[78-L] (no subject)

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr." <citroenid19 at sbcglobal.net>
> Stephen Davies wrote:
>>         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...
>>
> Interesting thought.
> I was just considering this myself in a way.
> When the acoustical era was in full swing, what were the "old standards"?
> What is lost to us and seems so corny-campy now!
> Steven Foster
> Old Vaudeville tunes
> Operettas and their stars long forgotten...
>
> No Carmichael
> No Miller
> No Rogers
> No Kiss Me Kate
>
> Is this music corny-campy to our kids? I suppose...
>
Very simple answer here...thanxes to record-company
practices!

Record firms used special numeric series for "standard"
recordings...that is, NOT "current dance hits," but tunes
like the national anthem, old-time fiddling sides, and
(oddly enough) virtually ALL "hillbilly" numbers! They
LIKED these recordings, since all they needed to do
was to run off a thousand (or less?) each year and keep
those in stock!

Oddly enough, this music doesn't become "corny/campy"
to our offspring until the "teen-age years" occur! Up until
then you can gather groups of "pre-teen" grade-schoolers
and they will ENTHUSIASTICALLY sing these sets
of "good ol' songs!!"

Another interesting discovery I made about 25 or so
years ago...! You see,I am a talented singer of (1) blues
and (2) old performances which I own...! At that time
I was still married and my (now EX-!) wife was also a
very talented singer! The two of us used to attend various
"teachers' get-togethers" and, as the evening wore down
we would start our "unofficial sing-along" portion of the
evening's entertainment...with MOST of the crowd
happily joining in!!

Finally...one evening in Milwaukee, my younger brother
(a talented amatuer singer) and myself started a "sing-
along!" Before the quarter-hour ended, we had the
beer joint vocally in tune, and having a GREAT time!

Fact the I...we humans LOVE to sing!!

Fact the II...BUT we hear gazillions of professionals,
whose skills are well above ours...?!

Our only current hope is to participate in "karaoke"
events...?!?!

...stevenc