Johnnie Ray
 Despite being skinny, pigeon-toed, half-deaf and effeminate, this
highly emotional performer was the most popular singer of the
pre-Elvis era.
Indeed, when Elvis first started out he was often
introduced on stage as "the new Johnnie Ray".
Though mostly remembered for such lip-quivering hits as The
Little White Cloud That Cried, Ray definitely started out on
an R&B kick.
Though he would later slip from vaudeville (Somebody
Stole My Gal) and show tunes (Hey There) into
jukebox hits (Just Walkin' In The Rain), he was always
at his most potent preaching his own take on the blues (witness Such
A Night or Flip Flop and Fly).
His 1954 recording of Such A Night was the
first chart hit to be banned not only by the BBC, but also by many
American radio stations. It still ended up topping the British
charts.
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