The Ink Spots were an American vocal group popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Their music led to the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The group was widely accepted in both the white and black communities, largely due to the ballad style introduced to the group by lead singer Bill Kenny. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Since the Ink Spots disbanded in 1954, there have been ... See more [+] well over 100 vocal groups calling themselves "the Ink Spots" without any right to the name, and without any original members of the group. These groups often have claimed to be "2nd generation" or "3rd generation" Ink Spots. Many such groups are still touring today. The Ink Spots songs often began with a four bar guitar riff, using the chords I - #idim - ii7 - V7, followed by the tenor Bill Kenny, who sang the whole song through. After Kenny finished singing, the bass would either recite the first half, or the bridge of the song, or would speak the words, almost in a free form, that were not part of the song, commonly using the words "Honey Child", or "Honey Babe", expressing his love for his darling in the song. This was followed by Kenny, who finished up singing the last refrain or the last half of the song. On some songs Deek Watson would sing the lead rather than Bill Kenny. This was mostly on the uptempo "Jive" songs. The Ink Spots formed in the early 1930s in Indianapolis. The founding members were :- Orville "Hoppy" Jones (born 17 February 1902, Chicago, Illinois – d. 18 October 1944, New York City) (bass) (Played cello in the manner of a stand up bass) Ivory "Deek" Watson (born 18 July 1909, Mounds, Illinois – d. 4 November 1969, Washington, D.C.) (tenor) (Played Tenor Guitar) Jerry Daniels (b. 14 December 1915 – d. 7 November 1995, Indianapolis, Indiana) (tenor) (Played guitar and ukulele) Charlie Fuqua (b. 20 October 1910 – d. 21 December 1971, New Haven, Connecticut) (baritone) (Played guitar) As "Kyle and Charlie", Daniels and Fuqua had formed a vocal duo performing in the Indianapolis area around 1931. About the same time, Jones and Watson were part of a quartet, "The Four Riff Brothers", who appeared regularly on radio station WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1933, that group disbanded, and Watson, Daniels and Fuqua got together to form a new vocal, instrumental and comedy group, which was initially called "King, Jack, and Jester". They continued to appear regularly on radio in Ohio, and became a foursome when Jones was added to the group the following year.
