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Artie Shaw

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Bandleader

The Resume

    (May 23, 1910-December 30, 2004)
    Raised in New Haven, Connecticut
    Birth name was Arthur Jacob Ashawsky
    Recorded 'Begin the Beguine,' 'Nightmare,' 'Frenesi,' 'Stardust,' 'Concerto for Clarinet,' 'Interlude in B-Flat' and 'If It's You'
    Wrote 'The Trouble with Cinderella,' 'The Best of Intentions' and 'I Love You, I Hate You, Drop Dead!'
    Won a Grammy for lifetime achievement (2004)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was married eight times.
    All but one marriage lasted less than 4 years.
    When asked about his marriage to actress Evelyn Keyes, he said: 'I like her very much and she likes me, but we've found it about impossible to live together.'
    He was a compulsive perfectionist and a self-proclaimed 'very difficult man.'
    He often broke up his bands and retired from the music business.
    He hated when fans danced to his music, saying: 'I could never understand why people wanted to dance to my music. I made it good enough to listen to.'
    He walked off a performance at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City and fled to Mexico for three months.
    He quit playing the clarinet in 1954 and never played it again.
    He formed the Artie Shaw Orchestra in the 1980's, but he only guest conducted and never performed with it.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He began playing professionally at age 14.
    He was the first white bandleader to hire a full-time black female vocalist when he hired Billie Holiday.
    He was one of the first jazz leaders to incorporate string instruments and classical music styles with jazz.
    He and his band enlisted in the Navy during World War II and performed for troops in the Pacific.
    He was an outspoken supporter of world peace and social justice.
    He admitted to the House Un-American Activities Committee that he attended a few communist party meetings, saying: 'I hate to admit that I was a dupe, but I guess I was.'
    Despite the media creating a rivalry between him and Benny Goodman, he and Benny had a friendly relationship.
    He had a sense of humor about his marriages, saying: 'It's the music; it's standing up there under the lights. A lot of women just flip; looks have nothing to do with it. You call Mick Jagger good-looking?'

Credit: Call me Calvin


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 47 Votes: 65.96% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 31.25% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 21 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 38 Votes: 76.32% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 17 Votes: 29.41% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 35.29% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 54 Votes: 35.19% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 29 Votes: 55.17% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 51 Votes: 45.10% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 35 Votes: 51.43% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 108 Votes: 46.30% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 167 Votes: 41.92% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 213 Votes: 44.60% Annoying