At 13, she had her own radio show in Dallas. At 14, she had a band of her own called the "Rhythmaticians." At 15, she was singing with Swing Fiddler Joe Venuti's band, wandering across the U.S. on deadly one-night stands. Then Jazzman Charlie Barnet put her up against his nine brasses. "I pay for 'em," Charlie used to roar, "and I want to hear 'em." After two years of shouting, Kay Starr's voice broke down.
Last week, in "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom's big saloon on Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard, Kay, now 25, was singing...
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