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Frankie Laine

Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

WITH CUMULATIVE sales of over 100 million discs, Laine was the most successful of the big-voiced balladeers – one contemporary reviewer described him as the possessor of 'steel tonsils' – who emerged in the forties. His success marked the end of the dominance of the crooning tradition of singing, while his records were among the first to reveal just how much sound could be manipulated by producers.

Total word count of piece: 688

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