Biography
John Morton Downey was an American singer and entertainer who gained popularity in the United States during the early 20th century, reaching the height of his fame in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Known as "The Irish Nightingale," Downey started his singing career in the choir of Most Holy Trinity Church in Wallingford. His distinctive style featured a rich, high-pitched Irish tenor voice, often mistaken for a female singer by untrained listeners. This highly stylized male vocal approach was most popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. By the mid-1930s, as tastes changed, Downey adapted by softening some of his more exaggerated mannerisms and adopting a fuller, more "chesty" vocal tone.
During the 1920s, Downey performed with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra and made his first recordings in 1923 for Edison Records under the name Morton James. The following year, he recorded with the S.S. Leviathan Orchestra for Victor. From 1925 to 1929, he recorded for Brunswick Records. In 1926, he achieved success with the show Palm Beach Nights. Downey toured major cities including London, Paris, Berlin, New York City, and Hollywood, and began acting in films such as Syncopation, the first release by RKO Radio Pictures.
As a songwriter, Downey's notable works include "All I Need Is Someone Like You," "California Skies," "In the Valley of the Roses," "Now You're in My Arms," "Sweeten Up Your Smile," "That's How I Spell Ireland," "There's Nothing New," and "Wabash Moon." He became a member of ASCAP in 1949.
Renowned tenor Bill Kenny admired Downey greatly and is believed to have been his biggest influence, with clear stylistic similarities evident in Kenny's early recordings with The Ink Spots. In 1930, Downey began national radio broadcasts after opening his New York nightclub, The Delmonico. He was named America's "Radio Singer of the Year" in 1932 and was a regular feature on the Camel Quarter Hour radio show. On February 5, 1945, his syndicated program Songs by Morton Downey transitioned from the NBC Blue Network to the Mutual Broadcasting System after the Blue Network implemented a policy limiting the use of transcriptions for live programs. This move resulted in more than doubling the number of stations airing his show.
Throughout the 1930s, Downey recorded for ARC, Hit of the Week, and Decca Records, and in the 1940s he recorded for Columbia Records. Beginning in 1949, he appeared on television and from 1950 to 1951 co-hosted the show Star of the Family.
