OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With India Adams!

Greetings music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. Today, we're going to meet a ghost - but not the spooky kind. This is a "ghost singer," one of the select few who did not make a name for themselves by providing the singing voice for popular movie stars during Hollywood's Golden Era. It was all very hush-hush. For years this ghost singer remained silent, as her contract forbid her from saying a peep, but tonight, at the Manor's "Bean Flick Lounge," DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing some of her best tunes sung for other people - and more. So let's unveil her, shall we?

Why, it's that ghost-tacular singer herself, India Adams, who began her career as a high school lass singing with a friend's three-piece band, performing at various clubs around Los Angeles. It didn't take long for an MGM talent scout to take notice and to hire her for a prime ghosting role in 1953: providing the singing voice for none other than Cyd Charisse in the studio's lavish musical, "The Band Wagon." To say she killed the assignment is an understatement. 

In fact, after its New York City premiere, several gossip wags weighed in. "The biggest news around Radio City Music Hall is who is singing for Cyd Charisse in 'The Band Wagon?'" exclaimed one, and as much as India wanted to call them up and say, "It's me, me, me!" she was forbidden to do so by MGM studio brass. The illusion was all. It was Cyd who was singing. Period, end of sentence. In later years, ghost singers like Marni Nixon - who provided the singing voice for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" - were able to be public about their contributions, but just a decade earlier it was business as usual: ghost singers officially didn't exist. 

India performed another number for Cyd in "The Band Wagon," but it was left on the cutting room floor. Still, MGM knew a fantastic vocal number when they heard it, and decided to use it for another star on their roster. Yes, it was none other than Joan Crawford, here pictured with India. 

Unfortunately, that fantastic vocal number, "Two Faced Woman," was performed in a disastrous sequence wherein Joan lip-syncs in Black Face and looks ready to clobber all comers, attacking the choreography with a rigid intensity that feels less like dancing and more like a raging military exercise (not for nothing is the word "subtle" ever used to describe her as an actress). Decades later in 1994 in "That's Entertainment 3," both Cyd's unseen and Joan's two-often seen versions were compared and contrasted. 

Luckily, India didn't remain hidden for long. Those in the know knew she had the talent to attract audiences. Thereafter basing herself in New York, she headlined Broadway touring musicals like "Can-Can," "The Most Happy Fella" and "Brigadoon," and performed extensively at Manhattan night clubs, becoming a featured singer at the Latin Quarter and Radio City Music Hall, as well as in London and Los Angeles. 

Her ubiquitousness at the time was understandable. She was astonishingly versatile, her voice, blending smoky jazz warmth with a breathy elegance, making her a top pick for everything from lush rhythm-and-blues ballads to brassy Broadway numbers. Happily, she cut a terrific album in 1959, "Comfort Me With Apples." the title number remaining a sassy, teasing delight. 

India's contributions were finally acknowledged in 1990 when she toured with the act “Hollywood’s Secret Singing Stars,” which featured fellow “ghost singers" Annette Warren (who sang for Ava Gardner in "Show Boat"), Jo Ann Greer (for Esther Williams in "Jupiter’s Darling") and Betty Wand (for Leslie Caron in "Gigi"). Want to hear the rest of India's album? Of course you do!

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

Photo Credits: Getty Images; Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, Loew's Inc./Warner Bros/Park Circus