Passages: Dolly Dawn: December 11, 2002

Dolly Dawn, a big-band vocalist whose honey-sweet voice each noon, six days a week, bounced invitingly across America in the late 1930's and early 40's, died last Wednesday at a nursing home in Englewood, N.J. She was 86.Her death was announced this week by her family.
She was one of the first vocalists to become the sole focus of a band, at a time when bands and musicians were still the main draw. Ella Fitzgerald called Miss Dawn an influence on her own singing. Joe Franklin, the New York radio and television personality, said in an interview that when Walter Winchell coined the term ''canary'' for female singers, he was referring to her.
Miss Dawn dropped out of the limelight and became known mainly to the cult following that saw her in scattered club appearances in the 1970's and 80's, and responded to the release of a two-disk album of her records with George Hall on the RCA Bluebird label in 1976. (SOURCE: New York Times)

---

As featured vocalist with the George Hall Orchestra, which broadcast live six days a week from New York City over CBS radio in the 1930s, Miss Dawn scored a string of hit records. They included "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie," "Every Minute of the Hour," "Robins and Roses," "Says My Heart," "My Own" and "Little Yellow Basket."

Replacing Loretta Lee as the band's vocalist in 1935, the ebullient Miss Dawn was an immediate hit, reportedly inspiring show business columnist Walter Winchell to coin the phrase "singing like a canary."

Miss Dawn's lively rendition of "You're a Sweetheart" became the nation's most popular record in early 1938 and one of her signature tunes. Ella Fitzgerald, who became a lifelong friend, credited Miss Dawn as one of her influences.

Miss Dawn was born Theresa Maria Stabile in Newark, N.J. She took the stage name at the suggestion of New York newspaper columnist Harriet Mencken, who told her, "Well, you're as dimpled as a dolly, and as fresh as the dawn. What about Dolly Dawn?"

1942