Dick Todd (singer)
{{Short description|Canadian pop singer (1914–1973)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Dick Todd
| image = Dick Todd 1942.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Todd in 1942
| birth_name =
| birth_date = August 4, 1914
| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| death_date = May 1973 (aged 58)
| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| alias = Canadian Crosby
| occupation = Singer
| genre = {{hlist|Pop singer|crooner}}
| associated_acts = {{hlist|Larry Clinton Orchestra|Joan Edwards}}
| years_active = 1933-1959
| label = {{hlist|RCA|Bluebird}}
| home_town =
}}
Dick Todd (August 4, 1914 – May 1973) was a Canadian pop singer, most active from the 1930s to 1950s. He was nicknamed the Canadian Crosby, due to his supposed vocal similarity to Bing Crosby, and was born in Montreal.
Early years
Todd sang in school programs as early as age 6. When he was 14, he worked as a log driver in a lumber camp.
His public schooling came at Macdonald Campus{{cite web | title=The Red-Headed Bluebird | work=Radio Varieties | date=April 1941 |url=https://archive.org/stream/radiovarieties34unse#page/n163/mode/1up | accessdate=May 4, 2016 | pages=2–3}} of McGill University and went on to study engineering at McGill. where he also played football.{{cite journal|title=Say Hello to ... |journal=Radio and Television Mirror |date=July 1940|volume=14|issue=3|page=52|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Mirror/40/Mirror-1940-Jul.pdf|accessdate=March 6, 2015}} (Another source says that he was a music major at McGill.)
Radio
Todd sang on a radio program in Canada in 1933.
After he came to the United States in 1938 to sing on broadcasts of Larry Clinton's orchestra, Todd became a favourite with radio listeners across the country.
During 1944–1945, Todd spent a year on a USO tour, entertaining troops during World War II. He returned to network radio July 28, 1945, on Your Hit Parade, replacing Lawrence Tibbett as the featured male singer, counterpart to Joan Edwards.{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5150912/harrisburg_telegraph/ | title=Dick Todd Takes Over Tibbett Role On 'Your Hit Parade,' WHP, July 28 | work=Harrisburg Telegraph | date=July 21, 1945 | accessdate=May 3, 2016 | location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg | pages=15}}
He was a soloist on programs such as Melody and Madness, Avalon Time, Rinso-Spry Vaudeville Theatre,DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2834-2}}. P. 264. Hometown Incorporated, and Show Boat.{{cite journal|title=Friday's Highlights|journal=Radio and Television Mirror|date=September 1940|volume=14|issue=5|page=52|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Mirror/40/Mirror-1940-Sep.pdf|accessdate=March 9, 2015}}
Recording
In the late 1930s, Todd signed a contract with RCA Victor to record for the company's Bluebird Records label. During his career he recorded such hits as "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven", "It's A Hap-Hap-Happy Day" and "Blue Orchids". In a 1940 magazine article, a writer commented, "He has the heaviest record-making schedule of any singer in the country."
=Hit records=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
| rowspan="2"| Year
! style="width:400px;" rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="5"|Chart positions |
|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:40px;"| US{{cite book |title=Pop Memories: 1890–1954 |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit |url-access=registration |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=1986 |publisher=Record Research}} ! style="width:40px;"| US ! style="width:40px;"| US ! style="width:40px;"| US Country ! style="width:40px;"| UK |
| rowspan="3"| 1938
| style="text-align:left;"| "The Girl in the Bonnet of Blue" | 9 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "Love Doesn't Grow on Trees"
| 20 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "When Paw Was Courtin' Maw"
| 9 | — | — | — | — |
| rowspan="2"| 1939
| style="text-align:left;"| "Little Sir Echo" | 10 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "It's a Hundred to One (I'm in Love)"
| 12 | — | — | — | — |
| rowspan="8"| 1940
| style="text-align:left;"| "To You, Sweetheart, Aloha" | 10 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "The Gaucho Serenade"
| 4 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "Angel in Disguise"
| 13 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "The Singing Hills"
| 16 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "Make Believe Island"
| 14 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "All This and Heaven Too"
| 20 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "You Can't Brush Me Off" (with Dinah Shore)
| 24 | — | — | — | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| "Goodnight, Mother"
| 24 | — | — | — | — |
| rowspan="1"| 1950
| style="text-align:left;"| "Daddy's Little Girl" (with Phil Ellis Choristers) | 11 | — | — | — | — |
| rowspan="1"| 1953
| style="text-align:left;"| "Till I Waltz Again with You | 17 | — | — | — | — |
Film
Todd made a couple of short features for Paramount Pictures.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.last.fm/music/Dick+Todd?lt=t Dick Todd on Last.Fm]
- [http://music.aol.com/artist/dick-todd/biography/1165028 Dick Todd at AOL Music]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060113120927/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003431 Dick Todd at The Canadian Encyclopedia]
- [http://greatentertainersarchives.blogspot.com/2011/04/disappearance-of-dick-todd.html Forgotten Ones: Dick Todd]
- [https://archive.org/stream/radiotelevis00macf#page/n37/mode/1up Dick Todd featured in Radio and Television Mirror, January 1942]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Dick}}
Category:20th-century Canadian male singers
Category:Anglophone Quebec people
Category:Bluebird Records artists
Category:Singers from Montreal
Category:McGill University Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences alumni