fielding. She took them to her friend, jazz musician and bandleader Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...
, who thought enough of her talent to recommend her to Mitch Miller
Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...
, Columbia Records' artist and repertory
Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...
director. She was picked in 1953 by Percy Faith, Columbia's biggest orchestra leader, to perform the vocal on a song he was recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
, taken from the film ''Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche.
In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Ol ...
''—a biographical film about Toulouse-Lautrec
Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the l ...
.
" The Song from Moulin Rouge" was recorded on January 22, 1953, as the B-side of a recording of "Swedish Rhapsody". It was Sanders' second record,chart-topper
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
. It scored #1 on both the ''Billboard'' and ''Cash Box'' record chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
s. The record was to be Sanders' greatest success. ''Billboard'' credited the recording as the No. 1 song for 1953.
Just before the record was released Sanders was hired by New York's famous Blue Angel Supper Club, and she played there for a long time, being the first singer to perform the song "In Other Words ( Fly Me to the Moon)" — although she did not record it until several other singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
s had done so.
Sanders recorded "In Other Words" in 1959 at Decca Recording studio; it was backed with "Summer Love" (composed by Victor Young). During the 1960s she sang frequently at The Bon Soir cabaret on West 8th Street.
In 1955, Sanders released her first Columbia album, ''Felicia Sanders at the Blue Angel''.Medic
A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder.
Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgra ...
.''
Personal life
Sanders' marriage to Snider ended in divorce. She married musician Irving Joseph.
Death
Felicia Sanders died in her Manhattan home on February 7, 1975, from cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
at the age of 53.
References
External links
1953 Time magazine article
on Felicia Sanders
on Felicia Sanders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Felicia
1921 births
1975 deaths
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Musicians from Mount Vernon, New York
People from Greater Los Angeles
Traditional pop music singers