Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ten Inches of Pleasure

Format wars - they've been going on as long as there has been audio and video recording. Remember VHS vs. Beta? Three different laserdisc systems? 8-track vs. cassette? Windows Media vs. Real Audio? 45/45 vs. hill and dale stereo? Edison cylinder vs. Berliner disc?

The early hi-fi era managed to standardize everything (disc speed, stereo format, equalization curve) except the actual disc size. Today's selection comes in the 10" LP format, which quickly lost out to the 12" LP format (though it had a brief attempted resurrection in the early 80's).

Today's record (Background Music Volume 6: Music Blended To Mix Graciously With Social Gatherings) is directed at those of you who will be entertaining during the upcoming holidays.


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Praise The Lord And Pass The Mp3 Player

A little something in honor of Veterans Day - "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition: Songs of World Wars I and II." I apologize for the horrible condition of this transfer - this was a last-minute decision for a post, and I'm not sure that there is much I can do about this beat up former-library LP anyway.

(at left, PFC My Pops)









Herbert Stuart - When The Lusitania Went Down 3:00

Morton Harvey - I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier 2:58

American Quartet - Let's All Be Americans Now 2:58

Nora Bayes - Over There 2:54

Al Jolson - Hello, Central! Give Me No Man's Land 3:18

Shannon Four, The - There's A Vacant Chair In Every Home Tonight 2:52

Al Jolson - I've Got My Captain Working For Me Now 2:41

Peerless Quartet - My Dream Of The Big Parade 3:25

Spike Jones And His City Slickers - Der Fuehrer's Face 2:37

Betty Bonney - He's 1-A In The Army And He's A-1 In My Heart 3:04

Golden Gate Quartet - Stalin Wasn't Stallin' (A Modern Spiritual) 3:07

Dick Robertson - We Did It Before And We Can Do It Again 2:24

Kenny Baker - I Left My Heart At The Stage Door Canteen 2:38
Dick Robertson - Goodbye, Mama (I'm Off To Yokohama) 2:36

John Long And His Orchestra - No Love, No Nothin' 2:57

Kay Kyser And His Orchestra - Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition 2:31

Helen Forrest - My Guy's Come Back 3:00

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

"Forty Five Minutes of Hilarity" *



















OK, so there are stretches where I have no idea what Myron Cohen is talking about - a combination of accent and idiom - but there are also some bits where, had I been drinking milk, it would have come out of my nose. Myron Cohen - Everybody Gotta Be Someplace (at the Royal Box Americana of New York)


 
 *that's what she said!