The Ink Spots were widely accepted in both the white and black communities, largely due to the ballad style introduced to the group by lead singer Bill Kenny.

About the same time, Jones and Watson were part of a quartet, "The Four Riff Brothers", who appeared regularly on radio station WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio.

They sing in a style something between the Mills Brothers and the Three Keys, and accompany themselves on three tenor guitars and a cello — which is not bowed, but picked and slapped like a double bass.

Their natural instinct for hot rhythm is exemplified in their terrific single-string solo work and their beautifully balanced and exquisitely phrased vocalisms.

They even throw in a bit of dancing to conclude their act, and the leading guitarist simultaneously plays and juggles with his instrument.

In 1936, Daniels was replaced by a 21-year-old singer from Baltimore, Bill Kenny, who signed on with the Ink Spots after winning first place in an amateur contest at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom.

Three years later, Kenny was credited for bringing the group to global success with his unusual high tenor ballad singing.

The song, titled "Tune In on My Heart", features Kenny taking the lead and Jones performing the talking bass.

[7] On January 12, 1939, the Ink Spots entered Decca studios to record a ballad written by a young songwriter named Jack Lawrence.

This is the first studio recorded example of the Ink Spots "Top & Bottom" format with Kenny singing lead and Jones performing the "talking bass".

This was the recording that brought the group to global fame and established the "Top & Bottom" format as the Ink Spots "trademark".

The year 1939 also saw the Ink Spots enjoy commercial success with five other recordings that featured Kenny in the "Top & Bottom" format.

Jones died in October 1944, after collapsing on stage at the Cafe Zanzibar in New York City, near the height of the Ink Spots' popularity.

McDonald was previously the Ink Spots' personal valet, a job given to him by Herb Kenny, with whom he had sung in a group called "The Cabineers" in the early 1940s.

Barksdale stayed with the group for about a year before being replaced by baritone vocalist and guitar player named Jimmy Cannady.

[2] inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Disputes over the rights to use the Ink Spots name began in the late 1940s, resulting in many court cases.

[17] In 1967 US federal judge Emmet C. Choate ruled that since so many groups had been using the name "Ink Spots" it had become "public domain" and was free for anyone to use.

Legitimate members of the Ink Spots included Bill Kenny, Jerry Daniels, Deek Watson, Charlie Fuqua, Hoppy Jones, Bernie Mackey, Huey Long, Cliff Givens, Billy Bowen, Herb Kenny, Adriel McDonald, Jimmy Cannady, Ernie Brown, Henry Braswell, Teddy Williams and Everett Barksdale.

Some singers have tenuous ties to Deek Watson's or Charlie Fuqua's offshoot groups; many, with no credentials whatsoever, claim to be original members.

[21] In 1947, cameras captured segments of the Ink Spots in live performance at the Daily Express Film Ball in London England; this footage can be obtained by British Pathe.

These clips feature the group lip-syncing to the songs "If I Didn't Care", "You May Be the Sweetheart of Somebody Else", "The Gypsy", "I'm Heading Back to Paradise", and "It Is No Secret".

The Ink Spots' music has been used in the films Get Low, Radio Days, Raging Bull, Revolutionary Road, The Shawshank Redemption, The Aviator, Iris, Sphere, Tree's Lounge, Malcolm X, Maria's Lovers, How to Make an American Quilt, Men Don't Leave, Three D [de], Joe Versus the Volcano, Spontaneous Combustion, Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business, Australia, Mr. Nobody, Hyde Park on Hudson, The Rover, Twenty Bucks, Manchester by the Sea, Logorama, and Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives.

The Ink Spots' music has been used in such TV shows as The Walking Dead, The Simpsons, The Visitor, The Tourist, The Singing Detective, Sanford, The Blacklist, Defiance, Arrested Development, Better Call Saul, White Collar, Watchmen, Once Upon a Time, Fallout, and Heroes.