The Bing Crosby centenary

Bing Crosby was born on May 2, 1903. That means he would have been 100 years old this year. Bob Hope, his equally famous screen partner in a series of what are now referred to as the Road pictures – you know, Road to Bali, Road to Hong Kong, Road to Morocco and Road to Zanzibar with Dorothy Lamour in a sarong or a cheongsam or whatever seductive version exists of the native costume of an exotic place. Bob Hope is still very much around and will be celebrating his 100th birthday on May 29. Crosby though, died of a heart attack on Oct. 14, 1977.

Crosby is best known for his recording of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. He also has the distinction of being one of the few actors to star in both the original and the remake of a movie where he sings the song. The first one was Holiday Inn. It was released in 1942 and Crosby co-starred with Fred Astaire. This was remade in 1954 as White Christmas with Danny Kaye in the Astaire role. White Christmas had by that time become the biggest selling record of all time and would remain so for 55 years until Elton rerecorded his Candle in the Wind in honor of the late Princess Diana.

Known as "The Groaner" or "Der Bingle" thanks to his lazy crooning style, Crosby first made his mark as a singer during the late ’20s. He attained huge popularity by the time the ’30s rolled in. Among his hit recordings were Blue Skies, When the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day, June in January, I’m an Old Cowhand and Temptation. His success was what inspired Frank Sinatra to venture into singing. They would later become chief rivals. Crosby and Sinatra’s rivalry was a favorite of the rumor mills for many years. Crosby was the established star while Sinatra was the brash upstart. Sparks were said to have flown when they co-starred in the musical High Society with the soon-to-be princess Grace Kelly in 1954. Crosby got the girl in the movie and his last number one record, a duet of True Love with Grace Kelly.

Crosby was also an actor who excelled not only in musicals and comedies but also in drama. He won the Academy Award for Going My Way in 1944 and starred in memorable films like Bells of Saint Mary, The Birth of the Blues, The Emperor Waltz and The Country Girl where he was excellent as an actor whose career is on the skids. It was for this picture that Grace Kelly won as Best Actress. Crosby lost out to Marlon Brando who won for his role in On the Waterfront. His last screen appearance was with Sinatra, Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., in Robin and the Seven Hoods in 1964.

I am sure that except for White Christmas, the present generation is mostly clueless about Crosby. There is even a strong chance that they are not aware that he was the artist behind the original recording of the popular Yuletide song. This is most unfortunate as he was the very first prototype of the multimedia singing idol. He was one of the first singers to successfully cross over to the movies. He also branched out to radio and television where, aside from his own sitcom, he made many musical specials and commercials. His music though, failed to transcend the limitations of music technology during his time and to withstand the arrival of newer music styles during the ’50s and ’60s. So while the songs of Sinatra changed hands from generation to generation and continues to grow in popularity, Crosby’s stayed in the 1930’s, except for White Christmas of course.

Hopefully that will soon change. Plans are now afoot to commemorate Crosby’s centenary. There are books coming out, including one by his second wife, actress Kathryn Grant. Decca and Capitol, his former record labels are releasing new compilations of his hit songs all digitally remastered for CD compatibility. Best of all, his best films will now be available on DVDs.

Music trends have changed so much that I do not expect a resurgence of the music of Bing Crosby is at all possible. But there will surely be greater interest in his work and it would be nice if the fans of Justin Timberlake and Daniel Bedingfield would be able to know more about the man who started it all.