[78-L] (no subject)

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen Davies" <SDavies at mtroyal.ca>
Writing in a philosophical mood, and knowing that there can be
> only speculation, without an absolute answer....  Recorded immortality
> hand in hand with mortality.
>        I was wondering about how TV kicked into high gear in the 1950's,
> and the late nights were filled with old movies, even some silents.... How
> the TV audience at some point in time (1958, 1959, 1960....?) would
> realize that many of these early actors were now dead.  Any ghoulish
> feeling might be mixed with an engrossing plotline and/or a blossoming
> sense of camp based on the style and foibles of previous generations.  (I
> don't think people were mislabelling it "Nostalgia" yet.)
>        So was there a similar watershed moment in the history of 78's,
> when people realized that the majority of recorded sound belonged to
> deceased personalities?  Or was the 78 rpm era based always on new songs,
> new styles without any retrospective similar to the TV programming and no
> sentimental prickings?
>        There seems to be a great sense of addressing posterity in the
> earliest Edison recordings.  At some point, recorded sound became so
> common that it was just a consumeable moment rather than a historic event.
> When did discs regain the status of  being a legacy?  I presume the
> answer depends on what genre of recording is being considered:  classical,
> popular, spoken word...
>
No...the "swing generation" of 1936-40 were mainly interested in the music
played by "current" (and thus still-alive) musicians! There WAS a "20's"
revival in the mid-to-late fifties (see under "Thoroughly Modern 
Millie"...?!)

More later...!!

...stevenc