First Crooners Vol.1: The 20'S

It's always interesting to speculate to what extent technology and entertainment are intertwined. Today, performers can attract a large audience, filling entire stadiums, thanks to the electronic amplification of voice and instruments, without which neither could be heard in such a venue.

A similar situation existed in the mid-1920s when the microphone was introduced for recordings. Prior to that, artists needed to shout into a horn, whereby the vibrations physically engraved the sound onto a wax disc. This was fine for artists with powerful, penetrating voices (belters) or classically trained singers, but a disadvantage for those with more subtle tonality. The microphone suddenly opened the door for smaller voiced singers and even for belters who chose to sing in a more subdued and intimate style. Moreover, electrical recordings vastly improved fidelity and provided greater dynamic range than ever before, and for the first time recordings began sounding natural.

Soon a more relaxed and intimate style of singing gained popularity. In time, this style of singing by male artists became known as 'crooning'. For the next two decades this would become the dominant style for most popular vocalists. Gay Love, I Gotta Have You and Glad Rag Doll all provide early examples of this style by well-known pioneer crooners of the 1920s.