October 2006

October 26, 2006
 
 

 
Note - I am very please to welcome back guest contributor Matt From College Station  as he shares some more recordings from his excellent collection of 1920s and 1930s jazz and dance band 78 rpm records. 

All recordings and commentary in this update, both the regular and the "Extra" sections, are from Matt.  My only contribution was to transfer and digitalize the recordings. 

You can learn more about Matt and find his contact information by clicking here. 
 
 

On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Grace Hayes, vocal                                              1930
(Victor 22428-A)

Exactly Like You
Grace Hayes, vocal                                              1930
(Victor 22428-B)
 
 

This week we will hear two great tunes from 1930 that were written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields for Lew Leslie’s International Revue.

The tunes are sung excellently by torch singer / vaudevillian Grace Hayes. Although she made only three records, she left a lasting impression by her excellent recordings and film appearances. Perhaps her most famous film appearance is in the King Of Jazz, where she sings "I Like To Do Things For You" as the henpecking wife. She was supposed to perform the song "My Lover" in the film but that number was cut before release.  She made a few other films throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s as well.  In the 40’s she also opened nightclubs and became a successful Las Vegas businesswoman.  She died in 1989 at the ripe old age of 93.

I particularly like her rendition here of "On The Sunny Side Of The Street."  She provides great tone and emotion as she manipulates the lyrics. One can also appreciate her scat style vocal and jazzy moments near the end.

It is ironic that in the 1920’s and 1930’s our most talented singers were appreciated. Today they can barely turn a profit while screamers, shouters and fakers make millions! 

 - Matt From College Station
 

 

EXTRA

This section will  present 78 rpm recordings that do not fall within the range of the vintage pop and jazz  fare that I usually  present.  Here I will feature recordings from a wide variety of eras, musical genres and nationalities as well as occasional spoken word recordings.
 
 

Victor Artists' Party
Frank Crumit
Victor Arden and Phil Ohman
The Revelers
Nat Shilkret and The Victor Orchestra                    1931
(RCA-Victor Program Transcription D L 5 A)
 
 

Dismuke and I decided that this week we would not devote the "Extra" to 78 rpms. Although this may seem like a rash departure from the long running and classic content of this site, I assure you it is not. 

I would like to present, with much fanfare, the first 33 1/3 rpm record ever featured on this site.  It is a Victor Program Transcription disc that RCA-Victor released in late 1931 as a way of introducing the new format and boosting the sales of the records and the new machines required to play them.   Program Transcription records offered up to 20 minutes of playing time for 10 inch and 30 minutes of playing time for 12 inch size. Victor Program Transcriptions were an engineering marvel for the time because they featured a true microgroove. 

Victor’s new 1932 machines were elaborate, highly decorated affairs. They boasted automatic record changers, electric motor, both 33 and 78 rpm speeds, electric pickup, recording capabilities, radio and impressive stature. Special chromium needles were required for these players so that changing needles after each play would not be necessary.  These machines sold for $350.00 - quite a princely sum during the Depression. 

It is not hard to see why these machines, along with their counterpart records, were dismal failures. In order to play the record, one had to buy the expensive machines or risk ruining the record with the heavier pick up of older models. Furthermore, the long play records were usually recorded on one side only, not allowing the buyer a full 20 minutes of music. Only two of the Program Transcriptions in my collection are two sided. Moreover, on some program transcription issues, only a small amount of surface was actually cut. In some circumstances, a 12 inch record with potential recording time of 30 minutes was issued with only 10 minutes of music on it. To make matters worse, many symphonic works were simply dubbings from 12 inch 78’s.  The bottom line is that while RCA-Victor’s long play records were technologically ahead of their time they were introduced during a period when prospects for commercial success would have been very limited even if Victor had utilized them to their full potential. 

This particular selection is the first RCA-Victor program transcription issue, “The Victor Artists Party”. This neat record was given away with the new Radiola-Automatic Electrola,  RAE-59. It advertises the merits of the new program transcriptions with popular Victor artists of the day.  The artists are presented in this order: Frank Crumit, Victor Arden and Phil Ohman, The Revelers, and Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra.  The performance lasts for ten and a half minutes.  Note the beautiful Art Deco label specially designed for this record. 

Although production of Program Transcriptions ended in 1933, they remained in the Victor catalog until 1939. Listening to Frank Crumit's description of the new format's benefits, it is sad that Victor and the Depression era marketplace were not able realize these records to their full potential.  Commercially issued recordings would continue to be limited by the time restrictions of the 78 rpm format for another decade and a half until 1948 when Columbia came out with its commercially successful 33 1/3 rpm "LP" record. 

 - Matt From College Station

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October 19, 2006
 
 

Note - I am very please to welcome back guest contributor Matt From College Station  as he shares some more recordings from his excellent collection of 1920s and 1930s jazz and dance band 78 rpm records. 

All recordings and commentary in this update, both the regular and the "Extra" sections, are from Matt.  My only contribution was to transfer and digitalize the recordings. 

You can learn more about Matt and find his contact information by clicking here. 
 
 

I Get A Kick Out Of You
George Hall And His Hotel Taft Orchestra
Loretta Lee, vocal                                               1934
(Bluebird B 5765-B)

You're The Top
George Hall And His Hotel Taft Orchestra
Loretta Lee and Sonny Schuyler, vocal                 1934
(Bluebird B 5765-A)
 
 

George Hall's first recording was made in 1927 under the name of  George  Hall's Arcadians. Throughout the late 1920s he recorded with a host of affiliated labels such as Perfect, Cameo, Banner and Romeo. These labels combined further with other labels to form the American Record corporation  in 1930. ARC eventually swallowed up Brunswick and Columbia. During  this time, the Hall orchestra played at various hotel nightspots throughout New York City. 

In 1933, two great things happened to Hall:  he received a contract from Bluebird (a lower priced RCA subsidiary that featured lesser known artists) and secured a long term engagement at the Hotel Taft. Luckily for Hall the Hotel Taft engagements were broadcast nationally, so this boosted his record sales and popularity.   Hall also hired vocalist Loretta Lee in 1933. She has a pleasing, clear and sometimes jazzy vocal style on her recordings. Her jazzy style is evident on this Thursday's selection "I Get A Kick Out Of You". 

In 1935, despite her increasing popularity, Loretta Lee retired from the band business to get married. 

Both selections for this update are from the Cole Porter musical  Anything Goes. The show opened at the Alvin Theater, NYC in November 1934 and  became the fourth longest-running musical of the 1930s. Note the lyrics that mention cocaine. These were censored out of later versions of the song. 

I hope you enjoy these updates. Although I really like these songs, they  were included at Dismuke's strong urging.  Some of you may recall my playing them on the special "Texas Record Collectors Party" broadcast on Radio Dismuke this past summer.  Dismuke became aware of this recording of "I Get A Kick Out Of You" when  Rich Conaty  played it on The Big Broadcast radio program.   Dismuke thought it was the best version of the song he had ever heard.  When he learned that I had a copy in my collection, he insisted that I bring it with me for the broadcast and that we include it on a future Hit of the Week update. 

 - Matt From College Station
 

 

EXTRA

This section will  present 78 rpm recordings that do not fall within the range of the vintage pop and jazz  fare that I usually  present.  Here I will feature recordings from a wide variety of eras, musical genres and nationalities as well as occasional spoken word recordings.
 
 

Anything Goes Selections
Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra 
Ramona Davies and Bob Lawrence, 
Johnny Hauser, Peggy Healy, vocal                         1934
(Victor 36141-A)

Evergreen Medley
New Mayfair Orchestra                                           1934
(Victor 36141-B)
 

This week's extra comes in the "Selections From Shows" format. 

First, we hear excellent "Selections from Anything Goes" by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. Paul Whiteman, the top bandleader of the 1920s and a legend in his time, has been discussed at length on this site and others, so I will not mention additional details here. An excellent Paul Whiteman site  is maintained on redhotjazz.com. 

Anything Goes was a very successful Broadway musical that solidified the reputation of Cole Porter. On this selection we hear the title song as well as "I Get A Kick Out of You" "You're The Top", and "All Through The Night".  Vocalists include Ramona Davies and Bob Lawrence. 

Next, "Selections from Evergreen" entertain us. Evergreen (1934) was a very successful British film that featured music by Lorenz Hart and Richard  Rodgers and the beautiful actress Jessie Matthews. I highly recommend a  viewing if you can find it.  The songs you'll hear on this selection include "Dancing on the Ceiling," "Over My Shoulder," "Tinkle, Tinkle, Tinkle" and "When You've Got A Little Springtime In Your Heart". The label credits the "New Mayfair Orchestra", but I am not sure if it is the Ray Noble Orchestra which was associated with that famous London hotel. 

 - Matt From College Station

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October 12, 2006
 
 

 
Note - I am very please to welcome back guest contributor Matt From College Station  as he shares some more recordings from his excellent collection of 1920s and 1930s jazz and dance band 78 rpm records. 

All recordings and commentary in this update, both the regular and the "Extra" sections, are from Matt.  My only contribution was to transfer and digitalize the recordings. 

You can learn more about Matt and find his contact information by clicking here. 
 
 

Little Girl
Harry Roy and His RKOlians                       1931
(Broadcast 773-B)

You Can't Stop Me From Loving You
Harry Roy and His RKOlians                       1931
(Broadcast 773 A)

Guilty
Harry Roy and His RKOlians                       1931
(Broadcast 793-A)

Nobody's Sweetheart
Harry Roy and His RKOlians                       1931
(Broadcast 793 B)
 

This week, we will hear selections by the Harry Roy Orchestra. 

The Harry Roy band was very popular in Britain throughout the 1920s and 1930s.   In the early 1920s, they began playing at many popular London nightspots including the Alhambra, the London Coliseum, Rector's Club, Oddenino's, and the Cavour Restaurant. In the late 1920s the orchestra toured around the globe and even recorded in Germany in 1930. 

While the Roy orchestra enjoyed even more engagements at popular night clubs, his real break came when he made remote broadcasts for the BBC that were heard around the globe. This spurred an American interest in his recordings. By 1935, his British recordings were being issued in the USA by the fledgling American Decca record company. 

These selections were cut in 1931 when the Roy band was working at the RKO theatre. They are recorded on 8 inch Broadcast records, which played a bit longer than a similar 10 inch record. These records are interesting because they employed a novel microgroove system.

 - Matt From College Station
 

 

EXTRA

This section will  present 78 rpm recordings that do not fall within the range of the vintage pop and jazz  fare that I usually  present.  Here I will feature recordings from a wide variety of eras, musical genres and nationalities as well as occasional spoken word recordings.
 
 

Selections From High Jinks
Victor Salon Group                                    1930
(Victrola 9651-B album C-9-6)

Selections From You're In Love
Victor Salon Group                                    1930
(Victrola 9651 A album C 9 5)
 

For this extra I gladly present two excellent selections from great Rudolf Friml operettas. 

Friml (1879-1972) was born in Prague, but found his way to the USA in 1906. He composed many works, including 33 complete operettas. 

The first, "Selections from High Jinks" gives us music from that 1913 musical. Next we hear selections from a 1917 operetta You're In Love.   While both of these are done beautifully, I am especially partial to the tunes from You're In Love because of their peaceful, subtle and playful nature.

 - Matt From College Station