BellaOnline Forums Books and Music Blues & Jazz What do you think of Bing Crosby?

Great performer, but it seems few people know about him today. Say comparatively to Frank Sinatra. Which is strange because it always seemed like Bing Crosby was more famous. Perhaps Bing Crosby was more directly relevant to their cultural contexts and so couldn't really survive in today's public mind? The numbers on how many people used to listen to him are ridiculous though(he was almost as famous as Jesus), I find it amazing that more people don't still know about him.

"I find it amazing that more people don't still know about him."

Here is a singer who died 30 years ago and whose popularity peaked 50 years ago, and you find it amazing that two generations later he is relatively unknown? (I assume you mean among people born since his death.)

I don't know why it is amazing to you.

Eventually the same will happenm to Sinatra, bearing in mind he died less than 10 years ago and has had 4 albums of new material released since his death, the latest only last year.

How much do you know of Stephen Foster, who was, in terms of popularity in his own time, possibly the most successful American pop song-writer? How about Rudy Vallee, who was essentially the model "pop idol" for both 'Der Bingel' and the 'Chairman of the Board'?

I think lots of people know about Bing Crosby. I'm 36, and have one of his Christmas CDs. I had never seen his movies, but rented a few of them at Christmas time. I think he will always be linked to Christmas, because I think everyone remembers the Christmas music in their own home when they were growing up. My folks actually had the Sinatra Christmas album, too. They always seem to dig out the old stuff around the holidays. I don't think it will ever completely go away. I haven't heard any new Christmas music that even remotely compares to Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, etc.