DESCRIPTION:
Al Bowlly - His Greek name was Pavlis. His father hailed from the historic island of Rhodes, Greece.

His father, Alick Pauli (Alex Pavlis) left Rhodes in 1892 and migrated to Australia. In Perth he married Miriam Ayoub, a Christian Lebanese woman who had also migrated to Australia. Alick and Miriam then left and settled in Johannesburg, South Africa with a new name, Alick & Miriam Bowlly. Albert was born on January 7, 1899. In his late teens he began singing and in 1923 left for a tour of India and the Far-East. From there he went to Europe where he became famous.

Albert Alick Bowlly was the most famous singer of the 1920s and 30s. He was famous in India, the Far East, Germany, Britain and in the USA before Bing Crosby with whom he competed for a time in the 30s. During his career he made over 1000 records, which given the primitive recording techniques in those years was an astonishing accomplishment. He was called Europe's Most Popular Crooner, or the Ambassador of Song. Al Bowlly was the first singer to use the microphone and amplification to project his voice and personality and was hailed by the press as The all conquering Al Bowlly. He was the first British popular singer to form a solo variety act, the first to be invited to have a solo spot on the BBC, and the first to be invited to work in America and be given his own show on NBC. He is credited with inventing 'crooning' or as he called it 'The Modern Style of Singing' and he published a book by that title in 1935.