Music in the 1930s - Al Bowlly

Al Bowlly - bigger than Bing Crosby

Born in Laurenço Marques, Mozambique, Al Bowlly has a strong claim to be the first internationally renowned 'pop star'.

After a very patchy early career (involving fights, womanising, drink and, well, almost everything the stars of today get up to...except Al at that point wasn't yet a star), Al was rescued from busking to cinema and theatre queues in London and given the chance to sing for two of the best big bands in the city, including a recording contract with Ray Noble's orchestra.

Al's sweet voice, clear diction, good looks and irrepressible charm enabled him to become one of the very first band singers to be famous in his own right.  

Around the dance halls of the UK, fans would often quit dancing and press twelve deep at the stage to listen and (in the case of the girls) to look at the charismatic crooner.  The advent of 'crooning' as a style of singing - which required the thoughtful and skilled utilisation of the relatively new microphone technology, is often credited to Al (though others like Bing Crosby were to gain even greater fame for it).

In 1934, Al went with Lew Stone's band to America, where at first his career seemed set to reach even greater heights. But by 1937, Al had returned to the UK and things were looking far from rosy. The whisper was that he had fled the wrath of a gangster whose 'moll' had proved too tempting to the crooner's wandering eye. Audiences in the UK had found other heroes in his absence. Worst of all, Al's voice was in trouble and he needed surgery on his vocal chords.

Although Al struggled on, his career never again reached the heights of the early thirties. He died in the Blitz in 1941.