Wednesday, April 11, 2007

My first big music post!

Let's try this, shall we?

This is a new experience to me...sharing audio files. I did post a short 2-minute file in the 78-List (where 78 RPM nuts congregate), but that was one single short file.

This is another can of worms entirely...it's not quite as long as a full album, but it's a helluva lot longer than the 2-minute file...and it consists of several parts. The .rar format makes it easier for me to post the whole thing.

So...what is it?

It's a charming bit of radio history: a 20-minute segment of the Bab-O Cleanser Show of April 28, 1935, preserved on two 12" 78-rpm acetate discs. There's no real jazz here, just pleasant dance music with rather showy arrangements and vocals. The orchestra is under the direction of Bert Hirsch, best remembered for making several Hit-of-the-Week cardboard (all right, I mean Durium) 78s a few years earlier.

Unfortunately the beginning and ending of the show (where the singers' credits would be) are apparently lost. So-o-o...I don't recognize the vocalists at all. Perhaps someone out there will.

The songs herein are pretty much forgotten nowadays...Hunkadola was recorded by Benny Goodman at his first Victor session earlier in the month, and If the Moon Turns Green is a rather attractive song that Taft Jordan did at an ARC session in February. And, of course, With A Song In My Heart is associated with Jane Froman.

The two commercials are a hoot indeed, the first one marketing Bab-O Cleanser to the ladies in the audience (and how confident Mrs. Whosis seems...telling her hubby just how sparkling her house will be once she changes cleansers). The second one is for the oddly-named Wet-Me-Wets, apparently an early towelette of some type.

A good friend of mine gave me this little treasure...and now I'm sharing it with you. Enjoy.


http://www.zshare.net/download/bab-o-mp3s-rar.html

1 comment:

Fortyone said...

I say darling, that was a swell party! I'll repeat that. I say darling, that was a swell party! The songs are okay, the commercials are great. Thanks for posting.