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Carroll Gibbons & Marjorie Stedeford - Black Coffee, 1935

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240252
October 08, 2007

Marjorie Stedeford attracted immediate attention when she first appeared in London in 1935. She was a fine singer with an unusual voice—deeper than usual. One reviewer described her as 'an Australian girl with a unique baritone voice ... of soft quality and great charm'. During her few years in London, she found herself at the centre of an international 'hot spot' in the entertainment world, recording with many of the top names in popular music. The bands she sang with sound like a Who's Who of Thirties entertainment - she recorded with The Six Swingers, Jack Jackson and His Orchestra, Mario Lorenzi and His Rhythmics, Brian Lawrence and His Lansdowne House Sextet, Billy Thorburn and His Music and Carol Gibbons and His Boy Friends. Marjorie became a very successful artist and soon had a regular slot in Arthur Askey's show on Radio Luxemburg, described in publicity material as "The voice you love to hear". Unfortunately, the onset of WWII broke her career. Marjorie went home to Australia. She married, had a son and occassionally performed as a radio singer. She died, aged only 50, in 1959.

Carroll Gibbons (1903 - 1954) was a British (but American-born) musician, bandleader and composer. He was born and raised in Clinton, Massachusetts. In his late teens he travelled to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1924 he returned to London with the brassless Boston Orchestra for an engagement at the Savoy Hotel in the Strand. He liked Britain so much that he settled there and later became the co-leader (with Howie Jacobs) of the Savoy Orpheans and the bandleader of the New Mayfair Orchestra, which recorded for the Gramophone Company on the HMV label. In 1929 Gibbons appeared in the British film Splinters (as Carroll Gibbons and His Masters Voice Orchestra).
Gibbons made occasional return trips to the United States but settled permanently in England, though he did spend a couple of years (1930-1931) in Hollywood, where he worked as a staff composer for MGM films. He took exclusive leadership of the Savoy Hotel Orpheans, which recorded hundreds of popular songs between June 1932 and his death in London at the early age of 51. As a composer, Gibbons' most popular songs included "A Garden in the Rain" (1928) and "On The Air" (1932). The later was covered by Rudy Vallée in 1933 and by Lud Gluskin in 1936. Gibbons' instrumental numbers "Bubbling Over" and "Moonbeam Dance" were also quite successful in the United Kingdom.

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1930s London dance orchestra jazz 78s Australian British singer

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chkjns (1 week ago) Show Hide

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11th song for my 1935 list, one of 120 music playlists that let you hear the sounds of any year, back into the 1880s, as if you were back in the day.
It's a trip back in time with just the click of your mouse !!!

bockbier234 (4 months ago) Show Hide

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i like it :)

sexyham123 (5 months ago) Show Hide

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this is real bad..........in other words = shit

240252 (1 month ago) Show Hide

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Thank you, Buddy, for your really insightful and intelligent comment :-)

libbyshome (10 months ago) Show Hide

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Marjorie went home to Australia. She married, had a son and continued her career as a radio singer. She died, aged only 50, in 1959.

VintageLady1980 (1 year ago) Show Hide

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Love her voice! Thanks for sharing this classic tune! :D

noeyiom (1 year ago) Show Hide

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I love this record, i can even hear it through my wifes nagging, magic! I heard it on
Youtube ages ago & every so often i put Youtube on to get my fix again, it's ingrained now in my head, trouble is, so is my wife. Love this record though.

DK6400Brian (1 year ago) Show Hide

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This one is great. Good sound.
I knew of Carroll Gibbons Savoy Hotel Orpheans, but Marjorie Stedeford is new to me.

Lovely tune :o) Thank you.

BOHEMIANMEX (1 year ago) Show Hide

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Charming, Fancy

smurfswacker (1 year ago) Show Hide

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Just to let you know that 7 months after I discovered this song I still tune it in a couple of times a week. It's become one of my top favorites and I hope someone digs up more of Ms. Stedeford's work.

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Carroll Gibbons & Marjorie Stedeford - Black Coffee, 1935

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