About this project

Kay Kemble (1911-1989) is a character invented for this project. Kay sang on radio commercials as a child and went on to lead Big Bands and swing ensembles in the 30's and 40's. She worked at Scott Air Field as a WAAC enlistee and a civilian. She produced war bond rallies, and her all-female band promoted a popular shampoo brand. In the 80's there was renewed interest in Kay's musical career.

Kay informally adopted the orphaned niece and nephew of her partner Wilmetta "Teeny" Stockton, and in the early 70's the family moved from St. Louis to New Orleans. After Kay and Teeny's deaths, family members remained in New Orleans until displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 2014, I arranged to archive, organize, and restore Kay's memorabilia. Most items were damaged due to age, hurried packing , and lack of funds for formal archiving.

I've "become" Kay in reproduction radio broadcasts, and created artifacts to represent damaged or destroyed items in the collection.



Monday, March 1, 2021

The former child singer knew the words. . .

 Kay, when very young, sang on the radio with her sister and cousins, and one of the 15-minute programs the girls appeared on took requests. "Hindustan" came up more than once, and Kay still remembered the words many decades later. By the 1940s, the song was almost always an instrumental to for dance bands to play, but when "Hinstustan" was popular in the FIRST World War, when it was played more slowly, had more exotic elements, and audiences participated in singalongs. 


 





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