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Dismuke's Hit Of The Week
Previous Selections
September 2008




September 18
 
 

This week's Hit of the Week is brought to you by
Swan Pen - Great Britain ad 1936
Swan Pen
Made entirely in Great Britain
(from 1930s British ad)
image courtesy Ted Hayward



 
 

 
Love Is The Sweetest ThingClick on song title to stream or right click on folder to download
Jack Payne And His Band                    1932
(Imperial 2774 mx 6200)

Back Again Click on song title to stream or right click on folder to download
Jack Payne And His Band                    1932
(Imperial 2677 mx 6046)

I Never Had A ChanceClick on song title to stream or right click on folder to download
Jack Payne And His Band                     1934
(Rex 8240 B mx F887)

Let's Fall In LoveClick on song title to stream or right click on folder to download
Jack Payne And His Band                     1934
(Rex 8147 mx F723)

Lulu's Back In Town Click on song title to stream or right click on folder to download
Jack Payne And His Band                     1935
(Rex 8622 B)
 
 

Here are some recordings by British dance band leader Jack Payne courtesy of guest contributor Matt From College Station.    Payne's was among the more popular British dance bands of the 1920s and 1930s.  From 1928 through 1932 he served as the Director of Dance Music for the BBC.

All of these recordings were issued on either the Imperial or Rex labels.  Both labels were pressed by the Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company which primarily issued private label and dime store records.  The Imperial label was discontinued in 1934.   The first records on the Rex label were issued in 1933.  Rex records were sold through the Marks & Spencer retail chain.
 
 

 - Dismuke
 
 

If you have questions or comments about the music or would simply enjoy interacting with friendly people who share your interest in it, join in the conversation on Dismuke's Message Board.
 
 
 
 

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.
 
 
 

HiawathaClick on song title to stream or right click on folder to download
Columbia Orchestra             1903 
(Columbia 1156)

Pray For The Lights To Go OutClick on song title to stream or right click on folder to download
Gene Rogers                        1916
(Emerson 787 mx 2228)

Here are a couple of ragtime era 7 inch records that Matt From College Station brought over a few months ago for me to record.   Seven inches was the standard size for very early disc records.  The longer playing ten inch record, however, was more popular with record buyers and soon became the standard size for popular recordings. 

From 1900 through 1919 Victor and Columbia controlled the American patents for the lateral "zig zag" grooves that remained in use though the end of 78 rpm era.  Other companies wishing to issue records in the United States had to so so without violating the Victor and Columbia patents.  For some companies such as Edison and Pathe, this meant using the vertical "hill and dale" used during the era of cylinder records.  Emerson Records got around the patents by using a sort of hybrid groove that the company claimed would play on both vertical and lateral record players.   Emerson records revived the seven inch size and sold the records for the bargain price of 25 cents.  Emerson also issued five inch records which sold for 10 cents.

The song "Hiawatha" was a huge hit during the early 1900s.  It was composed in 1901 by Charles N. Daniels who wrote it under the pseudonym of Neil Moret.   Daniel's managed to convince a reluctant John Phillip Sousa to play the song at one of his concerts and it became an immediate hit.   In 1903 the song enjoyed further success after it was give Indian-themed lyrics by James O'Dea.  The song sparked a fad for "Indian intermezzo" songs that lasted for a number of years afterward.  Interestingly enough, however, it was not Indians that inspired Daniels to give the song its name but rather the rhythm of of the wheels on a train trip through Hiawatha, Kansas.   When this recording of "Hiawatha" was made it was still standard practice for song and artist credits to be announced at the beginning of records.   I wonder if the artists who recorded it ever thought that people would still be enjoying their efforts 108 years later.

"Pray For The Lights To Go Out" was composed in 1916 by Will E. Skidmore and originally carried the subtitle "A Negro Shouting Song."    The song is occasionally performed even today by country and western bands.    Gene Rogers was an Emerson Records pseudonym for vaudeville performer Morton Harvey.  Harvey is best remembered for the fact that he was the first artist to record a blues song, "Memphis Blues" in 1914.   You can read more about Morton Harvey here
 
 

 - Dismuke
 

If you have questions or comments about the music or would simply enjoy interacting with friendly people who share your interest in it, join in the conversation on Dismuke's Message Board

 
 
 

 

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