Dick Todd

Todd, Dick

Dick Todd. Singer (baritone), b Montreal 4 Aug 1914, d ? He sang at 17 with George Sims' dance band at Belmont Park in Montreal and was subsequently heard on local and national (CBC) radio, the latter with the orchestras of Allan McIver and Lucio Agostini. He moved to New York in 1938. During his heyday, ca 1938-42, Todd was heard on US radio with the Larry Clinton and Artie Shaw orchestras, starred in several variety series - eg, NBC's 'Lower Basin Street,' 'Avalon Time,' and 'Show Boat' - and recorded extensively for Bluebird.

A husky crooner with a relaxed vocal manner, he was often called the Canadian Crosby and was the subject of the Tommy Dorsey-Bing Crosby 'I wonder where Dick Todd is tonight?' radio comedy-routine. Todd entertained US troops during World War II, sang 1945-6 on CBS radio's 'Your Hit Parade,' then turned to nightclub work that took him on occasion back to Montreal and to Toronto. His career waning, he travelled after 1955 as a circus 'roustabout' and worked in New York as a stagehand, but continued to record sporadically for Decca until 1967. Details of his life after the mid-1970s are not known. Todd, who drank heavily and latterly suffered from severe arthritis, is thought to have become a derelict.

More than 200 of his recordings are listed in Sheldon O'Connell's biography Dick Todd: King of the Jukebox (Providence, RI, 1987). One of Todd's biggest hits, 'Blue Orchids,' was taken as the title of a double-album reissue (2-Bluebird AMX2-5509) in 1975. 'Deep Purple' and 'Daddy's Little Girl' were also songs associated with the singer.