Happy Birthday

Kay Starr (July 21, 1922)

With the passing of Jo Stafford, we got to thinking of how few of the legendary big band canaries-turned-pop divas are live and kicking. Doris Day is a recluse; Peggy Lee and Rosie Clooney are no longer with us. Happily, the incredible Miss Kay Starr is not only still around, she's still performing -- her concert itinerary included a date as recently as 2007.

Signed to Capitol in 1947, following stints in several bands (including Bob Crosby's and Glenn Miller's), Starr became the prestigious label's "utility singer"; since she could sing anything from pop to jazz to country, that's exactly what the label threw at her: everything that had been deemed unsuitable for, or rejected by, the rest of their roster of stars. But with her husky, bluesy voice, and characteristic enthusiasm, Starr made novelties like "Bonaparte's Retreat" and "Mississippi" sound far better than they really were. No less a talent than the Queen of the Blues herself, Dinah Washington, considered Kay Starr a personal friend and a great singer. In fact, Washington even deigned to "cover" Starr's massive 1952 hit, "Wheel of Fortune"!

Starr left Capitol in 1956 for RCA, in hopes of recording better material. Instead, she was given one of the most inane songs ever written ("The Rock and Roll Waltz") and was rewarded with a #1 hit for her troubles. Three years later, Starr was back at Capitol, where Frank Sinatra had been pioneering and perfecting the "concept album"; the second time around at the label, Starr was given sumptuously-produced "long play" projects like Movin' on Broadway (1960) and I Cry By Night (1962) and eschewed the novelty dross which had dominated her earlier repertoire.

By 1966, Starr had left Capitol for a second time -- as she put it, "When they brought in rock, hard rock and acid rock, I thought God was trying to tell me it was my turn to get off stage." 

Luckily, that never really happened. She's continued to record, most recently as a guest performer on Tony Bennett's Playing with My Friends (2001) duets project; and she's kept an active schedule of live performing. She's a firecracker, that Miss Starr, and we love her. Happy Birthday!