Crooning. A reprehensible form of singing that established itself in light entertainment music in about the 1930s. It recommended itself at first to would-be singers without voices who were unable to acquire an adequate technique and later to a large public because anything, however inartistic, is likely to become popular if only it is done often enough by a large enough number of people.

Article, Crooning, p. 121 - Everyman's Dictionary of Music (London: J. M Dent & Sons; 3rd ed. 1958)