1930s – Radio Days

17 March 20201930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Sam Lanin’s Dance Ensemble, Ho-Hum (1931)

An upbeat song for the Spring from the prolific Sam Lanin … «Good-bye to winter I’ll see you next year Hello to Springtime Gee, I am glad your here»

3 August 20193 November 20191930s, Cinema, Dance, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Lupino Lane … is doing The Lambeth Walk

What can one say? great 1937 song from the pen of Noel Gay, interpreted by the brilliant Lupino Lane in this 1939 film version of the musical Me and My Girl.

2 February 20192 February 20191930s

Sax Rohmer on crime in the UK, 1932

Something a bit different from Radio Days today, and perhaps still topical in its way. Not a song but a short British Movietone clip featuring crime writer and author of the Fu Manchu series, Sax Rohmer (nom de plume of […]

31 January 20191930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Don’t Ever Lose It Whatever It Is (1936)

It’s surprising that, in light of their long and successful career together, the all-singing all-dancing Peters Sisters from Santa Monica, California, are not better known today. The earliest recordings I know of date from 1936, as does the clip below, […]

27 January 201928 January 20191930s, Jazz, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Raymond Scott Quintette, Twighlight in Turkey (1937)

This week’s Song of the Week, Twilight in Turkey, comes in the context of the work I’ve been doing over the past month or so in putting together a programme of songs, stories, film, and ephemera for ‘The New Orientalism’ […]

1 January 20196 January 20191930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Lily Morris, Why am I Always the Bridesmaid?

Although there have survived some very short silent film clips of music-hall stars from the turn of the last century, we sadly (though pretty obviously) have no audiovisual records of performances from the era. We do, thankfully, have on film […]

11 December 20181930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Harry Roy, Rhythm Racketeer and Girl in the Poster (1937)

I’ve always been a big fan of Harry Roy, but had not seen either of his two films until serendipitously finding this clip. Enjoy the slightly surreal spectacular!

17 October 201817 October 20181920s, 1930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: A Proper Cup of Coffee

A song from the pens of the brilliant and prolific songwriting team of R.P. Weston (lyrics) and Bert Lee (music) (who else could ever rhyme “Persia” with “curse ya”?), A Proper Cup of Coffee was, to my knowledge, first performed […]

19 July 201810 October 20181930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Yip Harburg’s Lydia the Tattooed Lady

I imagine that Yip Harburg is unlikely to be the first name to spring to your lips if asked to name a famous American songwriter from the Thirties. So you’ll probably be surprised to discover that you know many of […]

28 June 201511 December 20171930s, Song of the Week

French Dance Competition 1931

We love this clip! Filmed on 7th March 1931, this Fox Movietone News Story shows scenes from a French amateur dance competition (“championat de France de danse moderne amateur”). We especially love the guys dancing solo from minute 4:00 onwards–I […]

4 May 20154 June 20151860s, 1930s, 1940s, Recordings, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Champagne Charlie

I’m always fascinated at the way that songs can seem to take on a life of their own, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, as they pass from generation to generation. P.J. Proby’s 1964 recording of Hold […]

23 January 201515 September 20171930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Bert Ambrose, Limehouse Blues

Many orchestras recorded Limehouse Blues but none, in our opinion, ever matched that of Bert Ambrose.

1 January 201515 September 20171900s, 1930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: “Any Rags”

I guess the place we have to start this week is with a 1932 cartoon. I’ve been an ardent fan of Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons since I discovered them as a schoolboy in the 1960s (there’d been a Popeye […]

18 December 20144 July 20211930s, Song of the Week

Song of the Week: Greta Keller, ‘Mad About The Boy’

First recorded in October 1932 by Jack Hylton and his Orchestra with Phyllis Robins on vocals (though first performed in the theatre in August 1932 revue Words and Music by Joyce Barbour, Steffi Duna, Norah Howard and Doris Hare), Mad […]