Dwight Fiske

Dwight Fiske was given his start in Paris, playing a benefit for Marie Dressler. He decided to eschew a musical education to be a performer. Dwight Fiske was unrivaled as singer of risqué songs, entirely by himself except for a few with lyrics by Dawn Powell. A collection of his lyrics, entitled "Without Music," was published in 1933. The book is dedicated to Dawn Powell and has a forward by Robert Benchley. He was mostly bald and resembled an elegant statesman more than a lounge entertainer in New York, London and Paris. His bitchy, but never smutty songs, earned him the nickname of "King Leer," even though Robert Benchley said that Fiske never "mugged." His records were quite popular, but only affordable to his starched shirt crowd. They were recorded and pressed by RCA-Victor from 1933 to 1936, and issued on the 36000 series (12" inch) with his own black and silver label stating "FISKANA." The records were sold "under the counter" in swanky music stores such as Liberty Music Shop, Schirmer, and Colony. Later in the decade his records were made on the Liberty Music Shop and Gala label. He worked in exclusive restaurants and lounges continuously during the Great Depression. He was featured for many years at the Savoy-Plaza in Manhattan. His face adorned large print ads in sophisticated magazines such as "Vanity Fair," "Stage," "New Yorker" and others. He was such a society fixture, his name appeared in at least one New Yorker cartoon. Although there were a few other society singers of naughty songs, such as Bruz Fletcher (1907-1941), they never achieved the status of Dwight Fiske. Today his records may cause and arched brow or a puzzled look on the listener's face, because the dialogue is so topical, elitist and regional, there is nobody alive who could possibly understand all of the references. However, his diction, emphasis and showmanship come through as well as ever.