The Big Swoon!

 Al Bowlly (1898 - 1941), a South African dance band singer,

is said to have been the inventor of crooning.

(His nickname was "The Big Swoon!")

He sang plenty of hits in the 1930s, like "Blue Moon" and 

"Easy to Love," had his own NBC radio show...

and we'll hear his version of "Guilty" on the show this Sunday.

 Al, with the banjo,

carvorting with Edgar Adeler's band,

on tour through Rhodesia, India and Indonesia

in the mid 1920s.

 Dolly Dawn (1916 - 2002) started her singing career

(at the age of 16!) with George Hall's Orchestra (below), 

with performances broadcast

six days a week on CBS radio, from the Taft Hotel.

Later she formed "Dolly Dawn and Her Dawn Patrol,"

a group of 7 musicians, led by Dolly,

the "first woman band leader."

 Dolly's hits?  "Moon Over Miami," "Got a Brand New Suit,"

and "It's a Sin To Tell a Lie" (that last one we'll hear, for sure!)

 The Revelers were a close-harmony quintet

and toured the U.S. and Europe in the 1920s and 30s.

Their stint on Ring Lardner's radio show,
The Palmolive Hour, cemented their success.

We'll sample "Blue Room," one of their hits.

And can't forget those Boswells!

"You're the Cream in My Coffee"