Jim Lowe born 7 May 1927

James Ellsworth Lowe (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1956 number-one hit song, "The Green Door". He also served as a disc jockey and radio host and personality and was Nicknamed Mr. Broadway for his encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music  and musical theatre trivia of the 1940s and 1950s.

Born in Springfield, Missouri to Dr. Horace Arch Lowe, a surgeon, and the former Pearl Lines. He interrupted his studies at the University of Missouri to serve in the Army during World War II after which he graduated in 1948. He worked at radio stations in Springfield, Indianapolis and Chicago. Possessing a deep baritone on-air delivery, he could carry a tune as well and had little trouble getting a contract as a singer with Mercury Records in 1953 where he wrote and recorded country and western material. 

                                      

One of his songs was the original version of the self-penned "Gambler's Guitar." The flip side of "Gambler's Guitar" was a wonderful version of the old standard, "The Martins and the Coys," done in a delightful country style. Both received airplay in Chicago, but "Gambler's Guitar" was covered by established singer Rusty Draper, making #6 and relegating Lowe's original to a #26 showing. Cover records were one thing, but Draper was on Lowe's own label, Mercury! Furthermore in 1953 Lowe began in his role as the voice and persona of Big Tex the 52-foot-tall mechanical cowboy at the Texas state fair, and established many of the characteristic traits of the colossal animatronic. Lowe offered scripted comments telling visitors of coming attractions, slowing his voice to keep pace with Big Tex’s jaws.

In 1956 Lowe moved to New York to continue his radio career at WCBS, and switched to Dot Records in 1955. His first successful attempt with Dot was the novelty "Close the Door (They're Coming in the Windows)," a vaguely obnoxious tune if only because once heard, it absolutely could not be eradicated from the mind ("Those UH-uh-UH-uh, UH-uh- UH-uh, are everywhere!"). A few months later, he recorded another novelty, "Green Door," in a Greenwich Village apartment. This time, it was pure gold, rising to #1 in the Billboard Charts and #8 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1956. After a few more moderate hits for Dot, including, “Maybelline,” and “Four Walls", Lowe concentrated on his radio career.

His most notable run as a disc jockey was with WNEW AM in New York, from 1964. Lowe also worked at WNBC AM in New York where he was heard both locally and on the coast-to-coast NBC Radio weekend program Monitor. Lowe had a Saturday evening slot. The next year he switched stations and shifts, moving into the overnight “Milkman’s Matinee,” on WNEW. He also hosted “Jim Lowe’s New York,” noted for his command of Broadway and showbiz lore and trivia. There was another stint at “Monitor” from 1969 to 1973 and then a return to WNEW where Lowe remained until 1992. That’s when WNEW was sold and 1130 became Bloomberg News Radio. Lowe also departed from his Big Tex role from 1982 to 1989, then remained in the role until his retirement in 1998.

Jim Lowe with Big Tex

Even though his own records were closer to Elvis than Ella, Lowe remained devoted to the American songbook long after many radio stations abandoned it for other formats. Unfortunately, the largest, most important city in the country doesn’t have a station with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald and Nat Cole and Sarah Vaughan,” he said in an interview with a Florida radio station in 2004. Lowe did his best to remedy the absence with his last radio show, “Jim Lowe and Friends,” recorded weekly at various New York jazz spaces and syndicated nationally. The show ended its run in 2004 when he retired in 2004 at the age of 81, and lived in Southampton, New York. For contributions to the music industry, Lowe was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6341 Hollywood Boulevard.

On December 12, 2016, after battling pancreatic cancer for a year, Jim Lowe died at his home in East Hampton, Long Island.

(Edited from Wikipedia, bsnpubs.com, & WNEW 1130 AM.com)