Al Bowlly
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Al Bowlly was the most popular vocalist in Britain during the 1930s, making more than 1000 recordings between 1927 and 1941. Al was born on January 7, 1899 in Mozambique to Greek and Lebanese parents, raised in Johannesburg, South Africa and killed by the explosion of a parachute mine outside his apartment in London on April 17, 1941.
Al Bowlly showcased a range of material unsurpassed by any contemporary other than Bing Crosby. He was also a true international recording artist. He gained his musical experience singing for a dance band led by Jimmy Liquime in India and Singapore during the mid-1920s. Just one year after his 1927 debut recording date in Berlin, Bowlly arrived in London for the first time in 1931, as part of Fred Elizalde's orchestra. That year, "If I Had You" became one of the first popular songs by an English jazz band to become renowned in America as well, and Bowlly had gone out on his own by the dawn of the '30s. During the next three years, he recorded over 500 songs and appeared with orchestras led by Ray Noble and Lew Stone. A visit to New York in 1934 with Noble resulted in more success and their recordings achieved popularity in the USA; he appeared at the head of an orchestra hand-picked for him and Noble by Glenn Miller (the band included Claude Thornhill, Charlie Spivak and Bud Freeman, among others).
During the mid-'30s, such songs as "Blue Moon," "Easy to Love," "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "My Melancholy Baby" were sizable American successes -- so much so that Bowlly gained his own radio series on NBC and traveled to Hollywood to film The Big Broadcast of 1936, which also starred one of his biggest competitors, Bing Crosby. He had successful throat surgery in the USA but was to have further difficulties with his voice late in his career. He returned to live in London in January 1937, appearing with his own band, the Radio City Rhythm Makers, as well as the orchestras of Sydney Lipton, Geraldo and Ken Johnson. Partnered with Jimmy Messini, Bowlly also branched out onto the London stage during the early '40s with an act called Radio Stars with Two Guitars. It was his last venture before his death in 1941.
Al remains one of the most highly regarded singers of his era because of the sincerity with which he could deliver a lyric.
Partial List of Al Bowlly Recordings
| "Time On My Hands" | February 19, 1931 |
| "Goodnight, Sweetheart" | February 19, 1931 |
| "Guilty" | December 2, 1931 |
| "Lullaby Of The Leaves" | June 10, 1932 |
| "Looking On The Bright Side Of Life" | September 1, 1932 |
| "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" | September 8, 1932 |
| "What More Can I Ask?" | December 23, 1932 |
| "Hustlin' And Bustlin' For Baby" | March 16, 1933 |
| "Midnight, The Stars And You" | February 16, 1934 |
| "The Very Thought Of You" | April 21, 1934 |
| "Isle Of Capri" | August 30, 1934 |
| "Dinner For One Please, James" | November 14, 1935 |
| "You Couldn't Be Cuter" | August 12, 1938 |
| "It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow" | February 15, 1940 |