~~~The
Magical Music of the Nineteen-Twenties and Thirties~~~
presented by: Bill Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To me, the most "magical music"of all music was produced in the 1920-30s period. And, no doubt, from this statement, you'll come to the conclusion that I like it! And you'd be one hundred per cent right.
To give you a "taste" for its tunes, the extracts you'll find presented on this page are taken directly from my treasured collection of pre-1940 78rpm records - most of them a bit "scratchy" but still enjoyable. I hope those of you familiar with the period get as much pleasure from the sound as I do. And to those who - until now - haven't been "introduced" to the music of that time: I hope you gain a real appreciation of its "magic" by listening to the selections and also reading about the people who gave the selections their bewitching quality.
I can do no better than to quote from a book I possess, entitled: "The Dance Band Era" (by Albert McCarthy - published 1971):
"The days of their glory are long past, but the best of the music they created has, over the years, acquired the timeless character of the best in popular art. That is their triumph and our good fortune."
The longest extract I present from the sample selection is about 120kb, so if you're on a good line, each shouldn't take all that long to download. And - although there is an inevitable loss of quality in recording from old technology - I think they'll give you the "feel" of the original style and will therefore be worth your download time.
Anyway: enjoy whatever you choose.
To add substance to the songs, it's intended to provide a page of band and singer biographies for each selection. Those now provided have their names underlined and marked in blue. Go to these whilst you listen to the music. Or, if you wish to read them now, all in one go, click HERE.
If you wish to enquire or make comments about anything you've read or heard, please use the email facility below. Contributions can be use to start a "Tunes Of The Time" page.
Note: Others details might be added in the very near future; so keep an eye on this list!
| BAND | TUNE | DATE | SINGER | SELECT |
| Jack Hylton | Did You Mean It | 1936 | The Swingettes | CLICK |
| Bert Ambrose | I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan | 1932 | Sam Browne | CLICK |
| Henry Hall | Got To Dance My Way To Heaven | 1936 | Dan Donovan | CLICK |
| Joe Loss | You Go To My Head | 1938 | Chick Henderson | CLICK |
| Debroy Somers | You And The Night And The Music | 1935 | Dan Donovan | CLICK |
| Jack Hylton | Blue Skies Around The Corner | 1938 | Sam Browne | CLICK |
| Ray Noble | Hold My Hand | 1931 | Al Bowlly | CLICK |
| Jack Payne | Happy Days Are Here Again | 1930 | Jack Payne | CLICK |
For those who are still "young at heart", try these:
| BAND | TUNE | DATE | SINGER | SELECT |
| Henry Hall | Hush! Hush! Hush! Here Comes The Bogie Man! | 1932? | Val Rosing | CLICK |
| Jay Whidden | I Lift Up My Finger And I say Tweet-tweet | 1930? | Leslie Sarony | CLICK |
| Henry Hall | Teddy Bear's Picnic | 1933 | Val Rosing | CLICK |
| Debroy Somers | Fairy On The Clock | 1931 | Debroy Somers? | CLICK |
| Jack Payne | Little Man You've Had A Busy Day | 1934 | Jack Payne | CLICK |
| Jack Hylton | Who Made Little Boy Blue | 1938 | Peggy Dell | CLICK |
(I had to guess some of the dates and singers - marked with: ?)