A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Seattle in the 1990s, The Husband owned his own grocery store/café- Plenty in the Madrona neighborhood. In the search for fun music to play on the sound system, I discovered Post Apocalyptic Bohemian favorite Jean Sablon.
Jean Saboln was openly gay, living with his partner, a US service man, for more than 4 decades, yet he was a matinee idol & the French housewife's pin-up of choice. He recorded in the 1920-1980s, & he topped bills in cabarets & concert halls in Paris, London & on Broadway. In the1960s- 1980s Saboln made highly rated TV specials in France & Britain. Gershwin & Cole Porter wrote songs for him. Sablon helped to popularize swing music in France by teaming up on several occasions with Stephane Grapelli & Django Reinhardt.
In 1937, Sablon made his first visit to the USA. He spent the war years here, singing on stage & on the radio he was featured on the CBS Hit Parade, where he was ranked higher than Sinatra. The microphone revolutionized the music industry, & Sablon pioneered the subtleties of it use.His voice was heard by 50 million listeners twice each week. Bing Crosby owned all of his records, & Sinatra compared himself to Sablon in interviews. Sablon spent some time living in Hollywood where his close friends included Cary Grant, & Marlène Dietrich.
Sablon toured 5 continents demonstrating his independence & inquisitiveness, the qualities led him to introduce many new musical genres to France: biguine, calypso & bossa nova.
After Chevalier & Piaf, he was the only French singer to have tremendous success in the USA. In France, his style was that of a chanteur de charme which the American term 'crooner' hardly does justice to, but he was known as "the French Bing Crosby".
Sablon was the very definition of a suave, stylish, seductive Parisian lover. He sang with a velvety voice, thrilling in its lower registers. light & lovely on his upper notes. Listening to him makes me dizzy & horny.
In 1981 he gave his 75th anniversary concert at the Lincoln Center in NYC. Sablon was beloved in Brazil & it was in Rio de Janeiro, in 1983, that he gave his farewell recital to a very emotional public in tears as he said goodbye: " & now, I bow myself out . . ."
He died in France in 1994.
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