By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
In the world of professional entertainers, some are rather one-dimensional, and I’ll use music as an example.
There are great vocalists who are just that, great singers whose singular talent is that of a great (or at least, unique) voice.
That’s all they do.
They sing other people’s songs.
Then there are the singer/songwriters who add another whole dimension by creating the music that they sing.
Then there are the “triple threats” who are able to sing, dance and act.
There are no-doubt some great artists today, but I want to pay homage to maybe the most popular, successful, creative, versatile artist in entertainment history, and that is the late Bing Crosby.
Bing died back in 1977 so today’s generation will have little knowledge of Bing’s contributions other than still hearing his version of White Christmas as it still invades the radio airwaves every Christmas season.
Bing was an innovator, incredibly versatile entertainer and perhaps the very first “influencer”, the likes of which the world has not seen since.
His accomplishments and statistics are staggering.
White Christmas at last count, still holds the world record for most copies of a song sold at over 50 million.
He made over 70 feature films, recorded over 1,600 songs, was the leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 through 1977.
A few of his other staggering statistics include 396 charting singles, 41 number 1 hits, his movies have sold over 1 billion tickets, and he was honoured in 1960 for having sold over 200 million records.
He’s won Academy and Grammy awards, has 3 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was a huge influence on other great singers that came after him such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin and more.
He was once described as “the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen” during WW2 and “Music Digest magazine estimated that his recordings once filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music”!
During the Depression when record sales struggled, Bings recordings still sold like hotcakes.
His career began in the era of radio, long before the invention of the television and while Bings’ entertainer chops have been well-established, he was also responsible for a few innovations that are still employed today.
In his radio heyday, he often had to perform his radio show more than once a day as they were broadcast live and had to account for different time zones.
While on a visit to Germany, he saw a demonstration of a broadcast-quality reel-to-reel tape recorder which gave him the idea that he might be able to pre-record his radio shows allowing them to be broadcast at any time and not have to repeat them.
This also allowed him to record several shows in one day, freeing him up for live performances and other activities.
Upon his return to America, he invested heavily in the Ampex company to build copies of these machines and while the radio bosses didn’t approve of the idea, his heavyweight status in the industry allowed him to do so.
In addition to a significant investment in developing audio recording technology, Bing helped finance the development of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses, co-owned the Pittsburgh Pirates and became a very good golfer, rubbing elbows with the greatest in the game.
In pre-recording his radio shows, Bing was an innovator in employing “laugh tracks” and other audience noises that were inserted during post-production to make his audience think they were listening to a live broadcast.
Of course, the ubiquitous laugh track is still used today.
I’m still not quite sure if I want to thank him for that, but one must give credit for his foresight.
While there are many artists that I love watch or listen to, I cannot think of any current artists who have had such a long-lasting, profound effect on the entire entertainment industry as Bing Crosby has had.
In returning to my opening comments, Bing Crosby was anything but a one-dimensional artist.
He could sing, dance, act, was an amazing whistler, had great business acumen, was a visionary, investor in technology, was almost universally loved, and to this day, still holds many records.
I fondly remember watching Bing Crosby on television many times in the 1960s and 70’s.
I eagerly awaited his annual Christmas Specials and even as a youngster, loved his voice.
I recall hearing him being extremely self-deprecating on a television show and described himself as merely an “old crooner who got lucky”.
He was far from lucky.
He had it all!
