Billy Daniels

Billy Daniels toiled obscurely for years before becoming a star in 1950. He began singing in his native Jacksonville, Florida, moved to Harlem in 1932 and became a dishwasher and later singing waiter at Dickie Wells' restaurant-club. He toured with the Erskine Hawkins band circa 1935-36, then returned to Harlem, which he loved, and sang virtually every day, sometimes just for food. He became a staple on local radio shows, and in 1941 had a small record hit on Bluebird, "Diane"/"Penthouse Serenade". "Diane" became his trademark song at this stage of his career, when he sang tenor with no appreciable body movement (he can be seen at this stage as the star of Sepia Cinderella (1947)). In 1948 he began to work permanently with pianist-backup singer Benny Payne, who also served as his musical director. About that time he began to make "That Old Black Magic" - which he'd first sung in the summer of 1946 at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City - his new trademark. A 1948 extended appearance at Ne