“墨迹斑斑”乐团。乐团始创于1932年，在印第安纳州首府Indianapolis四个年轻人：Deek Watson，Charles Fuqua，Orville Hoppy Jones 和 Jerry Daniels。乐团成立后，成员曾数度更迭，但乐团仍然“墨迹斑斑”，历久弥新，活力惊人，在2004年还在全美巡演歌唱，前后长达70余年的乐团经营，在Jazz乐坛也可谓绝无仅有！乐团拿到最初的合同是在纽约。1936年Bill Kenny替换了Daniels成为主唱。三年后，乐团迎来了他们的第一张百万销量金唱片If I Didnt Care（若是我不在意）。此曲大获成功，成为乐团最有名的金曲，最终销量更是高达1900万张。1945年Bill Kenny单飞后，新主唱Jim Nabbie继任，开始了新的十年。此间，首首金曲绵绵不绝：I Dont Want To Set The World On Fire，To Each His Own，My Prayer，Ill Never Smile Again，A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening，Java Jive不胜枚举。此后，除Nabbie之外的乐团元老们相继离开了乐团。但Nabbie决意继续书写乐团的Jazz神话。他注册申请了The Ink Spots的名称所有权和商标。在50年代中期，虽然金曲产量有所放慢，但乐团影响了一大批当时正在形成的doowop组合，如后来青出于蓝的Temptations。1987年，乐团的辉煌成就终获官方肯定，入选Grammy Hall of Fame（格莱美名人堂）；1989年，又乘胜进入Rock and Roll Hall of Fame（摇滚名人堂）。乐团还进入了Apollo Hall of Fame（阿波罗名人堂）。1997年，进入Vocal Group Hall of Fame（演唱组名人堂）。Nabbie和团员们没有停息，每年都要举行约200场演出。特别是其中的10到20场高校巡演，要知道这些年轻人的父母们在The Ink Spots推出第一张专辑的时候都还没有出生呢。1992年9月，Mr Ink Spots for 47 years的Nabbie在欧洲巡演开始之前不幸故去。乐团甚至来不及给他们的老朋友、老同事送行，就不得不匆匆上路。但乐团没有止步不前。The Ink Spots依然活跃在全美的Jazz舞台上，正像过去的70多年来一样，继续用“墨”香书写着美国爵士乐的传奇。
 
by Bill Dahl
 
The Ink Spots played a large role in pioneering the black vocal group-harmony genre, helping to pave the way for the doo wop explosion of the '50s. The quavering high tenor of Bill Kenny presaged hundreds of street-corner leads to come, and the sweet harmonies of Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, and bass Hoppy Jones (who died in 1944) backed him flawlessly.
 
Kenny's impeccable diction and Jones's deep drawl were both prominent on the Ink Spots' first smash on Decca in 1939, the sentimental &If I Didn't Care.& From then through 1951, the group was seldom absent from the pop charts, topping the lists with &We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)& (1940), &I'm Making Believe& and &Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall& (both in 1944), and &The Gypsy& and &To Each His Own& (both in 1946).
 
Watson eventually split to form his own group, the Brown Dots, and appeared in numerous low-budget film musicals, while Kenny attempted a solo career, notching a solo hit in 1951 with the uplifting &It Is No Secret.& Countless groups masquerading as the Ink Spots have thrived across the nation since the '50s.