The Vintage Years

The Vintage Years

• Shrink-wrapped

...I have none of the mannerisms of a trained singer, and really have very little voice. I try to keep a naturalness in my style, and phrasing, and mannerisms, just like the guy next door might. I'm sure that, given the same opportunities, he could have done just as well as I have. This was Bing accounting for his popularity. The guy next door identified with Bing, likening him to the fellow in the next office, or sharing a drink at the bar. However, Bing thought one tag accurately described his abilities - 'light comedian'. That's just about all I am he said, a light comedian. I'm not a very funny person, or very serious either. Neither do I give off a romantic aura. He was no Gable, or Boyer, or Power, and maybe he didn't often get the girl, but one thing was certain - he could put over a song. The growth of radio networks in the USA in the late 1920s held large implications for its culture. Radio united the nation as never before, bringing the same entertainment to country as to city. New names became nationally famous, more quickly than was achieved through the theatre, the variety houses, the movies, or by phonograph records. Radio enjoyed the advantage of coming free into the home. One of the most loved entertainers to emerge in the early 1930s was Bing Crosby. Outside of America his fame was achieved through records and films, but his fellow countrymen had the bonus of hearing Mr. C broadcast every week, live. His popularity grew in parallel with radio. The airwaves were good for Bing, and Bing was good for the airwaves. Bing's first broadcast under his own name was in 1931, but it wasn't his first time on the air. As one of the Rhythm Boys with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, he sang on their CBS Network Show in 1929. Then in 1930 and 1931 he was heard regularly with Gus Arnheim's Orchestra broadcasting from The Cocoanut Grove of the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel. However, as just a singer in the band, he was given no credit. That would soon come.