Discovering Great Singers of Classic Pop: A New Listener's Guide to 52 Top Crooners and Canaries

Hemming ( Discovering Great Music ) and Hajdu ( How to Shoot Your Kids on Home Video ) profile 52 singers of the melodic, intimate and sophisticated music known as classic pop, describing the evolution of this music in the 1920s and '30s and showing how it changed and developed during and after WW II. The main part of the book is devoted to short chapters covering the lives, works and achievements of Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Mabel Mercer, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Nat ``King'' Cole, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli and other outstanding artists. The analyses of the singers' styles are perceptive, for the authors discuss how each performer's personality has affected his or her interpretation of the music and the lyrics. The book is readable, entertaining, and refreshingly free of biographical trivia. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)