Nights The Roundtable with Burma-born British torch singer Dinah Kaye and her 1954 single for X Records in the U.S., Strike A Match.
February 15, 2012

Teenagers-listening---resiz.jpg
Teenage America in the early 50's, still in love with Ballads.


You probably can't classify Burmese-born British Torch Singer Dinah Kaye as your typical Pop singer of the 1950's. She made her name throughout Europe as a Jazz vocalist who briefly settled in the U.S. from 1954 until the early 60's when she picked up her successful Jazz career and returned to the UK where she enjoyed great popularity for years after.

She only made a handful of records here, including tonight's track which was recorded for the RCA-Victor subsidiary label X. Strike A Match, a melancholy/dreamy ballad backdropped against a lush production that showcased her smokey voice and almost Johnny Ray style of emotion helped establish her as a popular artist on this side of the Atlantic.

Sadly, she passed away in October of 2011 and almost none of her records have been reissued - certainly not this one.

Another example of what Pop Music was doing in the early 1950's before Rock n' Roll came along and shook it all up.

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