Background April 8, 2009

From: http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Gene_Austin_01.jpg/220px-Gene_Austin_01.jpg Above: Gene Austin – Father of “Crooning” The original crooners were male singers from the 1920s to the early 1960s who sang in an operatic, clear light tenor voice combined with intonations that reflect jazz and blues styling. Gene Austin, proclaimed as the singer who gave birth to the singing form of crooning, [...]

Classic Crooners April 8, 2009

METHOD TO THE PLAYLIST MADNESS: Order: The seven featured artists below are all organized by time period. For example, Gene Austin came before Bing Crosby and Crosby came before Nat King Cole. Song Choice: Each song was either chosen based on popularity (top of the musical charts) or by how well it represents crooning as [...]

Crooners popularity rise and fall due to War April 7, 2009

From: http://www.gwpda.org/photos/bin06/imag0558.jpg The first crooner, Gene Austin, burst onto the music scene after World War I. This was because of the recent victory that the United States experienced over Germany, and optimism throughout the nation was at an all time high. With victory came the smooth singing of the crooners, and their popularity rose as [...]

Crooners and the Musical Technology Revolution April 6, 2009

From:http://www.vintageperiods.com/sites/Phenderson/_files/Image/5%20Radio(10).jpg At the time that crooners were becoming popular in the 1920s to the 1950s, public radio and records were being developed and perfected. This resulted in the mass spread of music, creating an immense craze over the crooners and their savy songs. Crooners benefited greatly from their new found spread of music, recording many [...]

Classic Crooners Influence on Music March 28, 2009

The art of crooning is one of the only forms of music that relies almost solely on the talent of the lead singer. The beautiful booming voices that crooners had captivated audiences. Today, male crooners are far and few between, with Michael Buble being the most famous to Tony Bennett, who is still performing in [...]

References/Suggested Readings March 27, 2009

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooner 2. The Rise Of The Crooners, Michael Pitts and Frank Hoffman; Scarecrow Press, 2002