Some of the information is Boop-Oop-a-Dooping full of SPOILERS. Boop-Oop-a-Doop! Baby-talk
The baby-talk style of singing goes back to the 1900s. It is a common style of singing, which is cutesy and childlike. It is most associated with Betty Boop.
The earliest known baby-talk singer was Irene Franklin, with her 1909 hit novelty song "I've Got the Mumps" released on record in 1913. During the 1920s, a lot of flappers also sung in this style, most notable being Helen Kane, who merged the style of singing with scat singing and had a hit with the 1928 song "I Wanna Be Loved By You". The most prominent known baby-singer today is Britney Spears.
Trivia
- The baby-talk speaking style is quite common in New York.
- In New York, the baby-talk singing style is merged with Brooklynese.
- Cyndi Lauper, a notable star of the 1980s, often speaks in baby-talk. In the 80s, she recorded the baby-talk song "He's So Unusual".
- During the 80s, singer Madonna Ciccone used to speak in baby-talk, and even recorded the novelty Christmas song "Santa Baby," a song most associated with Eartha Kitt. Madonna recorded her cover in baby-talk. Madonna later recorded a song called "Cry Baby" imitating cartoon character Betty Boop.
- Baby-talk speaking and the baby-talk singing style today is most associated with Betty Boop.
- Irene Franklin was the first baby-talk singer and baby-doll in the business.
- The Duncan Sisters, a twin sister duo were singing baby-talk songs in the early 1920s, their most famous baby-talk song being "Baby Sister Blues," which was released in 1923, which also included scat singing.
- In 1931, Marion Davies played one of her own songs on a photograph at a party she hosted, she claimed it was a "Boop-a-Doop" song. She said, "There how do you like my latest song?" The gentleman replied, "Well, ah. it sounds all right, but..."
- Other well known baby-talk singers of the 1920s and 1930s were, Margie Hines, Little Ann Little, Bonnie Poe, Catherine Wright, Mae Questel, Blanche Bow, Claire Bart. Annette Hanshaw, Ermine Calloway and Baby Rose Marie.
- Margie Hines not only used this baby voice technique for Betty Boop but for other characters that appeared in the Van Beuren Studios animated shorts, most notably Countess the Cat.
- Baby Rose Marie and Baby Esther Jones also were said to have used a similar method of singing, but both performers were actual children so them using the baby-talk style was their natural singing voices rather than adults imitating juveniles.
- Naomi Ruth Stevens, a child star, was a baby-talk singer on the KNX radio station.
- Jane Withers started her career age 8 in 1932 as a "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" impersonator on the radio in Atlanta, GA.
- Edith Griffith was reported of, as singing in this style as of 1927.
- This baby-talk vocal approach was utilized to voice animated cartoon characters by Shirley Reid (who began as a Betty Boop sound-alike on radio), and Dorothy Varden and Berneice Edna Hansell, who was also known as Bernice Hansen. Using this approach, Reid, Varden and Hansell voiced Cookie a carbon-copy character of Betty Boop.
- Carol Tevis, the one-time voice of Minnie Mouse, Little Red Riding Hood and voice of the Three Little Wolves in Disney cartoons, was renowned for her baby voice.
- In 1930, night club entertainer Nedra Gordinier was known as "the girl with the baby voice".
- Peggy Bernier who was discovered by Paul Ash in 1926, sang in a baby voice, long before Helen Kane was known.
- Babe Glick from San Francisco was a baby-talk singer.
- Babe Kane, better known as Marjorie Babe Kane, Marjorie Kane, Margie Kane was a baby-talk singer, that people thought was Helen Kane's sister. She had no relation to Helen Kane.
- Gertrude Saunders sings in a baby-talk voice on her 1923 "Love Me" and "Potomac River Blues" recordings.
- Paul Ash told a young Ginger Rogers to imitate Helen Kane earlier on in her career, which resulted in Rogers using the baby-talk gimmick. Kane responded to this by stating that Rogers was her "only" successor.
- Edie Adams who was best known for her Marilyn Monroe impersonation often did Helen Kane and Betty Boop baby-talk impersonations. However her impersonations have often been compared to Carol Channing.
- The fictional character Lina Lamont portrayed by Jean Hagen is a "blonde bombshell" spoof baby-talker. The 1952 is set in the late 1920s and indicate that Lamont is known for her "horrid" voice. However in reality baby-talk voices as of 1928 were all the rage. It was popular up until cartoon character Betty Boop debuted and took over the genre as of 1932. By the mid-1930s the singing style fizzled and was later considered to be silly but it worked for Betty Boop because she is a fictional animated character.
- Judy Valentine born Norma Baker was best known for her baby voice soprano. A 1956 Variety article compared her to Helen Kane, Rose Murphy and Eartha Kitt.
- Biracial actress Carol Channing was best known for her baby-doll, jazzy, and peppy persona. She was "quarter Black" and born to a mixed-race Euro-American father of German descent and a white mother. Channing was notable for speaking in a more gruff baby voice. She also recorded her own version of "Button Up Your Overcoat". She also covered the "Jazz Baby" hit song. The most famous Marilyn Monroe song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" was originally introduced by Channing.
- Butterfly McQueen was known for her unique baby-talk voice.
- Dorothy Dandridge's sister Ruby Dandridge had a baby voice.
- Black jazz vocalist Rose Murphy was well-known for her scat vocals and baby voice. She even recorded her own renditions of "I Wanna Be Loved By You" and "Button Up Your Overcoat". She became Helen Kane's rival during the 1950s.
- Louis Armstrong's ex-wife Lil Hardin Armstrong spoke and sometimes sang in a baby voice.
- Bonnie Baker was known for her baby voice. She had a hit song called "Oh Johnny!" in 1939 which she sang in baby-talk. In cartoons the song is best associated with Tex Avery's "Red Hot Riding Hood" and is called "Oh Wolfie!".
- During the 1990s, actress and singer Laurette Willis did a baby-talk imitation of Betty Boop on radio and also on her show The Betty Boop Show.
- Retired actress Julie McWhirter-Dees sang baby-talk songs for the film "Bugsy Malone" and was a known Betty Boop sound-a-like. McWhirter did not voice Boop, but Betty Rubble on the hit Hanna-Barbera TV show The Flintstones. Her version of Rubble sounds more like Boop.
- South-African actress Genevieve Waite's baby voice has often been compared to Betty Boop.
- Black singer Michel'le Denise Toussant has "a condition" that makes her speak like a baby doll. She has often been compared to Betty Boop. She can sing in soprano and use her chest to sing in a deeper voice which can be heard in her "Something In My Heart" video.
- Wé Ani from Harlem, New York who appeared on "American Idol" naturally has a baby voice. Like singer Michel'le, she is able to sing in a different tone. She was told that she has a unique speaking voice and that she should do voices for cartoons.
- Kim Exum did a baby-talk imitation for her audition and workshop session as Betty Boop, and had previously used this vocal type in one of her earlier stage shows.
- For her "Betty Boop" voice, Jasmine Amy Rogers does a "deeper" baby-talk voice blended with a strong Brooklyn / New Yorker accent.