Sound Beat

You’re listening to the Palestrina Choir on a Victor 78 from 1927

And, you’re on the Sound Beat!

The choir is singing the Hymn to Apollo, one of the Homeric hymns: a collection of thirty-three anony…

Mr. Theodore G. Bilbo was a US senator, and not a good one. A member of the Ku Klux Klan, he once proposed a bill that would deport 12 million African-Americans to Liberia… in an effort to save on …

Well, unless you’re in an ice cave on Hoth, you probably recognize this one. It’s “The Story of Star Wars” and…

You’re on the Sound Beat.

Fall in love with a movie nowadays, you can watch it pretty m…

The iconic pianist and bandleader hopped around the early jazz hotspots…Harlem, Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis. He put together the Count Basie Orchestra in Kansas City and, with the help of radio b…

The song you hear ”Let Me Call You Sweetheart” by Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and His Orchestra was recorded in 1934 on the Decca label.

You’re on the Sound Beat.

“Let Me Call You Sweetheart“ was …

The opera is based on the play El Trobador, or The Troubador, by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez.  Verdi became so engrossed with the character Azucena, that he nearly named his version “La Vendetta”, (The …

Like Slim Gaillard said, “The Atomic Cocktail” is “the drink that you don’t pour”…until Las Vegas bartenders made it one.

You see, in 1951, the government announced Nevada would be home to new bombin…

Sure, marshmallows are great. But it’s a special kind of campfire when someone breaks out the chocolate and graham crackers. Put all three together (carefully) and you get S’mores, that sticky sweet …

The U.S. Coast Guard was officially established in 1915, but its roots go back to the late 18^{th century} . In 1790, Congress allowed for the building of 10 cutters, medium-sized ships charged with enf…

You’re listening to an Edison Blue Amberol Cylinder from 1914, featuring William Davidson and the words of “Scotland’s favorite son”. And,

You’re on the Sound Beat.

Robert Burns was also known as “th…

Store owner Morton Savada had a policy of never selling the last copy of a recording, which we collectors can identify with. Morton’s son Eli sai

“He was running a business, but he knew he had an imp…

In 1967, WSYR in Syracuse, NY issued the following message, an interruption to their scheduled broadcast:

You’re on the Sound Beat.

“We interrupt this program. The Office of Civil Defense has issued …

You’re listening to “Gloomy Sunday” recorded by Billie Holiday in 1941. It goes by another title as well, “The Hungarian Suicide Song”. Written by Rezső Seress and László Jávor , the song was linked …

Robert Cocking was one such name, and parachuting was his game. Well…kind of. Actually, he was an early 19^th century artist with an interest in aeronautics. Inspired by earlier parachute jumps, he dr…

Story’s Texas Moon

Most anyone alive during the first lunar landing can tell you exactly where they were. For Dr. Story Musgrave it was a very special room in Houston.

You’re on the Sound Beat.

“I wa…

You’re listening to Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, with Vic Schoen and His Orchestra, and…

You’re on the Sound Beat

Between 1939 and 1952 Bing and the gals recorded 46 times. Exactly half of th…

“Oh, Boy!” was released in 1957 by Brunswick Records, the A-side to “Not Fade Away.” Those barbershop harmonies on this and eight other Buddy Holly tracks were supplied by The Picks: a Lubbock, Tex…

You’re on the Sound Beat…with Anna Canoni, the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie.

Woody once said “If you use more than two chords you’re showing off”. But the simplicity of the music provides the perfe…

“A dark presence enters the ship. The ominous commander of the Imperial Forces, Darth Vader: tall and threatening in his flowing black cape, and a face forever masked by a foreboding metal breath scr…