Easy listening
Encyclopedia
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band
music, and related to MOR (middle-of-the-road) music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica
, beautiful music
, light music
, lounge music
, ambient music
, and space age pop
genres. The range of lounge music encompasses soft rock
music-influenced instrumentals, modern electronica
(with chillout, nu-jazz and downtempo
influences), while remaining thematically focused on its retro-space-age
cultural elements.
It was mostly instrumental music format
that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s. Lounge music, beautiful music, and the often derogatory terms Muzak
and elevator music are other common terms for the format and the style of music that it featured. Beautiful music can also be regarded as a subset of the middle of the road radio format.
Easy listening is broad and may include instrumental
arrangements of popular
music
designed for playing in shopping mall
s, grocery store
s, department store
s, telephone
systems (while the caller is on hold
), cruise ship
s, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevator
s. The term is also frequently applied as a generic (and often derogatory) term for any form of easy listening
, smooth jazz
, or middle of the road music, or to the type of recordings once commonly heard on "adult contemporary" radio stations.
Easy listening music for malls and elevators is typically set to a very simple melody
, so that it can be unobtrusively looped back to the beginning. In a mall or shopping center, elevator music of a specific type has been found to have a psychological effect: slower, more relaxed music tends to make people slow down and browse longer.
A good deal of easy listening music was pure instrumental (i.e., no main vocal part, although there could be minor vocal parts), which was called lounge music. Sometimes, this music would be theme music
from movies or TV shows, although such music could be produced independently from other entertainment productions. These instrumentals could be produced with an orchestral arrangement, or from an arrangement of instruments very similar to that found in jazz, or even rock and roll such as the Hammond Organ
or electric guitar
.
s (the lounge, the bar), casino
s, and piano bar
s.
The original Easy Listening format was emulated by many syndicated programmers and became the most popular format in FM radio nationwide. It later became known as Adult Contemporary, and this signaled an end to the instrumental content of the format. An attempt to revive the original format in the late 1990s was unsuccessful due to problems with delivery. It remains one of the most popular radio formats of all time.
It was initially offered soft and unobtrusive instrumental selections on a very structured schedule with limited commercial
interruptions. It often functioned as a free background music service for stores, with commercial breaks consisting only of announcements aimed at shoppers already in the stores. This practice was known as storecasting and was very common on the FM
dial in the 1940s and 1950s.
and Record World
featured easy listening singles in independently-audited record charts. Generally 40 positions in length, they charted airplay on stations such as WNEW, New York City, WWEZ, Cincinnati, and KMPC
, Los Angeles. Record World began their listings January 29, 1967 and ended these charts in the early 1970s. Billboards Easy Listening chart morphed into the Adult Contemporary chart in 1979, and continues to this day.
Beautiful music
is a subset of easy listening music, since, as a radio format, it had rigid standards for instrumentation, e.g., few or no saxophone
s, and restrictions on how many vocal pieces could be played in an hour. The easy listening radio format has been generally, but not completely, superseded by the soft adult contemporary format.
, Barbra Streisand
, Tony Bennett
, Dionne Warwick
, Astrud Gilberto
, Matt Monro
and many others. The somewhat derisive term lounge lizard
was coined then, and less well known lounge singers have often been ridiculed as dinosaurs of past eras and parodied for their smarmy delivery of standards. In any event, these lounge singers, perhaps performing in a hotel or cocktail bar, are usually accompanied by one or two other musicians, and they favor cover
songs composed by others, especially pop standards, many deriving from the days of Tin Pan Alley
.
Many well known performers got their start as lounge singers and musicians. Although he claims not to have worked for very long, Billy Joel
worked as a lounge musician and penned the song "Piano Man"
about his experience. Not all lounge singers, however, sing lounge music.
Lounge, a more modern term for easy listening, emerged in the late 1980s as a label of endearment by younger fans whose parents had played such music in the 1960s. It has enjoyed resurgences in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, led initially by ironic
figures such as Buster Poindexter
and Jaymz Bee
.
In the early 1990s the lounge revival was in full swing and included such groups as Combustible Edison
, Love Jones, The Cocktails, Pink Martini
and Nightcaps
. Alternative band Stereolab
demonstrated the influence of lounge with releases like Space Age Bachelor Pad Music
and the Ultra-Lounge series of lounge music albums. The lounge style was a direct contradiction to the grunge
music that dominated the period.
In the 2000s Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine has added to this resurgence by covering (usually profane) hit songs of other genres (primarily metal
and hip hop
) in the style of a lounge singer. Other artists have taken lounge music to new heights by recombining rock with pop, such as Jon Brion
, The Bird and the Bee
, Pink Martini
, the Buddha-Lounge series, and the surrounding regulars of Café Largo
.
, Nat King Cole
, Johnny Mathis
, Perry Como
, Doris Day
, and others. By the 1970s, softer songs by artists like The Carpenters
, Anne Murray
, John Denver
, Barry Manilow
, Barbra Streisand
, Elton John
, Nancy Wilson and others were added to the mix on many stations. Also, some of these stations even played soft songs by artists like Elvis Presley
, Beatles, Billy Joel
, and other rock-based artists.
All vocals on such stations had to be extremely soft. Therefore, on one hand a song like "She's Out Of My Life
" by a non-core artist like Michael Jackson
would be heard on some of these stations; similarly, "Crazy for You
" or "Live to Tell
" by Madonna
. On the other hand, even uptempo jazzier songs by standards artists, such as "Detour
" by Patti Page
, would not be heard on easy listening music stations except during specialty shows.
The custom recordings were usually instrumental versions of current or recent rock and roll
or pop
hit songs, a move intended to give the stations more mass appeal without selling out
, but also disgusted some longtime listeners of the format. Some stations would also occasionally play earlier big band
-era recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s.
Many beautiful music stations would air a few Christmas songs
during the season. The stations' vocal content would typically increase to about 40 to 60 percent of the playlist during this period, as well. This concept was later borrowed (and expanded upon) by Soft AC, Oldies
, and even some country music
and Hot AC stations.
The predominantly instrumental-vocal mix is still in use today, mainly by smooth jazz
stations.
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
music, and related to MOR (middle-of-the-road) music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
, beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
, light music
Light music
Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
, lounge music
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
, ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, and space age pop
Space age pop
Space age pop is a general and loosely based term for a music genre associated with certain Mexican and American composers and songwriters in the Space Age of the 1950s and 1960s. It is also called bachelor pad music or lounge music...
genres. The range of lounge music encompasses soft rock
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
music-influenced instrumentals, modern electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
(with chillout, nu-jazz and downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...
influences), while remaining thematically focused on its retro-space-age
Space Age
The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...
cultural elements.
It was mostly instrumental music format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s. Lounge music, beautiful music, and the often derogatory terms Muzak
Muzak
Muzak Holdings LLC is a company based in metro Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1934, Muzak Holdings is best known for distribution of background music to retail stores and other companies....
and elevator music are other common terms for the format and the style of music that it featured. Beautiful music can also be regarded as a subset of the middle of the road radio format.
Easy listening is broad and may include instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
arrangements of popular
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
designed for playing in shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s, grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
s, department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s, telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
systems (while the caller is on hold
Music on hold
Music on hold is the business practice of playing recorded music to fill the silence that would be heard by telephone callers who have been placed on hold...
), cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
s, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s. The term is also frequently applied as a generic (and often derogatory) term for any form of easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
, smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
, or middle of the road music, or to the type of recordings once commonly heard on "adult contemporary" radio stations.
Easy listening music for malls and elevators is typically set to a very simple melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, so that it can be unobtrusively looped back to the beginning. In a mall or shopping center, elevator music of a specific type has been found to have a psychological effect: slower, more relaxed music tends to make people slow down and browse longer.
A good deal of easy listening music was pure instrumental (i.e., no main vocal part, although there could be minor vocal parts), which was called lounge music. Sometimes, this music would be theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
from movies or TV shows, although such music could be produced independently from other entertainment productions. These instrumentals could be produced with an orchestral arrangement, or from an arrangement of instruments very similar to that found in jazz, or even rock and roll such as the Hammond Organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
or electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
.
History
The earliest type of lounge music appeared during the 1920s and 1930s, and was known as light music. Contemporaneously, the term lounge music also denotes the types of music played in hotelHotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s (the lounge, the bar), casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s, and piano bar
Piano bar
A piano bar consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician, located in a cocktail lounge, bar, hotel lobby, office building lobby, restaurant, or on a cruise ship. Usually the pianist receives a small salary plus tips in a jar or basket on or near the piano,...
s.
Origins of the term
The name "Easy Listening" was coined in 1965 by Claude Hall, radio-tv editor of Billboard Magazine to describe the sound of WPIX-FM. The station quickly became the top-rated FM radio station in New York and ranked among the top five of all stations, AM and FM, from 1964 through 1968. The music itself was common prior to the coining of the label, and was the most popular format along with pop vocalists, before the advent of rock and roll.The original Easy Listening format was emulated by many syndicated programmers and became the most popular format in FM radio nationwide. It later became known as Adult Contemporary, and this signaled an end to the instrumental content of the format. An attempt to revive the original format in the late 1990s was unsuccessful due to problems with delivery. It remains one of the most popular radio formats of all time.
It was initially offered soft and unobtrusive instrumental selections on a very structured schedule with limited commercial
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
interruptions. It often functioned as a free background music service for stores, with commercial breaks consisting only of announcements aimed at shoppers already in the stores. This practice was known as storecasting and was very common on the FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
dial in the 1940s and 1950s.
Popularity
The magazines BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
and Record World
Record World
Record World magazine was one of the three main music industry trade publications in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box magazines. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but since 1964 changed it to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin, both...
featured easy listening singles in independently-audited record charts. Generally 40 positions in length, they charted airplay on stations such as WNEW, New York City, WWEZ, Cincinnati, and KMPC
KMPC
KMPC is a radio station based in Los Angeles, California and is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Licensee, LLC. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean-language programming...
, Los Angeles. Record World began their listings January 29, 1967 and ended these charts in the early 1970s. Billboards Easy Listening chart morphed into the Adult Contemporary chart in 1979, and continues to this day.
Beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
is a subset of easy listening music, since, as a radio format, it had rigid standards for instrumentation, e.g., few or no saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s, and restrictions on how many vocal pieces could be played in an hour. The easy listening radio format has been generally, but not completely, superseded by the soft adult contemporary format.
Easy listening singers
Easy listening/lounge singers have a lengthy history stretching back to the decades of the early twentieth century. Easy listening music featured popular vocalists such as Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
, Matt Monro
Matt Monro
Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...
and many others. The somewhat derisive term lounge lizard
Lounge Lizard
The term Lounge Lizard is usually used to refer to lounge musicians, most often in a negative sense . Since its first appearance as American slang in 1917, "lounge lizard" has surprisingly shown up in nearly every decade...
was coined then, and less well known lounge singers have often been ridiculed as dinosaurs of past eras and parodied for their smarmy delivery of standards. In any event, these lounge singers, perhaps performing in a hotel or cocktail bar, are usually accompanied by one or two other musicians, and they favor cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
songs composed by others, especially pop standards, many deriving from the days of Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
.
Many well known performers got their start as lounge singers and musicians. Although he claims not to have worked for very long, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
worked as a lounge musician and penned the song "Piano Man"
Piano Man (song)
"Piano Man" was Billy Joel's first major hit and his signature song. "Piano Man" was released as a single in November 1st, 1973 and has been on several albums...
about his experience. Not all lounge singers, however, sing lounge music.
Lounge, a more modern term for easy listening, emerged in the late 1980s as a label of endearment by younger fans whose parents had played such music in the 1960s. It has enjoyed resurgences in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, led initially by ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
figures such as Buster Poindexter
David Johansen
David Roger Johansen is an American rock, protopunk, blues, and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal protopunk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.-Early life:Johansen was born in...
and Jaymz Bee
Jaymz Bee
Jaymz Bee is a Canadian musician, writer and radio personality.-Personal life:Jaymz was born and raised in North Bay, Ontario. He is a graduate of Inglenook Community High School.-Early career:...
.
In the early 1990s the lounge revival was in full swing and included such groups as Combustible Edison
Combustible Edison
Combustible Edison was a group founded in the early 1990s in Providence, Rhode Island, and was one of several lounge music acts that led a brief resurgence of interest in the genre during the mid-1990s...
, Love Jones, The Cocktails, Pink Martini
Pink Martini
Pink Martini is a 13-member "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop.-History:...
and Nightcaps
Nightcaps (band)
Nightcaps were an American Lounge music band from Seattle, Washington active from 1994 until 2002.Nightcaps were an integral part if the mid 1990s Lounge music resurgence that included bands such as Combustible Edison,...
. Alternative band Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
demonstrated the influence of lounge with releases like Space Age Bachelor Pad Music
Space Age Bachelor Pad Music
Space Age Bachelor Pad Music also known by the name The Groop Played "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music" is an EP by the band Stereolab, originally released in early 1993...
and the Ultra-Lounge series of lounge music albums. The lounge style was a direct contradiction to the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
music that dominated the period.
In the 2000s Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine has added to this resurgence by covering (usually profane) hit songs of other genres (primarily metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
) in the style of a lounge singer. Other artists have taken lounge music to new heights by recombining rock with pop, such as Jon Brion
Jon Brion
Jon Brion is an American rock and pop multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, composer and record producer.-Early life:...
, The Bird and the Bee
The Bird and the Bee
The Bird and the Bee is an American indie pop musical duo from Los Angeles, California, consisting of musicians Inara George and Greg Kurstin...
, Pink Martini
Pink Martini
Pink Martini is a 13-member "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop.-History:...
, the Buddha-Lounge series, and the surrounding regulars of Café Largo
Largo (nightclub)
Largo is a nightclub and cabaret in Los Angeles, CA, known informally as Café Largo or Club Largo, known for its retinue of musical and comedic performers and for the Friday night "residency" of singer-songwriter Jon Brion, which has made the club a must-visit for fans and professional...
.
Instrumental-vocal mix
Most stations adopted a 70-80% instrumental - 20-30% vocal mix, a few offered 90% instrumentals, and a handful were entirely instrumental. Initially, the vocalists consisted of artists such as Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
, and others. By the 1970s, softer songs by artists like The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
, John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Nancy Wilson and others were added to the mix on many stations. Also, some of these stations even played soft songs by artists like Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Beatles, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, and other rock-based artists.
All vocals on such stations had to be extremely soft. Therefore, on one hand a song like "She's Out Of My Life
She's Out of My Life
"She's Out of My Life" is a song written by musical artist Tom Bahler. Although it has been claimed that Bahler wrote the song about Karen Carpenter, Bahler stated, "The fact is, I had already written that song by the time Karen and I became romantic. That song was written more about Rhonda Rivera...
" by a non-core artist like Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
would be heard on some of these stations; similarly, "Crazy for You
Crazy for You (song)
"Crazy for You" is a song by American singer Madonna for the 1985 film Vision Quest. It was released on March 2, 1985, by Geffen Records as the first single from the soundtrack album of the film, and later included on the ballads compilation Something to Remember...
" or "Live to Tell
Live to Tell
"Live to Tell" is a pop ballad by American singer-songwriter Madonna. Originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of the film Fire with Fire, the song was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for then-husband Sean Penn's film At Close Range...
" by Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
. On the other hand, even uptempo jazzier songs by standards artists, such as "Detour
Detour (song)
"Detour " is a Western swing ballad written by Paul Westmoreland in 1945. The original version was by Jimmy Walker with Paul Westmoreland and His Pecos River Boys, issued around the beginning of November 1945....
" by Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, would not be heard on easy listening music stations except during specialty shows.
The custom recordings were usually instrumental versions of current or recent rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
or pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hit songs, a move intended to give the stations more mass appeal without selling out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
, but also disgusted some longtime listeners of the format. Some stations would also occasionally play earlier big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
-era recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s.
Many beautiful music stations would air a few Christmas songs
Christmas Songs
Christmas Songs is a 2005 album by Diana Krall performed with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. This is Krall's first full-length album of Christmas songs , and her first studio album with a big band. It is her ninth album overall...
during the season. The stations' vocal content would typically increase to about 40 to 60 percent of the playlist during this period, as well. This concept was later borrowed (and expanded upon) by Soft AC, Oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
, and even some country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and Hot AC stations.
The predominantly instrumental-vocal mix is still in use today, mainly by smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
stations.
Notable artists
- Easy listening orchestras and conductors
- 101 Strings101 Strings101 Strings Orchestra was a brand for a highly successful easy listening symphonic music organization, with a discography exceeding a hundred albums and a creative lifetime of roughly thirty years. Their LPs were individualized by the slogan "The Sound of Magnificence", a puffy cloud logo and...
- Living StringsLiving StringsThe Living Strings was an easy listening studio orchestra, founded in 1959. It was operated by RCA Records on its Camden label. There were also related groups called the Living Voices, the Living Brass, the Living Guitars. All of the Living... records were produced by the same group of people...
- Longines SymphonetteLongines SymphonetteThe Longines Symphonette was a pre-recorded classical music program broadcast nightly on many Mutual stations from 1943 to 1949. It then moved to CBS where it was heard Sundays at 2pm from 1949 to 1957...
- Midnight string quartetMidnight string quartetThe Midnight String Quartet were an easy listening chamber music quartet, consisting of two violins, a viola, and a cello, made up of students or graduates from the University of Southern California...
- San Remo Golden StringsSan Remo Golden StringsThe San Remo Golden Strings were a studio group from Detroit, Michigan. A number of its members also played in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, while others were members of the Motown Records backing band, The Funk Brothers. Their albums were released on Ric-Tic Records, The San Remo Golden Strings...
- Sauter Finnegan Orchestra
- Sounds OrchestralSounds OrchestralSounds Orchestral was a British studio-based easy listening group, assembled by John Schroeder with Johnny Pearson in 1964.-Career:John Schroeder had worked with Johnny Pearson previously over at Oriole Records, producing Johnny Pearson's first solo album. Moving to Pye, Schroeder was quick to...
- The Three SunsThe Three SunsThe Three Suns was an American instrumental pop group, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.The group was formed in 1939 by Al Nevins and Morty Nevins and Artie Dunn , . Their first hit record was "Twilight Time", which was written by the band along with Buck Ram. "Twilight Time" sold over four million...
- Andre KostelanetzAndre KostelanetzAndré Kostelanetz was a popular orchestral music conductor and arranger, one of the pioneers of easy listening music.-Biography:...
- André RieuAndré RieuAndré Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.- Early life and studies :...
- Arthur FiedlerArthur FiedlerArthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
- Arthur GreensladeArthur GreensladeArthur Greenslade was a British conductor and arranger for films and television as well as for a number of performers. In the 1950s he was pianist and arranger with the Oscar Rabin Band. He has arranged for Jack Jones, Chris Farlowe, Serge Gainsbourg, Genesis, Cat Stevens, Diana Ross and Dusty...
- Arthur LymanArthur LymanArthur Lyman was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica...
- Art Van DammeArt Van DammeArt Van Damme was a jazz accordionist.-Biography:Born in Norway, Michigan, he began playing the accordion at age nine and started classical study when his family moved to Chicago in 1934. In 1941 he joined Ben Bernie's band as an accordionist. He adapted Benny Goodman's music to the accordion...
- Bert KaempfertBert KaempfertBert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".-Biography:He was born in Hamburg, Germany - where he received his lifelong...
- Billy VaughnBilly VaughnRichard "Billy" Vaughn was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records....
- Burt BacharachBurt BacharachBurt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
- Boston Pops
- CaravelliCaravelliCaravelli, real name Claude Vasori is a French orchestra leader, composer and arranger of orchestral music.-Biography:...
- Charles WilliamsCharles Williams (composer)Charles Williams was a British composer and conductor, contributing music to over 50 films...
- Danny DavisDanny Davis (country musician)Danny Davis was a band leader, trumpet player, vocalist and producer and founder/leader of the Nashville Brass.-Early life and career:...
- David RoseDavid RoseDavid Rose was a British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist, and orchestra leader. His most famous compositions were "The Stripper", "Holiday for Strings", and "Calypso Melody"...
- Edmundo RosEdmundo RosEdmundo William Ros OBE was a Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestra, had an extensive recording career and owned one of London's leading nightclubs.- Life :Ros was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad...
- Enoch LightEnoch LightEnoch Henry Light was a classical violinist, bandleader, and recording engineer. As A&R chief and vice-president of Grand Award Records, he founded Command Records in 1959. Light's name was prominent on many albums both as musician and producer...
- Eric WinstoneEric WinstoneEric Winstone was an English big band leader and composer.Playing piano in his spare time from a job as Westminster Gas and Coke Company led him to form his first band in 1935...
- Fausto PapettiFausto PapettiFausto Papetti was an Italian alto saxophone player.He was born at Viggiù in Lombardy.His performance of the song "Love's Theme" was featured on the breakbeat compilation "Ultimate Breaks and Beats".Papetti became well known for all the 1960s and 1970s, and all his new album reaches the top of...
- Franck PourcelFranck PourcelFranck Pourcel was a French easy listening musician.-Biography:Born in Marseille, Pourcel's father started to teach him music at the age of six...
- Frank ChacksfieldFrank ChacksfieldFrank Chacksfield was an English pianist, organist, composer and conductor of popular light orchestral easy listening music, who had great success in Britain and internationally in the 1950s and early 1960s.-Life and career:...
- Frank De VolFrank De VolFrank Denny De Vol, also known simply as De Vol was an American arranger, composer and actor.-Early life and career:...
- Geoff LoveGeoff LoveGeoff Love was a British easy-listening, and disco orchestra leader. He was born in the industrial town of Todmorden in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His father was a mixed race American-born guitarist and dancer, and his mother an actress. As a child, Love began to learn to play the violin but...
- George MelachrinoGeorge MelachrinoGeorge Melachrino was a musician, movie composer, and musical director who was English born of Greek and Italian descent. He was an accomplished player of the violin, viola, oboe, clarinet and saxophone....
- Gerhard NarholzGerhard NarholzGerhard Narholz is a classically trained composer, arranger and conductor, dedicated to easy listening and film score music. 1958-1965 he wrote pop songs for artists such as Petula Clark, Heidi Brühl, Bill Ramsey and film scores for various German feature films and TV series...
- Helmut JederknüllerHelmut JederknüllerHelmut Jederknüller is a Swedish musician most associated with the group known as Helmut Jederknüller mit seinem Super Stereo à Gogo Orchester, that plays light music as played in 1967–1973....
- Henry ManciniHenry ManciniHenry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
- Hollyridge StringsHollyridge StringsThe Hollyridge Strings was a studio orchestra that specialized in easy-listening music and recorded for the Capitol Records label in the 1960s and 1970s....
- Horst WendeHorst WendeHorst Wende was a German bandleader, arranger and composer. He made easy-listening records under his own name as well as under the name Roberto Delgado...
- Hugo MontenegroHugo MontenegroHugo Montenegro was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best known work is derived from interpretations of the music from Spaghetti westerns, especially his cover version of the main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
- Hugo WinterhalterHugo WinterhalterHugo Winterhalter was an American musician.An easy listening arranger and composer, Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's near Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1931, where he played saxophone for the orchestra and sang in two of the choirs...
- Jackie GleasonJackie GleasonJackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
- James LastJames LastJames Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...
- Johnny DouglasJohnny Douglas (conductor)Johnny Douglas was an English composer, Musical Director and string arranger, perhaps best known for his work in the easy listening genre...
- John Fox
- John SchroederJohn Schroeder (musician)John Francis Schroeder is a British easy listening composer, arranger, and producer.Schroeder worked as an A&R assistant to Norrie Paramor at Columbia Records. He was also a songwriter and, with Mike Hawker, wrote the song "Walkin' Back to Happiness", which in a version by Helen Shapiro reached...
- Juan García EsquivelJuan García EsquivelJuan García Esquivel often simply known as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophisticated style of largely instrumental music that combines elements of lounge music and jazz with Latin...
- Lawrence WelkLawrence WelkLawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
- Leroy AndersonLeroy AndersonLeroy Anderson was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler...
- Leroy HolmesLeRoy HolmesLeRoy Holmes was an American songwriter, composer, arranger and conductor....
- Les BaxterLes BaxterLes Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
- Lester LaninLester LaninLester Lanin was an American jazz and pop music bandleader....
- Lex de AzevedoLex de AzevedoAlexis "Lex" de Azevedo is an American Mormon composer, song writer, pianist and singer known primarily for his film scores and his work on the LDS musical Saturday's Warrior.-Biography:...
- MantovaniMantovaniAnnunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
- Martin DennyMartin DennyMartin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and...
- Nelson RiddleNelson RiddleNelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
- Nestor TorresNestor TorresNestor Torres is a jazz flautist who was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in 1957. He took flute lessons at age 12 and began formal studies at the Escuela Libre de Música, eventually attending Puerto Rico’s Inter-American University. At 18, he moved to New York with his family...
- Nick IngmanNick IngmanNicholas Ingman is an orchestra conductor and composer.Early recordings include:*'Big Beat' *'The Love Album' *'Terminator'...
- Paul MauriatPaul MauriatPaul Mauriat was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968...
- Paul WestonPaul WestonPaul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
- Percy FaithPercy FaithPercy Faith was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and...
- Raymond LefevreRaymond LefèvreRaymond Lefèvre was a French easy listening orchestra leader, arranger and composer.Born in Calais, France, Lefèvre is best known for his 1968 theme "Soul Coaxing ", which became an international hit...
- Ray ConniffRay ConniffJoseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
- Ray MartinRay Martin (orchestra leader)Ray Martin was a British orchestra leader. He was noted for his light music compositions. Allmusic journalist, Bradley Torreano states "Ray Martin created a legacy for himself in British popular music through his work with his orchestra during the 1950s...
- Robert FarnonRobert FarnonRobert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a famous composer of original works , he was recognised as one of the finest arrangers of his generation...
- Roberto DelgadoHorst WendeHorst Wende was a German bandleader, arranger and composer. He made easy-listening records under his own name as well as under the name Roberto Delgado...
- Roland ShawRoland Shaw (bandleader)Roland Shaw born Roland Edgar Shaw-Tomkins 26 May 1920 is an English composer, musical arranger, and orchestra leader.Shaw attended the Trinity College of Music and served in the Royal Air Force in World War II leading RAF No 1 Band of the Middle East Forces....
- Stanley BlackStanley BlackStanley Black OBE was an English Bandleader, Composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He wrote and arranged many film scores and recorded prolifically for the Decca label...
- Syd DaleSyd DaleSyd Dale was born in York, England. He was a self taught composer and arranger of funk, easy listening and library music. His music played an important role on TV, radio and advertising media of the 1960s and 1970s. It is still extensively used today.Syd Dale started as an apprentice engineer at...
- Ted Heath
- Waldo de los RíosWaldo de los RiosWaldo de los Ríos was an Argentine composer, conductor and arranger.De los Rios was born as Osvaldo Nicholas Ferrara in Buenos Aires into a musical family; his father was a musician and his mother a well known folk singer; he studied composition and arranging at the National Conservatory of Music...
- Werner MüllerWerner MüllerWerner Müller is a Swiss sprint canoer who competed in the early 1950s. He finished 16th in the K-2 10000 m event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.-References:*...
- 101 Strings
- Easy listening pianists
- Ferrante & TeicherFerrante & TeicherFerrante & Teicher were a duo of American piano players, known for their light arrangements of familiar classical pieces, movie soundtracks, and show tunes.-Career:...
- Bradley JosephBradley JosephBradley Joseph is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestra, quartet, and solo piano, while his musical style ranges from "quietly pensive mood music to a rich orchestration of classical depth and breadth".Active...
- Carl DoyCarl DoyCarl William Doy ONZM is a pianist, composer and arranger. One of New Zealand's most successful musicians, Carl is probably best known for his multi-platinum selling Piano By Candlelight albums....
- Earl GrantEarl GrantEarl Grant was an American easy listening pianist, Hammond organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:...
- Eddie HeywoodEddie HeywoodEddie Heywood was a jazz pianist who was popular in the 1940s. His father, Eddie Heyward, Sr. was also a jazz musician from the 1920s. Heywood, Jr...
- Emile PandolfiEmile PandolfiEmile Pandolfi is an American pianist. He is noted for his renditions of show tunes. -Biography and career:He was born in New York and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, where he still resides....
- Fariborz LachiniFariborz LachiniFariborz Lachini is a film score composer originally from Iran based in Canada.-Career:He started his career in Iran writing music for children, creating "Avaz Faslha va Rangha" at the age of 18 which caught the attention of royal family of the time. The title of national Iranian TV's children...
- Floyd CramerFloyd CramerFloyd Cramer was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound." He popularized the "slip note" piano style where an out-of-tune note slides effortlessly into the correct note...
- Frank MillsFrank MillsFrank Mills , is a Canadian pianist and recording artist, best known for his solo instrumental hit "Music Box Dancer"....
- Horst JankowskiHorst JankowskiHorst Jankowski was a classically trained German pianist, most famous for his internationally successful easy listening music.-Biography:...
- Jim BrickmanJim BrickmanJim Brickman is an American songwriter and pianist. He has been named the most charted male Adult Contemporary artist to date, with six of his albums receiving Gold and Platinum status. He is known for his solo piano compositions, pop-style instrumentals, and vocal collaborations with artists...
- Joe HarnellJoe HarnellJoe Harnell was an American easy listening composer and arranger....
- Johnny PearsonJohnny PearsonJohn Valmore Pearson known as Johnny Pearson, was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist...
- LiberaceLiberaceWladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
- Miranda Wong
- Peter NeroPeter NeroPeter Nero is an American pianist and pops conductor.-Early life:Born in Brooklyn, New York, As Bernard Nierow, Nero started his formal music training at the age of seven. He studied piano under Frederick Bried...
- Raul Di BlasioRaul di BlasioRaúl di Blasio is an Argentine latin jazz and easy listening pianist.- Life :Born in Zapala, Argentina, Raúl Di Blasio showed a great interest in piano at the age of six. After his parents' recommendations that he should study music, he began to pursue piano as a career.Di Blasio practiced piano...
- Richard CarpenterRichard Carpenter (musician)Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony...
- Richard ClaydermanRichard ClaydermanRichard Clayderman is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint, instrumental renditions of popular music, rearrangements of movie soundtracks, ethnic music, and easy-listening arrangements of most popular works of...
- Roger WilliamsRoger Williams (pianist)Roger Williams was an American popular music pianist. As of 2004, he had released 116 albums.-Biography:...
- Ronnie AldrichRonnie AldrichRonnie Aldrich, born Ronald Frank Aldrich was a British easy listening and jazz pianist, arranger, conductor, and composer. The only son af a store manager, he was three years old when he started playing the piano...
- Alberto Semprini
- Peter DuchinPeter Duchin-Life and career:Duchin was born in New York City, the son of pianist and band leader Eddy Duchin. His mother was Marjorie Oelrichs, a Newport, Rhode Island and New York City socialite who died unexpectedly when he was just five days old. He was raised by close family friends, statesman W...
- Ferrante & Teicher
- Guitarists with high deployment in easy listening
- Al CaiolaAl CaiolaAl Caiola is a guitarist who plays jazz, country, rock, western, and pop music. He has been both a studio musician and stage performer...
- Chet AtkinsChet AtkinsChester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
- Earl KlughEarl KlughEarl Klugh is an American smooth jazz/crossover jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and composer.At the age of 13, Klugh was captivated by the guitar playing of Chet Atkins when Atkins made an appearance on the Perry Como Show. Klugh was a performing guest on several of Atkins' albums...
- Francis GoyaFrancis GoyaFrancis Goya is a Belgian guitarist born in Liege.Weyer first played with Patrick Ruymen in the group Les Caraïbes, a Belgian cover group. The two then formed the rock group Liberty Six in 1965, which had a proto-psychedelic stage show and released only one single before disbanding. Weyer then...
- Laurindo AlmeidaLaurindo AlmeidaLaurindo Almeida was a Brazilian virtuoso guitaristand composer who made many recordings of enduring impact in classical, jazz and Latin genres...
- Tony MottolaTony MottolaTony Mottola was an American guitarist who released dozens of solo albums. Mottola was born in Kearny, New Jersey, and died in Denville, New Jersey.-Career:...
- Al Caiola
- Other instrumentalists with high deployment in easy listening
- Charles MagnanteCharles MagnanteCharles Magnante was an American piano-accordionist, arranger, composer, author and educator. His artistry helped raise the image of the accordion from an instrument considered suitable only for folk music to an instrument accepted in many music genres.- Background :Magnante's father was a...
- ZamfirGheorghe ZamfirGheorghe Zamfir is a Romanian pan flute musician.Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of the traditional Romanian-style pan flute of 20 pipes to 22, 25, 28 and 30 pipes to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight overtones from each pipe by changing the embouchure.He is...
- Herb AlpertHerb AlpertHerbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
- Hubert LawsHubert LawsHubert Laws is an American flutist and saxophonist with a 40+ year career in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Alongside Herbie Mann, Laws is probably the most recognized and respected jazz flutist...
- James GalwayJames Galway- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...
- Jerry Murad
- Jyotsna Srikanth
- Kenny GKenny GKenneth Bruce Gorelick , better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American, adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986...
- Romantic Instrumentals
- Charles Magnante
- Easy listening vocal groups
- Boney MBoney MBoney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...
, disco group - Sérgio MendesSergio MendesSérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....
& Brasil '66 - The Anita KerrAnita KerrAnita Jean Grilli , known profesioanlly as Anita Kerr, is an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed successfully with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe.-Nashville:Kerr was born in Memphis, Tennessee...
Singers - The BachelorsThe BachelorsThe Bachelors are a popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland.-Career:The founding members of the group were Conleth Cluskey , Declan Cluskey , and John Stokes...
- The Cliff Adams SingersCliff Adams SingersThe Cliff Adams Singers was a UK male/female vocal group, known for ballads and novelty songs.-Career:The group was formed by the Southwark, London born Cliff Adams who had formed The Stargazers with Dick James in 1950, and joined the BBC Show Band in 1954...
- The Doodletown PipersDoodletown PipersThe Doodletown Pipers were a 1960s and 1970s easy listening vocal group founded by Ward Ellis, George Wilkins, Bernie Brillstein and Jerry Weintraub....
- The Free Design
- The Johnny MannJohnny MannJohnny Mann is an American arranger, composer, conductor, entertainer, and recording artist.-Career:...
Singers - The Lettermen
- The Lighthouse FamilyLighthouse FamilyLighthouse Family are a British musical duo that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s and remained active until the early 2000s. Vocalist Tunde Baiyewu and keyboardist Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK after meeting while studying at university...
- The Mike CurbMike CurbMichael Curb is an American musician, record company executive, NASCAR and IRL race car owner. A Republican, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 under Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr...
Congregation - The Norman LuboffNorman LuboffNorman Luboff was an American music arranger, music publisher, and choir director.-Early years:Norman Luboff was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1917. He studied piano as a child and participated in his high school chorus. Luboff studied at the University of Chicago and Central College in Chicago...
Choir - The Puppini Sisters
- Pink MartiniPink MartiniPink Martini is a 13-member "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop.-History:...
- The Ray Charles Singers
- The Ray ConniffRay ConniffJoseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
Singers - The SandpipersThe SandpipersThe Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio/quartet, who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera", which became a transatlantic Top 10 hit in 1966, and their Top 20 hit "Come Saturday Morning" from the soundtrack of the film The...
- The Singers Unlimited
- The Swingle Singers
- Boney M
- Vocalists with high deployment in easy listening
- Al MartinoAl MartinoAl Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid 1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The...
- Andy WilliamsAndy WilliamsHoward Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
- Anne MurrayAnne MurrayMorna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
- Astrud GilbertoAstrud GilbertoAstrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
- Dean MartinDean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
- Dionne WarwickDionne WarwickDionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
- Ed AmesEd AmesEd Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
- Engelbert HumperdinckEngelbert Humperdinck (singer)Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...
- Eydie GormeEydie GorméEydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...
- Helmut LottiHelmut LottiHelmut Lotti , is a Flemish Belgian tenor and singer-songwriter. Lotti performs in several styles and languages: Once an Elvis impersonator, he has sung African and Latino hit records, and he crossed over into classical music in the 1990s.-Life and music:The son of Luc Lotigiers and Rita Lagrou,...
- Jack JonesJack Jones (singer)John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...
- James TaylorJames TaylorJames Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
- Joe DolanJoe DolanJoseph "Joe" Francis Robert Dolan was an Irish entertainer, recorder and singer of easy listening songs...
- John GaryJohn GaryJohn Gary was an American singer and a technically accomplished vocalist.-Early life:John Gary Strader started singing at the age of 5. He joined his older sister, Shirley Strader. At the age of 9, he won a 3-year scholarship to the prestigious Cathedral School of St John in Manhattan. He...
- Johnny MathisJohnny MathisJohn Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
- Kenny RogersKenny RogersKenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
- Matt MonroMatt MonroMatt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...
- Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
- Robert GouletRobert GouletRobert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
- Roger WhittakerRoger WhittakerRoger Whittaker is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability...
- Shirley BasseyShirley BasseyDame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
- Steve LawrenceSteve LawrenceSteve Lawrence is an American singer and actor, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie"...
- Al Martino
- Vocalists with some deployment in easy listening
- ABBAABBAABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
- Captain & TennilleCaptain & TennilleCaptain & Tennille are American pop music recording artists who achieved chart success from 1975 to 1980. The duo consists of husband and wife duo "Captain" Daryl Dragon , and Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille . They are best known for their singles "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Do That to Me...
- The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
- The CarpentersThe CarpentersCarpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
- Andrea BocelliAndrea BocelliAndrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
- Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
- Barry ManilowBarry ManilowBarry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
- Bobby VintonBobby VintonBobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
- Dan FogelbergDan FogelbergDaniel Grayling "Dan" Fogelberg was an American singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, rock, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music...
- Daniel O'DonnellDaniel O'Donnell (Irish singer)Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell is an Irish singer, television presenter and philanthropist. O'Donnell came to public attention in 1983 and has since become a household name in Ireland and the UK. He has also had considerable success in the US. He is known for his close relationship with his...
- Dean MartinDean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
- DidoDido (singer)Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong , known as Dido, is an English singer-songwriter.Dido shot to worldwide success with her debut album, No Angel...
- Don HoDon HoDonald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...
- Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
(softer selections) - Gerry RaffertyGerry RaffertyGerald "Gerry" Rafferty was a Scottish singer songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", "Days Gone Down", "Night Owl", "Get It Right Next Time", and with the band Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You". Rafferty was born into a working-class family in...
- Glen CampbellGlen CampbellGlen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
- Gordon LightfootGordon LightfootGordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- John BarrowmanJohn BarrowmanJohn Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
- Jerry ValeJerry ValeJerry Vale is an American singer.-Career:In high school, in order to make some money, he took a job shining shoes in a barbershop in New York City. He sang while he shined shoes, and his boss liked the sound so well that he paid for music lessons for the boy...
- Jimmy BuffettJimmy BuffettJames William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
- John DenverJohn DenverHenry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
- Josh GrobanJosh GrobanJoshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
- Martin NieveraMartin NieveraMartin Ramon Razon Nievera is a singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the main hosts of musical variety show ASAP on ABS-CBN-Early life:...
- Michael BubléMichael BubléMichael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
- Nana MouskouriNana MouskouriNana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...
- Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
- Neil DiamondNeil DiamondNeil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
- Olivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
- Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
- Regine VelasquezRegine VelasquezRegina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez , better known as Asia's Songbird, Regine Velasquez, is a Filipino singer, actress, record producer and TV host...
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Sarah BrightmanSarah BrightmanSarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
- Stephen BishopStephen Bishop (musician)Stephen Bishop is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and guitarist.-History:Bishop was born in San Diego, California, and attended Will C. Crawford High School...
- Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
- Vic DamoneVic DamoneVic Damone is an American singer and entertainer.- Early life :Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to French-Italian immigrants based in Bari, Italy—Rocco and Mamie Farinola. His father was an electrician; and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer...
- ABBA
See also
- New age musicNew Age musicNew Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
- Light musicLight musicLight music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
- Ambient musicAmbient musicAmbient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
- ExoticaExoticaExotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
- Soft rockSoft rockSoft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
- Adult Contemporary
- Muzak Holdings
Further reading
- Lanza, Joseph. (1994). Elevator Music: a Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsong. New York: St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-10540-1.