Sophie Tucker

If you want to recreate the atmosphere of the gilded Jazz Age (that's the 1920s for all the kids out there), you could do worse than to listen to the Vaudeville songs of Sophie Tucker. She dazzled the English-speaking world and worked plenty of steam under those starched collars with more salty tunes than a sailor. A child of Jewish immigrants, Tucker also painted humorous portraits of life in the big city. She was a sensation on the stage, but her vibrant singing style went the way of Rudy Vallee, and since her star didn't light up the silver screen, she eased into kooky Grande Dame status.