Good luck finding Kitty Kallen or Dinah Shore songs on karaoke night | Opinion

Sometimes I forget I am the oldest kid on the block when I visit karaoke bars. Songs that often dance in my head have never been heard by most of the people in the bar. A few days ago I asked one of the older men who is a very good singer of vintage songs if he was familiar with Kitty Kallen. He was not. I don't know why I expected a 70-year-old to know about a singer who had a string of hits between 1949 and 1954. Her recording career continued into the early 1960s, but she did not crack the top 10 in later years.

Kallen, who was born in Philadelphia on May 25, 1922, got her start singing on Radio WCAU in Philly. By the time she was 12 she had her own show and sang with the Jan Savitt Orchestra. At 15 she was touring with Jack Teagarden. While rooming with her good friend, Dinah Shore, as an 18-year-old, she began performing with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.

On Oct. 7, 1943, she and Bob Eberly recorded "Besame Mucho" with Dorsey.

In late 1953 she topped the music chart with "Little Things Mean a Lot. It was there for 26 weeks and sold a million records. It was followed by "Chapel in the Moonlight." After leaving the Dorsey Orchestra, she became a vocalist with Harry James and later sang on various radio shows.

Kallen appeared on the Colgate Comedy Hour with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and went on two national tours with the pair. In 1955 she made her movie debut in "The Second Greatest Sex" starring Jeanne Crain and George Nader.

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While Kallen had only 13 charted songs, her former roommate, Shore, had 75. She was born March 1, 1917, in Winchester, Tennessee. Her first hit song, "You Can't Brush Me Off" with Dick Ford, was recorded in 1940. She topped the charts in 1944 with "I'll Walk Alone," but she was better known for "Buttons and Bows," which was recorded with the Happy Valley Boys in the movie "Paleface" in 1948.

Although Dinah was in at least eight movies between 1943 and 1980, she was better known for her television shows. "The Dinah Shore Show" was first televised Nov. 27,1951, and lasted until July 18, 1957. The show she did that many of us remember was "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show," which ran from Oct. 5, 1956, to May 12, 1963. "See the USA in your Chevrolet" was the tune left etched in our heads.

Kallen and Shore were just two of the great female singers of the late 1940s and early 1950s. We also think of Patti Page of Oklahoma, who sang briefly with Benny Goodman in 1948 and had her first hit, "Confess," that year. In the 1950s she sold more records than any other female vocalist. Her biggest hit, in 1950, was "The Tennessee Waltz," which reached No. 1 one on the charts and was there for 26 weeks. It was followed by "Mockin' Bird Hill," "I Went to Your Wedding," and "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?"

Another Oklahoman of the period was Kay Starr, who was born on an American Indian reservation. She had her first hit, "You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling in Love)," in 1948. Her 29 charted songs included "Bonaparte's Retreat" in 1950 and "Wheel of Fortune" in 1952.

Gone are those voices, lyrics and melodies, but they shall never be forgotten.

Robert J. Booker is a freelance writer and former executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. He may be reached at 865-546-1576.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Good luck finding Dinah Shore songs at karaoke bars | Opinion