Rare performances by popular artists from radio and records.

30 MP3 Songs
POP: 50's Pop, EASY LISTENING: Crooners/Vocals



Details:
BUDDY MORROW and HIS ORCHESTRA: Real name "Muni (Moe) Zudekoff," Buddy Morrow began playing trombone at the age of 12, working with local bands before studying at the famous Juilliard School of Music. He worked as a sideman with Eddy Duchin, Vincent Lopez, Artie Shaw and Bunny Berigan. After returning from the U.S. Navy in 1944, he launched his own band in 1945 and enjoyed a long carer (1950-1964) with RCA Victor and Mercury Records. These recordings here are from various live and transcription recordings of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

FATS WALLER: Fats Waller was so successful as a recording artist that it is oft forgotten how important a role radio played in his career, yet Fats was a master of the medium. Not many black performers were given the option of doing their own announcing on air, especially without a script. Fats was a radio pro, the recordings here made at the Yacht Club on New York's 52nd Street in 1938. Several of these songs were never commercially recorded. As Fats himself would say, "Here t'is!"

VINCENT LOPEZ: Vincent Lopez was born in Brooklyn and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1917. In 1921, his band began broadcasting on the radio, which boosted the popularity of both himself and the new medium of radio. He became one of the USA's most popular band leaders, and would retain that status through the 1940s. His theme song was "Nola", a novelty ragtime piece from the 1910s. He began his programs by announcing "Lopez speaking!".
Noted musicians who played in his band included Artie Shaw, Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller. He also featured singers Betty and Marion Hutton. Lopez's flamboyant piano playing influenced later musicians Eddy Duchin and Liberace. In 1941, Lopez's Orchestra began a residency at the Taft Hotel in Manhattan that lasted 20 years.

MARTHA TILTON: Martha Tilton (born November 14, 1915) is best-known for her 1939 recording of "And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman. She also had major success from 1942-49 as one of the first artists to record for Capitol Records. Among her biggest hits as a solo artist were "I'll Walk Alone," which peaked at #4 in 1944; "I Should Care" and "A Stranger in Town," both of which peaked at #10 in 1945; and in 1947: "How Are Things in Glocca Morra," which reached #8; "That's My Desire," which hit #10; and "I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder," which peaked at #9. After she left Capitol, Tilton recorded for various labels, including Coral and Tops. Tilton also appeared in films. Her singing voice was dubbed over other actresses including Barbara Stanwyck, Martha O'Driscoll, and Anne Gwynne.