Even show business had to start somewhere
From Rudy Vallee to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins: 10 Early American pop stars
Image: Papa Yaw
Colorful singers who stand out from the rest of the music band have been around for a long time, but it wasn’t until the arrival of live microphones that their contributions could be recognized for more than just a powerful voice; their nuances could play a bigger role in their live acts. The list of these sonic pioneers is very long, and for the sake of brevity, we are narrowing it down to ten entries. If some of these names pique your curiosity, we encourage you to give them a listen. After all, they didn’t get this big for nothing!
1
Josephine Baker
Image: Richie Lugo
Josephine Baker was the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture , the 1927 French silent film Siren of the Tropics . During her early career, Baker was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the 1927 revue Un vent de Folie caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting only of a short skirt made of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.
Baker was celebrated by artists and intellectuals of the era, who variously dubbed her the "Black Venus," the "Black Pearl," the "Bronze Venus," and the "Creole Goddess." She aided the French Resistance during World War II, and after the war, she was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de Guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by General Charles de Gaulle.
2
Rudy Vallée
Image: Matt Botsford
Rudy Vallée was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York City to national popularity as a "crooner." He had a thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than jazz songs. But his singing, saxophone playing, and the innovative arrangements he wrote for his band attracted the attention of a rapidly increasing number of listeners, especially young women.
Singers needed strong voices to fill theaters in the days before microphones. Crooners had soft voices that were suited to the intimacy of radio; the microphones, in this case, promoted direct access to "a vulnerable and sensuous interior," or, in other words, "a conjured intimacy." Vallée was one of the first celebrity radio vocalists.
3
Bobby Darin
Image: Jack Sharp
Bobby Darin was an American teen idol and, later, an adult crooner who, in 1958, co-wrote and recorded his first million-selling single, "Splish Splash," followed by "Dream Lover" and his covers of "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea," which brought him worldwide fame.
In the early 1970s, his health was beginning to fail due to a weak heart. The knowledge of Darin's vulnerability had always spurred him on to use his musical talent while still young. Darin died in 1973 at the age of 37 in a hospital recovery room after having open-heart surgery in Los Angeles.
4
Keely Smith
Image: Harry Shelton
American jazz and popular music singer Keely Smith performed and recorded extensively in the 1950s with her then-husband Louis Prima , and throughout the 1960s as a solo artist. The couple were stars in the entertainment business, including stage, television, motion pictures, hit records, and cabaret acts.
They won a Grammy in 1959, its inaugural year, for their smash hit, "That Old Black Magic," which remained on the charts for 18 weeks.
5
The Ink Spots
Image: Jorge Flores
The first band on the list, the Ink Spots was an American vocal pop group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s due to their unique musical style, which predated rhythm and blues and doo-wop .
On January 12, 1939, the Ink Spots recorded "If I Didn't Care," one of their biggest hits, selling over 19 million copies and becoming the 8th-best-selling single of all time. Since they disbanded in 1954, there have been well over a hundred vocal groups calling themselves "The Ink Spots," with and without any original members of the group.
6
Ella Fitzgerald
Image: zachrie friesen
A frequent collaborator of the Ink Spots, Ella Fitzgerald was a singer, songwriter, and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song," the "Queen of Jazz," and "Lady Ella." She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, absolute pitch, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
Outside her solo career, she recorded music with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and the aforementioned Ink Spots. These partnerships produced songs such as "Dream a Little Dream of Me," "Cheek to Cheek," "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall," and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."
7
Bing Crosby
Image: Alexander Wark Feeney
A one-man orchestra, Bing Crosby was a singer, actor, television producer, radio personality, and businessman. The first multimedia star , he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide.
In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive," ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. That same year, Music Digest estimated that Crosby's recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music in America.
Crosby is one of 33 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , in the categories of motion pictures, radio, and audio recording.
8
Perry Como
Image: Oscar Sutton
Perry Como was an American singer, actor, and television personality who sold over 100 million records worldwide and pioneered a weekly musical variety television show. His weekly television shows and seasonal specials were broadcast around the world. He recorded primarily vocal pop and was renowned for his recordings in the intimate, easy-listening genre pioneered by our newly acquainted friend, Bing Crosby.
In the official RCA Records memorial in Billboard magazine, his life was summed up in these few words: "50 years of music and a life well lived. An example to all."
9
Nina Simone
Image: Artem Bryzgalov
A bigger-than-life figure, Nina Simone was a singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, and civil rights activist whose piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, and accompanied by expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice .
Early in her career, Simone played piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City, where she was told that she would have to sing to her accompaniment. This effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. Simone also became known for her work in the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s, and she later fled the United States and settled in France following the assassination of her friend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
10
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Image: Music HQ
The closer of this list is one of the most colorful characters in American music. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins was a singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer, best known for his powerful, shouting vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances with macabre props onstage, making him an early pioneer of shock rock.
Screamin’ Jay’s most successful recording, "I Put a Spell on You," was created when the entire band was intoxicated during a recording session where "Hawkins screamed, grunted, and gurgled his way through the tune with utter drunken abandon." The resulting performance became his greatest commercial success and reportedly surpassed a million copies in sales.
