The Styrous® Viewfinder: 78 RPM

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August 1, 2024

78 RPMs 13: Zhou Xuan ~ 訴我向你看 (Tell Me To Look At You)

Zhou Xuan ~ 訴我向你看 (Tell Me To Look At You)

Shellac, 10", 78 RPM

Side B

Zhou Xiaohong, a Chinese singer and film actress known professionally as Zhou Xuan, was born on the 1st of August in 1920. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's Seven Great Singing Stars. Nicknamed the "Golden Voice" (金嗓子; Jīn sǎng zi), she was the best known of the seven, and had a concurrent movie career until 1954. She recorded more than 200 songs and appeared in over 40 films in her career.

This recording is one of the wonderful Turkish Delights (link below) I found in the late fifties along with many other 78 RPM records and surprising discoveries.

I fell in love the "B" side of the record, 訴我向你看 (Tell Me To Look At You). On May 17, 1986, I used the song for the "beach" segment of the Fog City Fantasy fashion show I produced for the Chinatown Resources Development Center benefit at the The Gift Center in San Francisco. The song made the set work beautifully!

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - 兩條路上 (Two roads), lyrics by 李雋青 (Li Junqing)

Side 2:

B - 訴我向你看 (Tell Me To Look At You), lyrics by 嚴寬 (Yan Kuan), music by 莊宏 (Zhuang Hong)

Notes:

Sung in Mandarin

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Side A): B 1072
Matrix / Runout (Side B): B 1062

周璇* – 兩條路上 / 訴我向你看
Label:    百代唱片 – 35678
Format:    Shellac, 10", 78 RPM
Country: China
Released: 1946
Genre: Jazz, Pop
Style: Shidaiqu, Vocal

Viewfinder links:

Turkish Delights

Zhou Xuan

Net links:

YouTube links:

兩條路上 (Two Roads)

訴我向你看 (Tell Me To Look At You)

Fog City Fantasy

Styrous® ~ Thursday, August 1, 2024

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February 29, 2024

78 RPMs 11: Dinah Shore ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Dinah Shore ~ Sleepy Lagoon

78 RPM record, side 2

Today is the birthday of "Leap Year Baby" Dinah Shore born in 1916. She was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940's who rose to stardom as a recording artist during the Big Band era.

I love this song, it's one of my favorites; I remember my mom and dad slow dancing to the tune in our living room. It's actually the "B" side of the record. There are other versions I like better but this is the one from my childhood.

The song was recorded by. David Rose, Fred Waring, Glenn Miller and The Platters did an excellent cover of it in the mid-fifties.

It was written by British composer Eric Coates in 1930 with the title, By the Sleepy Lagoon. In 1940 American songwriter Jack Lawrence added lyrics with the approval of Coates; the resulting song, Sleepy Lagoon, became a popular-music standard of the 1940s.

Dinah Shore ~ Sleepy Lagoon

78 RPM record, side 2

Desert Island Discs

Sleepy Lagoon is used as the theme song for the Desert Island Discs radio program broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.

Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the show, is asked to choose eight audio recordings (usually, but not always, music), a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island, as they discuss their life and the reasons for their choices. It was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley. Since 2018 the programme has been presented by Lauren Laverne. More than 3,000 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest.

When Desert Island Discs marked its 75th year in 2017, The Guardian called the show a radio classic. In February 2019, a panel of broadcasting industry experts named it the greatest radio program of all time. I find it interesting to hear what musics famous people like and was the inspiration for my "Desert Island" series (link below).

Sleepy Lagoon murder

Sleepy Lagoon was a reservoir beside the Los Angeles River that was frequented by Mexican-Americans. Its name came from the popular song Sleepy Lagoon. The "Sleepy Lagoon murder" was the name that Los Angeles newspapers used to describe the death of José Gallardo Díaz, who was discovered dying near the reservoir with two stab wounds in Commerce, California, United States, on the morning of August 2, 1942. The cause of Díaz's death remains disputed to this day. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) arrested several Mexican-American youths for the murder.

Sleepy Lagoon murder Defendants - 1942

photo: Los Angeles Daily News

Beginning in the early 1930s and exacerbated by the Great Depression, approximately one million Mexican immigrants and native-born Americans of Mexican descent were forced to leave the United States for Mexico during the Mexican Repatriation as part of a policy by the administration of Herbert Hoover who had scapegoated Mexicans for the Great Depression and instituted stricter immigration policies with the stated intent of freeing up jobs for a narrow demographic of Americans.

The first side of the record has Three Little Sisters; a bouncy forties dance song that is not particularly interesting but fun.

Dinah Shore ~ Three Little Sisters

78 RPM record, side 1

Tracklist:

Side 1:

Three Little Sisters, written by Irving Taylor, Vic Mizzy

Side 2:

Sleepy Lagoon, written by Eric Coates, Jack Lawrence

Companies:

Record Company – RCA Manufacturing Co., Inc.

Credits:

Notes:

For best results use
RCA Victor Needles

With Orchestra

A: Featured in the Universal film "Private Buckaroo"

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Label side A): 27875-A
    Matrix / Runout (Label side B): 27875-B
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side A, stamped): 1 27875A A2 1 I
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side B, stamped): 1 27875B 1B 3 1 1

Dinah Shore – Three Little Sisters / Sleepy Lagoon
Label:    Victor – 27875
Format:    Shellac, 10", 78 RPM
Country: US
Released: May 1, 1942
Genre:    Pop, Classical, Stage & Screen
Style:    Vocal

Viewfinder links:

desert island' vinyl LP list

Jimmy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey

Harry James

Glenn Miller

The Platters

David Rose

Dinah Shore

Fred Waring

Net links:

Desert Island Discs

YouTube links:

Tommy Dorsey ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Harry James ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Glenn Miller ~ Sleepy Lagoon

The Platters ~ Sleepy Lagoon

Dinah Shore ~

Sleepy Lagoon

Three Little Sisters

Styrous® ~ Thursday, February 29, 2024

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September 27, 2023

78 RPMs 10: Artie Shaw ~ Nightmare

Artie Shaw ~ Nightmare

78 RPM, side 1 label

photo by Styrous®

On September 27, 1938, Artie Shaw recorded Nightmare, a song totally unlike anything he'd ever recorded before. It is a slow, sinister sounding jazz piece that evokes stealth, spies, criminals and other assorted miscreants.

In 1953, Shaw and other prominent figures in the music industry were targeted, including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Lena Horne and Pete Seeger, all of whom were named publicly as suspected Communist sympathizers, in the infamous publication Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio. Some of them were already being denied employment because of their political beliefs, history, or association with suspected subversives. Red Channels effectively placed the rest on a blacklist.

Indeed, it was a nightmare!!!!!

Martin Scorsese used Nightmare in his 2004 film, The Aviator which stared Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner.

The video for Nightmare (link below) has a stripper performing a very slow and very sensual fan dance that is PERFECT for the languid tempo of the tune as Shaw oozes and slinks along with his clarinet.

Michelle L'amour - 2007

Miss Exotic World Pageant
photo by Michael Albov

Non-Stop Flight

The "B" side of the record is a typical Shaw jazz tune; Non-Stop Flight is a bouncy, happy tune that makes you want to get up and jitterbug your ass off. Shaw wails away nicely with his clarinet and the backup band,

Artie Shaw ~ Non-Stop Flight

78 RPM, side 2 label

photo by Styrous®

My copy of the record is a repressing on the Bluebird label. Both Nightmare and Non-Stop Flight songs were written by Artie Shaw.

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Nightmare

Side 2:

B - Non-Stop Flight

Credits:

Record Company – Radio Corporation Of America
Written By Artie Shaw

Notes:

Different label from Artie Shaw And His Orchestra - Nightmare / Non-Stop Flight - missing patent information.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Side A): B7875A T J5
Matrix / Runout (Side B): B-7875B |) 3 c

Artie Shaw And His Orchestra – Nightmare / Non-Stop Flight
Label:    Bluebird (3) – B-7875
Format:    Shellac, 10", 78 RPM, Repress
Country: US
Released:
Genre: Jazz
Style: Big Band

Viewfinder links:

Kate Beckinsale

Leonard Bernstein

Cate Blanchett

Aaron Copland

Leonardo DiCaprio

Ava Gardner

Katharine Hepburn

Lena Horne

Howard Hughes

Jazz

Michelle L'amour

Martin Scorsese

Pete Seeger

Artie Shaw

Net links:

DAHR ~ Nightmare personel & info

Jazz Standards ~ Artie Shaw

National Endowment for the Arts ~ Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw

YouTube links:

Nightmare

Non-Stop Flight

"In the world we live in, compulsive perfectionists finish last"

~ Artie Shaw

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, September 27, 2023

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July 10, 2022

"His Master’s Voice", Nipper & Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari ~ Jewels of the Madonna

Vessella's Italian Band

78 RPM label, side B

photo by Styrous®

On July 10, 1900, "His Master’s Voice", was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. The logo of the Victor Recording Company, and later, RCA Victor, shows Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone machine.

RCA Victor ad

Viewfinder links:

RCA Victor & Nipper

Oreste Vessella

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

Net links:

YouTube links:

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari - Intermezzo [from Jewels of The Madonna]

Styrous® ~ Sunday, July 10, 2022

~
Music Notes

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November 29, 2021

78 RPMs 10: Vessella's Italian Band & Gaetano Donizetti ~ Lucia Sextette

Gaetano Donizetti ~ Lucia Sextette - 1914

Shellac 12" 78 RPM

Vessella's Italian Band

Today is the birthday of Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti who was born on November 29, 1797. He wrote 70 operas and, with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century and an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi.

In 1912, Ferdinand Himmelreich recorded a solo piano arrangement of the Sextette (Chi mi frena in tal momento) from Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti for RCA Victor Records which is now housed in the Library of Congress (link below).

Ferdinand Himmelreich

date & photographer unknown

In 1914 Vessella's Italian Band with 41 musicians, recorded an instrumental version for brass orchestra of the Lucia Sextette also for RCA Victor Records (link below).

Oreste Vessella's Italian Band
Steel Pier, Atlantic City

date & photographer unknown

Gaetano Donizetti ~ Lucia Sextette - 1914

Shellac 12" 78 RPM

Vessella's Italian Band

Gaetano Donizetti ~ Lucia Sextette - 1914

Shellac 12" 78 RPM

Vessella's Italian Band

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Lucia Sextette, composed by Donizetti*

Side 2:

B - Jewel Of The Madonna - Intermezzo (Intro. To Act 3), written by Wolf-Ferrari*

Companies, etc:

Record Company – Victor Talking Machine Co.

Notes:

$1.25 in U.S.A.
Concert Band

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A, Stamped): O 35356A
Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B, Stamped): E 35356B 3

Vessella's Italian Band – Lucia Sextette / Jewel Of The Madonna
Label: Victor – 35356
Format: Shellac, 12", 78 RPM
Country: US
Released: Mar 1914
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Operetta

Viewfinder links:

Vincenzo Bellini

Gaetano Donizetti

Gioachino Rossini

Giuseppe Verdi

Oreste Vessella

Net links:

DAHR ~

Ferdinand Himmelreich

Vessella's Italian Band

Pasatiempo ~ From sublime to ridiculous: Lucia's Sextet through the years

ProQuest ~ Vessella's Italian Band

temposenzatempo ~ Oreste Vessella's Italian Band

Audio links:

Library of Congress ~ Ferdinand Himmelreich Lucia sextette

Sutherland, Pavarotti, Milnes, Ghiaurov, Davies & Tourangeau ~ Lucia Sextette

Vessella's Italian Band ~ Lucia Sextette

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, February 17, 2021

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October 13, 2021

78 RPMs 10: Frank Sinatra & Harry James On a Little Street In Singapore

Harry James & Frank Sinatra ~ On a Little Street in Singapore

78 RPM record

On October 13, 1939, I can’t believe that was 82 years ago, Harry James and his band, with Frank Sinatra singing, recorded On a Little Street in Singapore. This recording is a reissue as the original issue gave James top billing over Sinatra.

The trumpet of James is beautiful, of course, as it soars through the song and Sinatra is suave and sexy as he always was back then.

I have loved On a Little Street in Singapore with its gentle and slow but bouncy beat and romantic lyrics all my life (link below).

On A Little Street In Singapore

On a little street in Singapore
With me - beside a lotus covered door
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face
How pale the hands that held me in embrace

My sails tonight are filled with perfume of Shalimar
With temple bells that guide me to her shore
And then I hold you in my arms
And love the way I loved before
On a little street in Singapore

On a little street in Singapore
With me - beside a lotus covered door
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face
How pale the hands that held me in embrace

It is a jazz song written by Peter DeRose and Billy Hill. Though it's obscure now, the song was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Other artists who covered the tune included crooner Kenny Baker, Glenn Miller with tenor Ray Eberle and Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberle (Ray's brother).

Baker's version is slower than the Sinatra/James rendition and it is oriental sounding with minor key modulations not in the original version and when Miller and Eberle covered the song, their tempo was faster and a bit livelier.

Glenn Miller & Ray Eberle
date & photographer unknown

In the fifties it was The Three Suns, slow, smooth and dreamy with xylophone, accordion, slide guitar and electric organ, also with an oriental flavor. Then there was Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond on sax (jazzy, of course) with no vocal, as was Harold Land with sax and Kenny Dorham on trumpet with their version.

In the seventies Bert Kaempfert pizzscatoed his way through it, the Manhattan Transfer and even Bob Dylan covered it! (link below) Dylan! Can you believe it?

The Manhattan Transfer (Tim Hauser, Laurel Massé, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel) 1978 cover is faster than the Sinatra/James rendition and it is my favorite version of the song; it is up to date, well, in 1978 it was (link below). The harmonizing by the group is flawless and Alan Paul has the type of tenor voice and killer looks that teenage girls swooned over in the forties.

Manhattan Transfer - 1985

(top: Tim Hauser, Alan Paul

bottom: Laurel Massé & Janis Siegel)

photo by Nancy Clendaniel

Harry James was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized and was active again with his band from then until his death in 1983. He was especially known among musicians for his technical proficiency as well as his tone, and was an influence on new trumpet players from the late 1930s into the 1940s. He was also an actor in a number of films that usually featured his band.

Harry James and his band

date & photographer unknown

Harry James was a heavy smoker, drinker and gambler. In 1983 he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, but continued to work. He played his last professional job, with the Harry James Orchestra, on June 26, 1983 in Los Angeles, dying just nine days later in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 5, 1983; he was 67 years old. Frank Sinatra gave the eulogy at his funeral, held in Las Vegas.

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - On A Little Street In Singapore, written by Hill*, De Rose*

Side 2:

B - Every Day Of My Life, written by Hays*, James*, Beck*

Credits:

    Alto Saxophone [Uncredited] – Claude Lakey, Dave Matthews (2)
    Bass [Uncredited] – Thurman Teague
    Directed By – Harry James (2)
    Drums [Uncredited] – Mickey Scrima (tracks: B), Ralph Hawkins (tracks: A)
    Guitar [Uncredited] – Bryan Kent
    Piano [Uncredited] – Jack Gardner
    Tenor Saxophone [Uncredited] – Bill Luther, Drew Page
    Trombone [Uncredited] – Bruce Squires (tracks: B), Dalton Rizzotto (tracks: B), Russell Brown (tracks: A), Truett Jones
    Trumpet [Uncredited] – Claude Bowen, Harry James (2), Jack Palmer, Jack Schaeffer
    Vocals – Frank Sinatra

Notes:

Obviously re-released, giving Frank top billing. He only sings toward the end of each song.
A side originally recorded Chicago, Oct. 13, 1939; B side originally recorded Hollywood, Nov. 8, 1939.

Performance credits from Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942): A-K

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A Label): WC 2798
    Matrix / Runout (Side B Label): LA 2047
    Matrix / Runout (A side stamped variant 1): W2798A
    Matrix / Runout (B side stamped variant 1): LA2047A
    Matrix / Runout (A side stamped variant 2): WC2798A B 18 H
    Matrix / Runout (B side stamped variant 2): LA2047A B J

Frank Sinatra With Harry James And His Orchestra – On A Little Street In Singapore / Every Day Of My Life
Label: Columbia – 36700
Format: Shellac, 10", 78 RPM
Country: US
Released: Apr 1944
Genre: Jazz, Pop
Style: Big Band, Vocal

Viewfinder links:

Dave Brubeck

Jimmy Dorsey

Bob Dylan

Bob Eberly

Ray Eberle

Harry James

Bert Kaempfert

Manhattan Transfer

Glenn Miller

Alan Paul

Frank Sinatra