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Dismuke's Hit Of The Week
Previous Selections
January 2003





January 30, 2003
 
 


This week's Hit of the Week is brought to you by

Hotel McAlpin, New York
Largest hotel throughout the world.
25 stories, 1620 rooms.
Cost $13,500,000
(from 1914 postcard)



 
 
 

My Little Nest (Of Heavenly Blue)Click on song title to stream or right clock on folder to download
Ernie Golden 
and His Hotel McAlpin Orchestra              1926
(Brunswick 3220-A)

This pretty tune comes from the 1922 Franz  Lehár operetta Frasquita.  Lehár was the undisputed king of the so-called "Silver Age" of Vieneese Operetta which lasted from around 1905 through the 1930s.  The song is more commonly known by the name "Frasquita Serenade" and a number of jazz and swing renditions have been recorded over the years.  An mp3 file of a recent but enjoyable example can be found here.

I have not been able to locate much in the way of biographical information on Ernie Golden - but he and his Hotel McAlpin Orchestra made a number of records for Brunswick during the 1920s.  New York's Hotel McAplin was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in 1912.  The building, now known as the Harald Towers, still stands with its original exterior intact.  Its interior, however, has been converted into apartments.



January 23, 2003
 
 

This week's Hit of the Week is brought to you by
Baltimore Mail Line
Baltimore Mail Line
Weekly Sailings To And From Europe
(from 1938 ad)



 
 
 

Forget If You CanClick on song title to stream or right clock on folder to download
Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard, vocal        1938
(Bluebird B-7825-B)

Most people today associate Ozzie Nelson and his wife Harriet Hilliard with their popular 1950s sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie And Harriet.  During the 1930s, however,  Ozzie fronted a popular dance band with Harriet serving as the band's vocalist.  Both can be heard on this week's selection.   More information about the life and career of Ozzie Nelson can be found here.



January 16, 2003
 

 

This week's Hit of the Week is brought to you by
Kellogg's PEP Bran Flakes
Kellogg's PEP Bran Flakes
(from 1930 ad)







My Future Just PassedClick on song title to stream or right clock on folder to download
The High Hatters 
Frank Luther, vocal                                 1930
(Victor 22444-B)

I featured a recording of this song by Annette Hanshaw two weeks ago - but I thought it would be interesting to present a somewhat different version.  The song was performed by Buddy Rogers and Kathryn Crawford in the 1930 Paramount musical picture Safety In Numbers.  The High Hatters were a Victor records in house studio band conducted by Leonard Joy.
 
 



 
January 9, 2003

This week's Hit of the Week is brought to you by

The Westbrook Hotel
Fort Worth, Texas
(from circa 1910s post card)



 
 
 
 
 

Click here to read about how Fort Worth's Westbrook Hotel was sadly the last home of  Irene and Vernon Castle, the world famous dancing team who invented the Fox Trot and started the popular dance craze of the 1910s and 1920s.

 
 
MaoriClick on song title to stream or right clock on folder to download
Victor Military Band                                  1913
(Victor 35304-B)

This pretty ragtime tune was composed in 1908 by William H. Tyers.  The song experienced a brief revival in 1930 when Duke Ellington recorded a jazzed up version on Brunswick.    I don't think the Victor Military Band version does the song much justice - but it is the only early recording of the song that I have so far been able to locate.  My favorite version of "Maori" was recorded by the Green Brothers' Marimba Orchestra a few months after  Ellington's.
 
 



January 2, 2003
 
 

This week's Hit of the Week is brought to you by

(from 1930 ad)



 
 
 
 
 
 

My Future Just PassedClick on song title to stream or right clock on folder to download
Annette Hanshaw                                  1930
(Velvet Tone 2178-V mx 150588)

Annette Hanshaw is one of my favorite vocalists and is the artist that I get the most comments about in email from site visitors.  While she has been all but forgotten by the general public,  thanks to several CD reissues in recent years, her work is gaining a new and enthusiastic audience. 

Despite the fact that Hanshaw's records sold well,  Columbia Records relegated her efforts to its subsidiary bargain labels so as not to anger the notorious gangster "Moe the Gimp" Snyder  who was married to and managed the career of rival vocalist Ruth Etting.   Etting was billed as "The Sweetheart of Columbia Records" and Snyder apparently felt that there was only room for one "sweetheart" at Columbia.  Many of Hanshaw's recordings during her years at the Columbia subsidiary labels were issued under the pseudonyms of "Gay Ellis" "Dot Dare" and "Patsy Young."

During the early 1930s,  Hanshaw was prominently featured on several network radio programs and received offers to go to Hollywood.  Despite her fame and popularity,  Hanshaw did not enjoy the pressures of show business and permanently retired in the mid - 1930s to become a housewife.

Happily, a Canadian CD label, Sensation Records, is currently in the process of reissuing all of Hanshaw's known recordings.  To date, three CDs in the series have been issued and  they can be purchased through the World's Records website - simply enter "Annette Hanshaw" in the search box.   My recommendation is to start with Volume Six which I think contains some of her best recordings.

For more information about Annette Hanshaw and to view a number of interesting photographs of her, visit AnnetteHanshaw.com   You can also view a video clip of Hanshaw's only known film appearance by visiting this website.
 


 
 

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