Victoria Hart

One of the odder musical sub-trends in rock history is how seemingly once a decade or so, there's a burst of artists directly inspired by the music of the 1930s and '40s, like Harpers Bizarre or Spanky & Our Gang in the '60s, Bette Midler and Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band in the '70s, U.K. sensation Mari Wilson in the '80s, and the Squirrel Nut Zippers in the '90s. In the early 2000s, there's already the Puppini Sisters' Andrews Sisters fixation and Michael Bublé's blatant appropriation of the young Frank Sinatra's mannerisms. Add to this Victoria Hart, a young jazz-pop singer who considers Ella Fitzgerald her musical hero. Born in California in 1988 but raised in England and France, Hart began singing jazz and pop covers semi-professionally while still in her mid-teens. At one casual gig at an outdoor jazz concert near Cannes, Hart was discovered by British R&B producer Geoff Gurd, who signed the youngster to a long-term development deal and began writing and producing her debut album. After Hart was signed to Universal Music Group's revived Decca imprint in the United Kingdom, her new label came up with a suitably old-fashioned A Star Is Born discovery myth, claiming that the teenager was plucked from obscurity while waitressing at a London restaurant called "The Naked Turtle" to perform at a special gala during the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Though Hart was indeed working part-time at that restaurant and did perform that showcase gig, her Decca debut was already being recorded at the time. That debut album, Whatever Happened to Romance?, was released in the summer of 2007.