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The husky smoothness of London's recordings was achieved by arranging the songs at the very bottom of her register, which meant that the lower notes often came out as nothing more than purrs and growls (in reality she sounds less feral than I make her out to be here, though...). This is not enough however to explain away the full impact of sheer animal magnetism that she can imbue even the most innocent of songs with.
Having appeared in some 13 films before her recording career took off, London was amply qualified to comopensate for what she lacked in vocal equipment with the projection of her personality onto her songs. She not so much interpreted as appropriated them, and her covers for popular standards of the time cannot be successfully compared to those of any of her contemporaries - from Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn. She just had an extra something all her own, and if you ask me, it should have been illegal.
Check out her renditions of Why Don't You Do Right (immortalized by the inimitable Jessica Rabbit) and My heart Belongs to Daddy for great examples of how she can bring her own personal brand of raw sexuality to familiar songs preformed by other sex symbols.
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