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Post by Mrs Vindecco on Jul 19, 2012 19:26:16 GMT
One of my favourite pre-WW2 singers, Al Bowlly is said to have inspired Bing Crosby with his crooning.
"Guilty" is possibly one of my favourite songs ever. A combination of the tune and Bowlly's voice just makes me melt.
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Post by Mrs Vindecco on Jul 28, 2012 18:34:53 GMT
I became a fan of Al Bowlly when I first heard "Guilty" on the Amelie soundtrack. When I did a little research, I realised how familiar he actually was and I had heard him on TV and in various adverts, all my life. I had a good documentary about him which I had planned to upload, but never got around to it.
Often mistaken as British (actually born in Mozambique), Bowlly has been cited as the world's first popstar. Before he found stardom, it was often band leaders and not the vocalists that were the stars in popular music. As a result of the invention of the microphone, Bowlly was able to experiment with his voice, moving away from Jazz to create a softer "crooning"sound and as a result he has been credited with influencing Bing Crosby and later Sinatra.
(Excellent song... weird video)
Despite all this success, he is not as well remembered as a lot of his contemporaries and his life was not always happy. Married only once, he found his bride in bed with another man, on their wedding night and they seperated two weeks later. He moved to America, where he had health problems, only to return home to find his popularity in Britain had diminished. Tragically, he died in the London Blitz and was buried with other victims in a mass grave.
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