Catherine Annette Hanshaw (October 18, 1901 – March 13, 1985) was an American Jazz Age singer. Her singing style was relaxed and suited to the new jazz-influenced pop music of the late 1920s. Although she had a low opinion of her own singing, she continued to have fans because she combined the voice of an ingenue with the spirit of a flapper. Hanshaw was known as The Personality Girl, and her trademark was saying Thats all in a cheery voice at the end of many of her records. Between September 1926 and February 1934, she recorded prolifically. From 1926 to 1928 she recorded for Pathe (her sides were released on both the Pathe and Perfect labels). Starting in June 1928, she recorded for Columbia; most of these were issued on their dime store labels Harmony, Diva, Clarion and Velvet Tone. A handful were also released on their regular price Columbia and OKeh. Although most were released under her own name, she was renamed Gay Ellis (for sentimental numbers) and Dot Dare or Patsy Young (for her Helen Kane impersonations). She recorded under a number of other pseudonyms, which included Ethel Bingham, Marion Lee, Janet Shaw, and Lelia Sandford. Starting in August 1932, she began recording for the ARC with her recordings issued on their Melotone, Perfect, Conqueror, Oriole and Romeo. Her final session, February 3, 1934, was placed on ARCs Vocalion label. Hanshaw made her one and only appearance on film in the 1933 Paramount short Captain Henrys Radio Show, a picturization of the popular Thursday evening radio program Maxwell House Show Boat, in which she starred from 1932 to 1934. Having grown tired of show business, in the late 1930s Hanshaw retired and settled into married life with her husband, Pathé Records executive Herman Wally Rose. Later in life, in a would-be comeback, she recorded two demo records, but they were never released. She died of cancer in 1985 at New York Hospital, aged 83, after a long illness; she was living in Manhattan at that time. Collections of Hanshaws recordings were released on Audio CD in 1999 by Sensation Records. Another revival of interest occurred in 2008 with the use of Hanshaws music throughout the full-length indie animated feature Sita Sings the Blues, which retells the Indian epic poem the Ramayana from Sitas perspective by setting scenes from it to performances by Hanshaw. More recently, her 1929 song Daddy Wont You Please Come Home was featured in the video game Bioshock 2 in 2010.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 07:28:29 +0000
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