Few people today realize that in the 1800's and on up to the 1920's, the public expected only Male singers. With the coming of Vaudeville, more and more women took to the stage as vocalists. Yet, even in the 1930s and 1940s, Male singers may bave been dominant. However, many bands chose to have both male and female and this became the norm.

As mentioned elsewhere, in the 1930's and 1940's, the singers were often called 'standup' vocalists. This is because they were not the stars, merely an adjunct to the main attraction, -the band. And, the orchestras were all 'DANCE BANDS'. The vocalists would sit on a chair that was off to one side of the orchestra. On a few songs in each set, half way into the song, one of the singers would 'standup', come front to a microphone, sing a chorus, and go back and sit down. In the 1940s, when the Musician's Union staged a strike, virtually the only performers available were the vocalists, and the previous regimen changed drastically. From that day on, the vocalists have taken center stage, and the bands are now used for backing the singer.

A special word of praise should be given to the fortitude of the 'girl' singers of the times. It was common practice then for a band to become known via some -usually remote- radio broadcasts. Once they had achieved a little fame, their agency would immediately book the band on a tour of ballrooms, theaters, schools, hotels and such. Accordingly, the sole female in the group of -say 17 men - would be traveling too. If some of the sidemen were sexual predators, the gals would have had to do a lot of defending. If the bandleader was predatory....that made life very difficult indeed. The ladies certainly deserve a word of praise for putting up with some of the 'shenanigans' that must have taken place on these band tours. (Although, quite often, the "girl" singer was accompanied by her mother as a chaperone.)

Side Note:
I am unable to give any biographical or discographical information on the singers shown here, so please do not ask. Those readers who have additional information are requested to send it along for possible inclusion. The vocalists are listed alphabetically, and this listing is meant only to be a research reference and for general information.

Also, please note that, at the present time, this is basically a listing of the men and women singing ONLY with the Dance Bands during that special era. (ca. 1920s - 1970s) There is a huge number of other singers that are not shown here.

"A"   

"B"   

"C"   

"D"   

"E"   

"F"   

"G"   

"H"   

"I"   

"J"   

"K"   

"L"