Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best selling 'cheap' labels of the 1930s and early 1940s. (RCA pressed the "two hits for two bits" cheap Crown label, independently owned in New York City, from 1930–1933, and Crown's sales probably also influenced RCA to get in on the cheaper priced market.)

RCA's first foray into the budget market was the 35c Timely Tunes. Sold through Montgomery Ward stores, 40 issues appeared from April to July, 1931.

In July, 1932, appeared the first, short-lived Bluebird record, along with an identically numbered Electradisk record sold at Woolworth's. These 8" discs, probably an early form of test marketing, may have sold for as little as 10c. Bluebirds bore a black-on-medium blue label; Electradisks a blue-on-orange label.

Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE (23 March 1921 – 4 January 1967) was a British speed record breaker who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year (1964).

Donald Campbell was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, the son of Malcolm, later Sir Malcolm Campbell, holder of 13 world speed records in the 1920s and 30s in the famous Bluebird cars and boats, and his second wife, Dorothy Evelyn née Whittall.

Campbell attended St Peter's School, Seaford and Uppingham School. At the outbreak of World War II he volunteered for the Royal Air Force, but was unable to serve because of a childhood illness. He joined Briggs Motor Bodies Ltd in West Thurrock, where he became a maintenance engineer. Following his father's death in 1948 and aided by Malcolm's chief engineer, Leo Villa, the younger Campbell strove to set speed records on land and water.

He married three times: to Daphne Harvey in 1945, producing daughter Georgina (Gina) Campbell in 1946; to Dorothy McKegg in 1952; and to Tonia Bern in 1958, which lasted until his death in 1967. He apparently also had some interest in the paranormal, which he nurtured as a member of the Ghost Club.

Arthur Jacob Arshawsky (May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004), better known as Artie Shaw, was an American clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings.

Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led one of America's most popular big bands of the late 1930s and early '40s. Their signature song, a 1938 version of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine", was a wildly successful single and one of the era's defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also an early proponent of Third Stream, which blended classical and jazz, and recorded some small-group sessions that flirted with be-bop before retiring from music in 1954.

Born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky in New York City, Shaw grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, where, according to his autobiography his natural introversion was deepened by local antisemitism. Shaw began learning the saxophone when he was 13 years old, and by the age of 16, he switched to the clarinet and left home to tour with a band. Returning to New York, he became a session musician through the early 1930s. From 1925 until 1936, Shaw performed with many bands and orchestras, including those of Johnny Caverello and Austin Wylie. In 1929 and 1930 he played with Irving Aaronson's Commanders, where he was exposed to symphonic music, which he would later incorporate in his arrangements.

Helen Forrest (April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was one of the most popular female vocalists during America's big band Swing Era. She was born Helen Fogel to a Jewish family in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917.

After singing for WNEW and WCBS in New York, Helen began singing at the Washington Madrillon Club, in Washington, D.C.

After seeing Forrest in Washington, D.C., bandleader Artie Shaw asked Helen to go on tour with him. Shaw was looking for new talent when vocalist Billie Holiday had to leave the band after singing with the group for a short period of time. Helen was hired in 1938. She recorded 38 singles with Shaw's band. Two of her biggest hits with Shaw were the songs "They Say" and "All the Things You Are".

In late 1939, Forrest left Shaw and joined Benny Goodman, with whom she recorded a number of celebrated songs, including the hit song "The Man I Love". She told the Pop Chronicles radio series: "Benny would look right above your eyebrows, in the middle, right on top of the brow. He was a very strange man."

Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.

His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle".

Charlie Barnet was born in New York City. His parents divorced when he was two, and he was raised by his mother and her grandparents. His grandfather was Charles Frederick Daly, a vice-president for the New York Central Railroad, banker, and businessman.

Barnet attended various boarding schools, both in the New York and Chicago areas. He learned to play piano and saxophone as a child. He often left school to listen to music and to try to gain work as a musician.

Although he began his recording career in October 1933, Charlie Barnet was at the height of his popularity between 1939 and 1941, a period that began with his hit version of "Cherokee", written by Ray Noble and arranged by Billy May. In 1944, Barnet had another big hit with "Skyliner". In 1947, he started to switch from swing music to bebop. During his swing period his band included Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Neal Hefti, Lena Horne, Barney Kessel, Dodo Marmorosa, Oscar Pettiford, and Art House, while later versions of the band included Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinsen, and Clark Terry. Trumpeter Billy May was an arranger in the Charlie Barnet Orchestra before joining Glenn Miller in 1940.