Yesterday on AskMetafilter, somebody asked:

I'm looking for more music like the song One More Kiss, Dear from the Blade Runner soundtrack. I'm looking for really old sounding stuff. Like a thin voice or recording, not one that's very full like Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, or even Bing Crosby (which I think was from the same time period that I may want music from). Helen Forrest is a female singer in the style I'm looking for. Nice, relaxing music that just sounds nice. What can I call this music, anyway? I just call it "Grandpa Music" now.

I thought about writing a short reply, but instead came up with this (all off the top of my head):

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Oh, Lordy. I'm just bursting at the seams here, wanting to share all sorts of information about American popular music, but I'll try to hold it in. I'm not any sort of musical scholar. I'm just a middle-aged man who happens to have a particular long-lasting obsession with early American popular music.

The music you're asking for is now often classified, incorrectly, as easy listening. (The stuff to which you refer is not cabaret. Cabaret is, in my mind, a very specific subset of music, well typified by Josephine Baker.)

"One More Kiss, Dear" was written by Vangelis and Don Percival for the film Blade Runner. Though much of the song is reminscent of popular music from the twenties (the melody, especially), the overall feel of the song (especially the instrumentation) is more typical of the early fifties, in my opinion. (If you want recent recordings of a similar nature, try Norah Jones or Harry Connick, Jr.)

Helen Forrest, on the other hand, sang with a number of popular big bands. (Benny Goodman's, in particular, if I recall correctly.)

Sinatra, Como, and Crosby were all popular at different times. Crosby enjoyed enormous success in the 1930s. Sinatra enjoyed similary popularity in the forties and, of course, retained a following until his death. I don't know much about Perry Como.

Here's a brief summary, in my own uneducated, fanboy words. (And, yes, in my mind this is all necessary to answer your question):

From 1900 to 1920, recording techniques were being developed. The performances that were preserved tended to be of loud, raucous music because the recording media was unable to provide nuance. There are some lovely ballads from the first twenty years of the last century, but they're the exception, not the rule. During these years, it was sheet music that was most popular (as it had been for many decades before), not cylinders or records. (Also, many popular songs of this era came directly from vaudeville.)

It's really during the Roaring Twenties that American popular music began to move away from sheet music to thick records. The advent of radio accelerated this process. Popular music was being churned out by the hacks of Tin Pan Alley. Most of these songs have faded into oblivion, and we're left with works from the true masters like George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, etc. Jazz, ostensibly first recorded in 1917, had a tremendous influence on popular music during the twenties and thirties. Most songs recorded during this time featured a lead singer (possibly two) and a small band of some sort. It was the band, however, that was popular. Popular artists of this period include Rudy Vallee, Paul Whiteman (and his orchestra), and Helen Kane (the Betty Boop girl).

The early- and mid- thirties saw a shift toward big bands, bands comprising a dozen or more members. The sound was richer, fuller. Some big band music, like say Pennsylvania 6-5000 was hot, featuring driving rhythms and fun melodies. This music is commonly called swing. Other big band music was cool, featuring lilting vocals and smooth sounds. I think you'd be more interested in the latter. Again, during this time, it was the band that was popular, not the singer. (With notable exceptions such as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.)

The forties saw a shift away from big bands (or bands of any sort), so that the singers themselves took center stage. Now singers like Doris Day and Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra and The Andrews Sisters became more popular than the bands they fronted. The bands became secondary, almost forgotten. Other lesser singers began to emerge, singers I love such as Kay Starr and Margaret Whiting and Jo Stafford.

The rise of the pop singer dovetails nicely with the typical fifties sound (as heard in the Stand By Me soundtrack, for example) and the birth of rock and roll.

Really, there's a huge range of music out there that could be classified as similar to what you want. Though I suspect you're after post-Big Band type vocalists, your best bet is to download songs from various artists of the twenties, thirties, and forties to see what best suits your taste. You'll quickly learn what it is you're after.

If you like Sinatra and Crosby, but want a thinner voice, try working your way through a list of crooners to find if there's one you like. (Most have deep, full voices, though. Most people, including myself, prefer that.)

The wikipedia entry for traditional pop music offers a good list of artists to start you out. (The page also says: "There is no universally agreed-upon term for this genre of music.") I suggeset you try to find some compilations in order to sample singers. The soundtracks to L.A. Confidential and to The Aviator both contain music you may enjoy. There are a number of fantastic compilations available. The Smithsonian collection of American Popular Song is outstanding, and includes a thick book on the subject. (All of the Smithsonian collections are great: folk, country, blues, jazz — you can't go wrong.) Check your local library.

I'd give you more information, but surely I've already overwhelmed you. (And perhaps missed the mark completely.) If you want more info, e-mail me.

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As you might expect, I have (and have had) lots of little obsessions in my life. This is one of them.

It would be fun to write some extended entries — articles, really — about each of these little obsessions. A properly researched and documented article on the history of American popular music might be of interest to the internet at large...

On this day at foldedspace.org

2004 — Moving Right Along   As you can imagine, the last few days have been a whirlwind. We have so much to do in order to get our house ready to sell. We have so much to do in order to close on the new house.

2003 — Typical Weekend   Things undone: back lawn unmowed, videophone unused, photos unscanned, house unkempt, sue's e-mail unanswered, WACO's server untouched, gas tank unfilled, finances undone, exercise uncontemplated.

2002 — Adi and Maggie   Robert Doneker, my former boss at Oregon Graduate Institute, asked me to spend some time as a consultant to his current programmers. They had keen insight on the state of the U.S.

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