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Coffee Break

9:30 Coffee Break: Crooners

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by Jill Riley and Sean McPherson

September 30, 2015

Johnny Mathis
Recording artist Johnny Mathis performs onstage at the Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute To Industry Icons on February 7, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Today is the 80th birthday of Johnny Mathis, an accomplished singer of jazz and popular music who has been performing and recording since 1956.

Johnny Mathis is one of a long list of singers referred to as "crooners." Once a pejorative term, a "crooner" is now simply applied to (typically) male singers who perform intimate-sounding songs in a soft, smooth voice. Although there are plenty of crooners who sing jazz standards and American Songbook classics, the pop and indie rock world has its share of crooners as well.

So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear by crooners past or present? Send us your requests.

Songs Played


Johnny Mathis "Misty"
Rufus Wainwright "Release the Stars"
Frank Sinatra "Somethin' Stupid"
Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett "Body and Soul"
Morrissey "I'm Throwing my Arms Around Paris"
Dean Martin "That's Amore"
Lena Horne "Stormy Weather"

Do you deserve a Coffee Break? We at The Current's Morning Show think you do, and we want to bring treats from Black: Coffee and Waffle Bar to your workplace. Let us know why you'd like a Coffee Break.