OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With The Slinky Nancy Steele!

Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. Today is a Monday in which all of Hollywood has yet to awaken and most of America has already forgotten about who won what last night at the Emmys. It's also a day when DJ Li'l Scratch is eager to introduce us to yet another forgotten Mademoiselle of Music™, this time a jazz crooner who was also a songwriter and a sharp-eyed businesswoman. Tonight, make sure to swing by the Manor's exclusive Muffin Puffin After Hours Lounge and you'll hear all about this smart 'n fiery sex-bomb songstress.

Her name is Nancy Steele, a va-va-voom performer who began her career as a commercial artist in Philadelphia and New York City in the late 1940s and early 50s. At the same time, purely as a hobby, she was taking voice lessons, and her teacher was so impressed, he urged her to pursue a professional career. With that bit of encouragement, it didn't take long for our Nance to snag a prime gig at the very popular NYC nitery, The Byline Club, which was owned by Black British cabaret star Mabel Mercer and frequented by ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. 

Nancy created a sensation and was quickly dubbed "The Singer With the Bedroom Voice" given her silky-smooth vocals which were sometimes likened to June Christy given her sultry, highly polished, "cool jazz" delivery. Thereafter, she was in high demand, performing at clubs like The Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, and Le Cupidon. In 1957, she released the first of two LPs, "Songs For Parties," later retitled "Play Girl," which featured an anonymous model on the cover for reasons that remain a mystery, since Nancy herself was quite the dish. For me, the LP is not her best effort, mostly because it feels like a low budget affair thrown together at the last second. 

Luckily, someone must have realized that Nancy deserved better, because just one year later, her LP entitled "Nighty-Nite" was released. It's smooth, come-hither jazz of a very high order. Her song list might be familiar, but on all the tunes, like "Skylark," she manages to infuse them with her own mix of slow-burn yearning and elegant - and surprisingly sophisticated - vocal inflections. It's the perfect treat for a cozy Fall night.

Nancy didn't record another LP, despite an increasingly successful club career. Then came a turning point. After a stint at El Morocco in the early 1960s, she opened her very own nightclub, L'Intrigue, on West 56th Street, smack in the middle of NYC's midtown jazz hub (nearby 52nd Street was considered "the birthplace of modern jazz). She proved a canny businesswoman as well as a singer, but after nearly a decade, she decided to close her club, and with that - poof! - this delightful and talented artist and entrepreneur vanished, the remainder of her life next slipping away from documented time. But now we all know about her at The Manor. We salute you, Nance, wherever you are!

What are you listening to this week? DJ Li'l Scratch wants to know.
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾

Photo Credits: Beacon Recordings, Chatam Records, Getty Images