The Blossom Dearie Centennial

Born 100 years ago this day, Margrethe Blossom Dearie (1924-2009), known professionally as Blossom Dearie.

She is not to be confused with Blossom Seeley or Blossom Rock! H’m…I used to think it was an unusual name. People my age are most likely to know Dearie’s singing (if not her name) from the three songs she performed for Schoolhouse Rock in the ’70s, including the haunting “Figure Eight” (1973), “Unpack Your Adjectives” (1975), and “Mother Necessity” (1976). She wasn’t there accidentally. She had sung in vocal groups two decades earlier with Bob Dorough, who wrote and performed on most of the Schoolhouse Rock songs. Dearie was known her high-pitched “little girl” quality, but she also had the same be boppy sounding jazz style that Dorough and fellow Schoolhouse Rocker Jack Sheldon possessed.

Originally from heavily Irish East Durham, New York (about 150 miles north of NYC), Dearie emerged from high school to participate in a number of vocal groups that all had “blue” in the name. In New York she and The Blue Flames sang with the Woody Herman Orchestra before she and The Blue Reys sang with Alvino Rey. Then she moved to Paris, where she performed with The Blue Stars, the group she was in with Dorough.

In 1957 Dearie moved back to the States to begin her solo career, accompanying herself on piano. She recorded dozens of albums for Verve, Fontana, and other labels, including her own one, Daffodil. On TV, she made a dozen appearances on Jack Paar’s Tonight Show, and was also on The Today Show with Dave Garroway, and the programs of Mike Douglas, Danny Kaye, David Frost, and Merv. Her last TV appearance was on Val Doonican’s BBC variety show in 1983.

Dearie returned before the cameras one last time to play a small supporting part in the (2004) screen version of Marie and Bruce. (I just had the startling experience of looking down the credit list and realizing that I know, i.e. personally, five of the cast members of that film, which is seldom the case with fairly major films like this one, I assure you. They’re not the leads).

Blossom Dearie’s official website is here.

For more on the history of show business please consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and stay tuned for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.