Bea Wain(1917-2017)

One of the great big band vocalists of the swing era was born Beatrice Weinsier in New York City on April 30 1917. Bea began singing from the age of five, first spotlighted on NBC's Horn and Hardart Children's Hour (where she was paid the princely sum of 2$ per broadcast). Her first noteworthy gig as an adult was as the nominal leader of a vocal quartet, 'Bea and the Bachelors' (along with Al Rinker, Ken Lane and John Smedberg), featured on Fred Waring's radio program. As Beatrice Wayne she then performed with Kay Thompson's Rhythm Singers in 1937 and in September that year recorded "If It's the Last Thing I Do" with Artie Shaw. Music publisher Chuck Rinker (Al's older brother) recognised her as a stylist of considerable individuality and put her name forward to band leader Larry Clinton who needed a girl singer. After hearing her warble a few bars, Clinton promptly snapped her up (thereby beating Benny Goodman to the punch). For the next couple of years, Bea Wain (her moniker now suitably shortened) sang with the Clinton band, based at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle. She recorded four number one hits during this period, including "Deep Purple", "Heart and Soul" and "My Reverie". The latter was adapted from a piano piece by Claude Debussy whose estate in France (according to a 2007 interview with Bea) initially objected to Clinton's lyrics but relented after being sent a copy of the finished product. A message was returned, saying "If this girl sings it, OK."

At the apex of her popularity -- voted most popular female band vocalist in Billboard's 1939 annual college poll -- Bea decided to embark on a solo career. She became a headliner on the theatre and college circuits, featured prominently on radio's Your Hit Parade (1939 to 1944) and continued to record a string of fashionable ballads with Leonard Joy and other studio orchestras (including "I Didn't Know What Time it Was", "You Go to My Head" and "I Don't Stand the Ghost of a Chance", written by Bing Crosby). Her recording of "Over the Rainbow" preceded that of Judy Garland but was suppressed by MGM until after the premiere of The Wizard of Oz (1939).

In tandem with her husband, French-born sportscaster, network announcer and news commentator André Baruch, Bea hosted a radio show in New York from the late 1940's. As husband-and-wife disc jockeys they acquired a brand new audience as 'Mr. and Mrs. Music', sponsored by, among others, circus giants Ringling Brothers. The couple later settled in Palm Beach, Florida, where they broadcast a daily talk show on WPBR radio, frequently spotlighting Bea Wain signature songs. Bea pretty much left the limelight following the death of Baruch in 1991. One of the last legends of the Big Band era, she passed away in Beverly Hills on August 19 2017 at the age of 100.