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Lights Out for ‘That Doggie in the Window’ — Popular ’50s Singer Patti Page Dead at 85. Biggest Hit Was ‘Tennessee Waltz’

Jan 3, 2013  •  Post A Comment

"Patti Page, the apple-cheeked, honey-voiced alto whose sentimental, soothing, sometimes silly hits like ‘Tennessee Waltz,’ ‘Old Cape Cod’ and ‘(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window’ made her one of the most successful pop singers of the 1950s, died on Tuesday in Encinitas, Calif," reports The New York Times.

Page was 85. Her cause of death was not disclosed.

At the height of her fame in the 1950s she was known as "The Singing Rage, Patti Page."

The Wall Street Journal version of this story says that Page sold "over 100 million records around the world. Her bright voice was so redolent of America that Mao Zedong once condemned her version of ‘The Tennessee Waltz’ as ‘reactionary propaganda.’

"Although hardly a pioneer in her vocal stylings, Ms. Page was among the first to employ overdubbing. That technique allowed her to accompany herself on ‘Confess’ and sing four parts on the ethereal ‘With My Eyes Wide Open I’m Dreaming,’ which in 1950 became her first gold record."

Notes the Times story: "’Tennessee Waltz,’ from 1950, sold 10 million copies and is largely considered the first true crossover hit; it spent months on the pop, country and rhythm-and-blues charts."

The Times story also notes: "In the early days of television Ms. Page hosted several brief network series, including ‘Scott Music Hall’ (1952), a 15-minute NBC show that followed the evening news two nights a week, and ‘The Big Record,’ which ran one season, 1957-58, on CBS. ‘The Patti Page Show’ was an NBC summer fill-in series in 1956."

She also starred in "The Patti Page Olds Show," from September 1958 through March 1959 on ABC, according to "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows." The "Olds" in the title stands for the show’s sponsor, Oldsmobile.

Here’s Page singing her novelty hit "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window":

Here’s Page singing "Tennessee Waltz":
 

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