Johnny Desmond was an American singer who was popular in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
Biography
Early years
Desmond was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States;. As a boy he sang on a local radio station, but at age 15 he quit to work at his father's grocery. He retained a love of music, and briefly attended the Detroit Conservatory of Music before heading to the nightclub circuit, playing piano and singing. In 1939, he formed his own singing group. The group was first called the Downbeats. After being hired to work with Bob Crosby's big band in 1940, it was renamed the Bob-O-Links. The group appeared on 15 commercial recordings by the Crosby orchestra, including two chartedhits, "You Forgot About Me", and "Do You Care?".
War years
In the middle of 1941, Desmond decided to leave the Bob-O-Links to go solo. He became the featured vocalist for Gene Krupa's band, replacing Howard Dulaney, in September, recording over a dozen songs, the last of which was "All Those Wonderful Years", a song from the movieKeep 'em Flying, which reached No. 21 on the US chart. In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army, but his military service was in fact a continuation of his singing career. He was a member of Glenn Miller's Army Air Forces Orchestra and replaced singer Tony Martin after he joined the US Navy, from November 1943 until July 28, 1945, when the band was shipped home. He and the band played troop and air bases in England, and eventually went to France in December 1944. He made a number of radio broadcasts with the Miller band, and was given his own show called "A Soldier and a Song." on the American Forces Network. His discharge took place on November 23, 1945.
Postwar era
After the war he took a job on The Breakfast Club, a radio variety program in Chicago, Illinois. He made a number of charted hit recordings: "Don't You Remember Me?", "Guilty", "C'est si bon", "Don't Cry, Joe", "Just Say I Love Her", "The Picnic Song", "Because of You", and "Woman". On September 24, 1953 he joined with Don Cornell and Alan Dale to record " Heart of My Heart," a No. 10 hit on the chart. During this time he switched recording companies frequently. The 1946 recordings were made for RCA Victor, the 1949-51 recordings for MGM, and the 1953 recordings for Coral Records. In the 1940s and 1950s, many artists would record the same song at about the same time, and some chart hits for Desmond were also major hits for other singers. Thus "Guilty" was an even bigger hit for Margaret Whiting, with a No. 4 position. "Because of You" was a No. 1 hit for Tony Bennett. "The High and the Mighty" was No. 4 for Les Baxter and his Orchestra. The Desmond/Dale/Cornell version of "Heart of My Heart" reached No. 10, but the Four Aces' version peaked at No. 7 on the chart. In some cases, Desmond's version was the biggest hit. Teresa Brewer also recorded "The Picnic Song" but her version did not chart. "Woman" was recorded by José Ferrer, but Desmond's was the bigger version in the US. Desmond also recorded several versions of songs that did not chart but became hits for other singers: for example, "Mister and Mississippi" and "Too Young". Desmond was a guest on the early television series, Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, which aired on CBS from 1951 to 1952. In 1957, Desmond joined Boris Karloff in a guest appearance on NBC's The Gisele MacKenzie Show. A pair of 1957 films from Columbia Pictures cast Desmond in starring roles, the musical Calypso Heat Wave and the crime drama Escape from San Quentin, as did a 1958 adventure film, Desert Hell. In 1961, Desmond co-starred on the CBS summer replacement series Glenn Miller Time, which featured the Miller orchestra under the direction of host Ray McKinley.
