Stardust – Will Osborne and his Orchestra with Maxine and Marilyn
In the 1940s, the word standard, or the phrase Great American Songbook, had not yet been used to describe enduring popular hits from the Broadway
In the 1940s, the word standard, or the phrase Great American Songbook, had not yet been used to describe enduring popular hits from the Broadway
As I have mentioned many times, Soundies producers understood that “sex sells,” even in more benign cases as Cowbell Song from 1946. On-screen, a sextet
There are many delicious mysteries in “The World of Soundies,” and this is one I have tried hard to figure out. The best that I
While we all know that Who is on first base, not everyone is aware of the fact that he (Who) had twin brothers, Who and
Between 1941 and 1946, many vocal harmony groups, both black and white, male and female, made Soundies. Among the best are the Mills Brothers, Delta
Cartoonist Robert Crumb was, and continues to be, one of my cultural heroes, not the least because he is a huge fan of music from
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” And so we were taught in John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Certainly, this is
The Soundies: A History and Catalog of Jukebox Film Shorts of the 1940s (McFarland Press, 2023). – Additions and Corrections The following are additions and corrections
In today’s Soundie, Mary Ka’aihue, a direct descendant of the last monarch of Hawaii, sings of soft tropical breezes, white sands, gentle surf, and the
While Lawrence Welk rarely played big band jazz, he was very fond of Dixieland music and regularly featured it along with his very popular polka