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Crooner
A crooner is a singer who performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The crooning style was made possible by better microphones that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a greater dynamic range and exploit the proximity effect. This suggestion of intimacy was supposedly wildly attractive to women, especially a youth subculture known at the time as " bobby soxers". The crooning style developed among singers who performed with big bands, and reached its height in the 1940s to late 1960s. Crooning is epitomized by jazz vocalists of the era such as Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee and Frank Sinatra, although Sinatra did not consider himself or Crosby to be "crooners". Other performers, such as Russ Columbo, also rejected the term. History This dominant popular vocal style coincided with the advent of radio broadcasting and electrical recording. Before the advent of the microphone, singers had to project to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudy Vallée
Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and entertainer. He was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York City to national popularity as a crooner. Early life Vallée was born in Island Pond, Vermont on July 28, 1901, the son of Catherine Lynch and Charles Alphonse Vallée. His maternal grandparents were English and Irish, while his paternal grandparents were French Canadians from Quebec. He grew up in Westbrook, Maine. On March 29, 1917, he enlisted in the US Navy in Portland, Maine to fight in World War I, but authorities discovered he was only 15 and had given the false birth date of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island on May 17, 1917, after 41 days of active service. Career Music After playing drums in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet and saxophone in bands around New E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. Crosby was a leader in record sales, network radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He was one of the first global cultural icons. Crosby made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs. Crosby's early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon. Yank, the Army Weekly, ''Yank'' magazine said that Crosby was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Austin
Lemeul Eugene Lucas (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972), better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the early " crooners". His recording of " My Blue Heaven" sold over 5 million copies and was for a while the largest selling record of all time. His 1920s compositions " When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and " The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards. Early life Austin was born as Lemeul Eugene Lucas in Gainesville, Texas (north of Dallas), to Nova Lucas and the former Serena Belle Harrell. He took the name Gene Austin from his stepfather Jim Austin, a blacksmith. Austin grew up in Minden, Louisiana. In Minden, he learned to play piano and guitar. He ran away from home at 15. He attended a vaudeville act in Houston, Texas, where the audience was allowed to come to the stage and sing. On a dare from his friends, Austin took the stage and sang for the first time since singing as a Southern Baptist choir boy. The audience re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, most popular entertainers of the 20th century. Sinatra is among the List of best-selling music artists, world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally. Born to Italian Americans, Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era and was influenced by the easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby. He joined the Harry James band as the vocalist in 1939 before finding success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "Bobby-soxer, bobby soxers". In 1946, Sinatra released his debut album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra''. He then signed with Capitol Records and released several albums wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russ Columbo
Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo (January 14, 1908 – September 2, 1934), known as Russ Columbo, was an American baritone, songwriter, violinist, and actor. He is famous for romantic ballads such as his signature tune "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love" and his own compositions "Prisoner of Love (1931 song), Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful for Words". Early life Columbo was born in Camden, New Jersey, the twelfth child of Italian immigrant parents Nicola and Giulia "Julia" Colombo. He attended Everett Grammar School and started playing the violin at a very young age, debuting professionally at the age of 13. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was 16, and he attended Belmont High School there. He left high school at age 17 to study violin under Calmon Luboviski and travel with various bands around the country. He sang and played violin in numerous nightclubs. Career Films By 1928, at the age of 20, Columbo began to participate in motion pictures, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crosby, Columbo, And Vallee
''Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee'' is a 1932 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon short directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on March 19, 1932. It lampoons the popularity of crooners among young women, with popular crooners Bing Crosby, Russ Columbo, and Rudy Vallée being the namesake of the film. Title song The title song had earlier been recorded by Dick Robertson in 1931 ( Perfect 12772B) and called upon men to fight "these public enemies" brought into homes via radio. It was probably the inspiration for the cartoon. Plot A tribe of American Indians is unhappy about the way that the three radio crooners (Bing Crosby, Russ Columbo and Rudy Vallée) have influenced their icsquaws and the cartoon opens with the braves singing the "Crosby, Columbo and Vallée" song. Next a young brave is seen canoeing over various dangers to meet his girl. When he reaches her tipi, he produces a radio and with the help of a spider who provides the necessary connection, the radio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Bowlly
Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1899 – 17 April 1941) was a South African-British vocalist, crooner, and dance band guitarist who was Britain's most popular singer for most of the 1930s. He recorded upwards of 1,000 songs that were listened to by millions and even crossed over to the United States. His most popular songs include " Midnight, the Stars and You", " Goodnight, Sweetheart", " Close Your Eyes", " The Very Thought of You", "Guilty", " Heartaches" and " Love Is the Sweetest Thing". He also recorded the only English version of "Dark Eyes" by Adalgiso Ferraris, as "Black Eyes", with lyrics by Albert Mellor. Early life He was born in 1899 in Lourenço Marques (today Maputo) in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. Al's father, Alick, was an Orthodox Christian who was Greek by nationality. His mother, born Miriam Ayoub, was a Lebanese Catholic, though Al himself was raised Greek Orthodox. They met en route to Australia and moved to British South Africa. Bowlly was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Henry O'Connell
William Henry O'Connell (December 8, 1859 – April 22, 1944) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death in 1944, and was made a cardinal in 1911. Early life William O'Connell was born on December 8, 1859, in Lowell, Massachusetts, to John and Bridget (née Farrelly) O'Connell, who were Irish immigrants. The youngest of eleven children, he had six brothers and four sisters. His father worked at a textile mill and died when William was four years old. During his high school career, he excelled at music, particularly the piano and organ. O'Connell entered St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland, in 1876. At St. Charles, he was a pupil of the noted poet John Banister Tabb. He returned to Massachusetts two years later and entered Boston College, from which he graduated in 1881 with gold medals in philosophy, physics, and chemistry. He then furthered his studies at the Pontifical North American College in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Gillham
Art Gillham (January 1, 1895, St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri – June 6, 1961, Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia) was an American songwriter who was among the first crooners, a pioneer radio artist, and a recording artist for Columbia Records. With Billy Smythe and Scott Middleton he wrote "Hesitation Blues", which he also recorded as one of the first sound recording, electrical recordings for Columbia Records(Rust). The song is heard in the following movies The Public Enemy, Of Human Bondage and Fireman Save My Child (IMDB). Gillham and Smythe wrote approximately 100 songs together, including "Mean Blues," "Just Forget," "The Deacon Told Me I Was Good," "Just Waiting for You," "Crying Again," "Things That Remind Me of You" (sheet music) and the first successful electrical recording, "You May Be Lonesome" (Rust). With J. Russell Robinson he wrote "In My Sweetheart's Arms". Radio pioneer As a song plugger for Ted Browne Music, Art Gillham traveled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaughn De Leath
Vaughn De Leath (September 26, 1894 – May 28, 1943) was an American female singer who gained popularity in the 1920s, earning the sobriquets "The Original Radio Girl" and the "First Lady of Radio." Although very popular in the 1920s, De Leath is obscure in modern times. De Leath was an early exponent, and often credited as inventor, of a style of vocalizing known as crooning. One of her hit songs, "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," recorded in 1927, achieved fame when it became a hit for Elvis Presley in 1960. Early life Born Leonore Vonderlieth in the town of Mount Pulaski, Illinois in 1894, her parents were George and Catherine Vonderlieth. At age 12, Leonore relocated to Los Angeles with her mother and sister, where she finished high school and studied music. While at Mills College, she began writing songs, but dropped out to pursue a singing career. She then adopted the stage name "Vaughn De Leath." Her vocals ranged from soprano to deep contralto. De Leath adapted to the emergi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midget Golf
Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played on courses consisting of a series of holes (usually a multiple of 9) similar to those of its parent, but the courses are characterized by their short length (usually within 10 metres from tee to cup). The game uses artificial putting surfaces (such as carpet, artificial turf, or concrete), a geometric layout often requiring non-traditional putting lines such as bank shots, and artificial obstacles such as tunnels, tubes, ramps, moving obstacles like windmills, and walls made of concrete, metal, or fiberglass. When miniature golf retains many of these characteristics but without the use of any props or obstacles, it is purely a mini version of its parent game. Nomenclature While the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below middle C to the G above middle C (i.e. B2 to G4) in choral music, and from the second B flat below middle C to the C above middle C (B2 to C5) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of tenor include the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word '' tenere'', which means "to hold". As noted in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the enor was thestructurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the ten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
