A 10.5" BBC War Reporting Acetate Disc - Help ID the singer?

[JHolmesesq]

Hi everyone,

I recently saw this for sale on eBay and...well - I couldn't let it go, it's just too unusual! It's an acetate disc with a BBC War Reporting label on one side, and a red label with the title of the song "I still feel the same about you" on the other. Curiously, there is only acetate on one sides of this disc (thankfully that's where all the corrosion is) and there are 3 aditional spindle holes around the centre hole of this disc.

I can't see a matrix number or anything that can lead me to identify it, the only thing I can be sure of is that it's a dubbing - there is a false start on the disc which the song plays for about 20ish seconds before cutting off.

The singer has such a lovely and dreamy voice and I feel so annoyed that I don't know who she is! She is English for sure - after that I am stuck. Anyhow, I have digitised the record in the hope that somebody on here might be able to identify her.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSIKRfJ8RGg[/youtube]

[Tinkerbell]

Well, I do believe that Georgia Gibbs was the first to record the song in 1951, but I could not say if this is her. Of course, it was also recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and Rosemary Clooney (and undoubtedly others, as well), but I can say for certain it is not the voice of Ella or Rosemary.

[JHolmesesq]

Well, I do believe that Georgia Gibbs was the first to record the song in 1951

Hmm, interesting. This was recorded much earlier due to the BBC War label - it's a bit of a mystery!

[Swing Band Heaven]

Hmm, interesting. This was recorded much earlier due to the BBC War label - it's a bit of a mystery!

Not necessarily as the disk could have been left over unused acetate stock which was recorded on at a later point. Acetate disks stay soft enough to record on for quite a while after production.

I don't recognise the vocalist in this recording unfortunately.

[gregbogantz]

I'm not an expert on her repertoire, but this could easily be a recording by Vera Lynn. She was probably the most popular English singer during the WWII years and for some time thereafter. Comparing this recording to other Vera Lynn recordings that you can find on YouTube, there is a definite similarity in the vocal styles.

[Henry]

Well, I am *way* out of my depth here, so take this for what it's worth (probably nothing), but I was immediately struck by the resemblance of the voice to that of the young Angela Lansbury, or whoever dubbed her, singing "TheLittle Yellow Bird" in the film version (1945) of Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray." [He ducks for cover as the brickbats fly....]

[Swing Band Heaven]

I'm not an expert on her repertoire, but this could easily be a recording by Vera Lynn. She was probably the most popular English singer during the WWII years and for some time thereafter. Comparing this recording to other Vera Lynn recordings that you can find on YouTube, there is a definite similarity in the vocal styles.

Sorry Greg but this definately isn't Vera Lynn. Thing is there were so many female vocalists - some almost unknown today - that this could be anybody. It isn't a vocalist I have ever come across before...but it would be good to put a name to this one if possible.

[Tinkerbell]

Okay, you can decide for yourself if Dorothy Squires might, in fact, be another potential candidate for your female vocalist in the video/recording. There are countless female vocalists, as SwingBandHeaven pointed out, (a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack), so here is at least one which may fit your initial criteria... and some of her "early" work has a similar sound. (The Youtube video is her early recording of "So Tired.")

A quote from Wikipedia: In the immediate post-war, she worked on the BBC radio show Variety Bandbox, which subsequently made her the highest paid female singer in the UK.

Then again, I could be way off here... I often am. But it might be worth a moment of your time to check it out, anyway.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWrK4rVd25s[/youtube]

[JHolmesesq]

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it

I definitely don't think it's Vera Lynn, and Tink - your video sounds remarkably similar to my female singer but at the same time I have this tiny voice in my head telling me they are different. I think it's the best guess I have at the moment, thanks a lot!

Swingbandheaven is correct - it would be nice to put a name to her if possible. Darn it, I'm annoyed that the best source of information I know is still guessing! I guess it adds to the track itself. I bought it purely because the female singer was unidentified (and because it was an unusual size) but when you think that there were countless female vocalists at the time, it makes this one all the more special - it could be her only surviving recording, it could be an early recording of a great singer - we just don't know