June Hutton

b. 11 August 1923, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 2 May 1973, Encinio, California, USA. A popular band vocalist during the 40s swing era, Hutton was the half-sister of Ina Ray Hutton, and sang with her fine all-female band in the late 30s. From 1941-43 she was a member of Charlie Spivak’s vocal group, the Stardusters, and appeared with the Spivak outfit in the 1944 movie, Pin Up Girl, which starred Betty Grable. In that same year, Hutton replaced Jo Stafford in Tommy Dorsey’s renowned Pied Pipers, and stayed with the group after it left Dorsey. She was on Pipers hits such as ‘Dream’, ‘Lily Belle’, ‘Aren’t You Glad You’re You?’, ‘Mam’selle’, and ‘Ok’l Baby Dok’l’. In 1950 she went solo, and during the next few years had US hits with ‘Say You’re Mine Again’, ‘No Stone Unturned’ and ‘For The First Time (In A Long Time)’, all of which featured orchestral accompaniment by her husband, arranger-conductor Axel Stordahl. Along with other artists of her kind, she suffered with the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll, and by the end of the 50s her career was in decline.