EASY LISTENING

'Easy listening' music is a style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the mid-20th century, evolving out of swing and big band music, and related to Beautiful music and Light music. Easy listening music features simple, catchy melodies, soft, laid-back songs and occasionally rhythms suitable for couples dancing. The genre includes both instrumental forms (often played on light of tone instruments such as the Hammond Organ, "lush strings," or Ukulele); and vocal forms featuring pop singers, such as Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Eydie Gorme, Barry Manilow, Harry Conick Jr., Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Tom Jones and Mel Tormé. Exotica music stylists such as Les Baxter and Martin Denny are often included within the purview of easy listening music as well.
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Contents

Use of term and related forms of music

Artists and music

Radio stations playing easy listening music

External links

Use of term and related forms of music

The easy listening radio format has been generally but not completely superseded by the "Lite AC" form of Adult contemporary music radio.^[1] Beautiful music is a subset of easy listening music, since, as a radio format, it had rigid standards for instrumentation (e.g., few or no saxophones) and restrictions on how many vocal pieces could be played in an hour. It is sometimes called ''Nostalgia'' music.
The term "easy listening" has sometimes been applied negatively in the years since it went out of fashion. It is similar to what is
called "lounge" or "lounge core", but lounge music is much more jazz-oriented and dependent on musical improvisation than easy listening. Easy listening music is usually orchestrated by an arranger rather than improvised by a small ensemble.
Since easy listening music as such is rather unknown to the younger generation, the term "easy listening" is often incorrectly applied to other genres such as soft rock, soft pop, smooth jazz, or new age music. Easy listening music is also, sometimes, known as "mood music" or "MOR", or more pejoratively as "Muzak" or "elevator music".

Artists and music

★ Easy listening orchestras and conductors

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★ Leroy Anderson

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★ Burt Bacharach

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★ Boston Pops

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★ Caravelli

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★ Frank Chacksfield

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★ Ray Conniff

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★ Syd Dale

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★ Lex de Azevedo

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★ Frank De Vol

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★ Johnny Douglas

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★ Percy Faith

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★ Robert Farnon

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★ Arthur Fiedler

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★ John Fox

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★ Jackie Gleason

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★ Arthur Greenslade

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★ Hollyridge Strings

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★ Nick Ingman

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★ Bert Kaempfert

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★ Andre Kostelanetz

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★ James Last

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★ Raymond Lefevre

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★ Enoch Light

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★ Geoff Love

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★ Living Strings

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★ Longines Symphonette

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★ Henry Mancini

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★ Mantovani

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★ Ray Martin

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★ Paul Mauriat

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★ George Melachrino

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★ The Mom and Dads

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★ 101 Strings

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★ Franck Pourcel

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★ Nelson Riddle

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★ David Rose

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★ Nestor Torres

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★ Pat Valentino

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★ Billy Vaughn

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★ Lawrence Welk

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★ Paul Weston

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★ Charles Williams

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★ Hugo Winterhalter

★ Easy listening pianists

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★ Ronnie Aldrich

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★ Floyd Cramer

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★ Richard Clayderman

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★ Carl Doy

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★ Ferrante & Teicher

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★ Earl Grant

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★ Joe Harnell

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★ Horst Jankowski

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★ Antonio Carlos Jobim

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★ Bradley Joseph

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★ Liberace

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★ Keith Martinson

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★ Peter Nero

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★ Emile Pandolfi

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★ Johnny Pearson

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★ Roger Williams

★ Guitarists with high deployment in easy listening

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★ Laurindo Almeida

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★ Chet Atkins

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★ Al Caiola

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★ Francis Goya

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★ Earl Klugh

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★ Tony Mottola

★ Other instrumentalists with high deployment in easy listening

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★ Herb Alpert

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★ James Galway

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★ Zamfir

★ Easy listening vocal groups

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★ The Lighthouse Family

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★ The Laurie Bower Singers

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★ The Ray Charles Singers

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★ The Ray Conniff Singers

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★ The Mike Curb Congregation

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★ The Doodletown Pipers

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★ The Anita Kerr Singers

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★ The Perry La Marca Singers

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★ The Lettermen

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★ The Living Voices

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★ The Geoff Love Singers

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★ The Norman Luboff Choir

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★ The Johnny Mann Singers

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★ Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66

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★ The Sandpipers

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★ The Singers Unlimited

★ Vocalists with high deployment in easy listening

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★ Ed Ames

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★ Perry Como (later material)

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★ Eydie Gorme

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★ Robert Goulet

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★ Engelbert Humperdinck

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★ Jack Jones

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★ Steve Lawrence

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★ Al Martino

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★ Johnny Mathis

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★ Matt Monro

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★ Anne Murray

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★ Kenny Rogers

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★ James Taylor

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★ Roger Whittaker

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★ Andy Williams

★ Vocalists with some deployment in easy listening

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★ Tony Bennett

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★ Glen Campbell

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★ The Carpenters

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★ Perry Como (earlier material)

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★ Nat King Cole

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★ Vic Damone

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★ Sammy Davis Jr.

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★ Doris Day

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★ John Denver

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★ Neil Diamond

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★ Don Ho

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★ Barry Manilow

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★ Dean Martin

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★ Nana Mouskouri

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★ Olivia Newton-John (earlier material)

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★ Daniel O'Donnell

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★ Frank Sinatra

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★ Barbra Streisand

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★ Jerry Vale

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★ Bobby Vinton

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★ Mel Gibson (The Singer) - The Album: "Weakness In A Man"

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★ Stephen Bishop

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★ Gordon Lightfoot

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★ Dan Fogelberg

Radio stations playing easy listening music

External links

★ Escape Radio Channel 78 by XM Satellite Radio Beautiful Instrumentals and classic vocals. XM Satellite Radio Channel 78 via subscription across America and Canada.

★ Easy Listening Stereo Light,easy,beautiful,vocal & instrumentals from yesterday and today. Easy listening internet radio.

★ Beautiful Music Radio Beautiful insturmentals and classic vocals. Beautiful music internet radio.

★ Easy Living Radio The original light,easy,beautiful music internet radio station on Live365.com.

★ Humboldt 101 Easy listening vocal and instrumentals on the internet from the Northern California.

★ FAIR Radio Easy listening from FAIR Radio, internet radio station on Live365.com.

★ Ace Holiday Artist that re-creates 1960's easy listening genre with newly composed songs. Uses vacuum tubes and multi-track tape for authenticity of sound.
★ Listen Here MP3 (free to public).

★ Solace.fm Solace.fm Internet Radio station network from Montreal, Canada offering Easy Listening Music.

★ Online Easy Music Listening