All of the music selections presented here are from my personal collection of 78's. To listen to an individual selection, simply click on the record label.

Jack Hylton und sein Orchester mit Refraingesang (in Englisch) - Tanz Orchester - HMV E.H.240 (4-040702)

Recorded November 27, 1928 in Berlin. Jack Hylton was born in Lancashire, England, on 2 July 1892. His recording-career started in May 1921 for the Zonophone-label (Jack Hylton's Jazz Band). During the next years Hylton enlarged the band. By the mid-'20s Hylton had decided to concentrate on stage engagements and tours, building up a band that was essentially the British equivalent of Paul Whiteman's in America. During the late 20s he toured Europe extensively, while still recording prolifically under several other names such as the Kit-Cat Band, the Hyltonians and the Rhytmagicians. He sold over three million records in 1929 alone. During the 30s his band became the first to broadcast directly to America. Hylton died in London on 29 January 1965. This (12inch) recording was released in Britain and the USA as "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame" and is technically spoken an outstanding masterpiece for it's time! You can hear a vocal by Sam Browne and a band arrangement by Billy Ternent.

Het Ramblers Dansorkest o.l.v. Theo Uden Masman (Refreinzang: Wim Poppink) / The Ramblers conducted by Theo Uden Masman (with vocal refrain by Wim Poppink) - Panachord AM 675 - H 1089

Recorded in Hilversum, March 1940. Holland's best and most populair danceband The Ramblers was formed in september 1926 by pianist Theo uden Masman. In October 1936 they became the resident dance band of the VARA public radio station at Hilversum (hometown of the webmaster, 20 miles east of Amsterdam). The Ramblers recorded in the 30s together with great names as Coleman Hawkins, the Boswell Sisters, Benny Carter and the Hot Club de France. Musical genius behind all this was arranger Jack Bulterman, who also wrote this happy little tune. By 1940 the size of the band had doubled since original 1926 engagement and for stage appearances further additions were made, but musical progress was brougt to a halt by the Germans' insistence that all Jewish musicians in the band should be discharged. Despite many restrictions the band continued to be active throughout the war. After the war Masman reorganised the band and resumed the previous schedule of regular broadcasts, recordings and personal appearances. In the early 60s Masman had to bow to the demands of broadcasting executives to introduce rock&roll elements into his music. He decided to disband The Ramblers after a farewell broadcast on 17 April 1964 and he himself died in the following year at the age of 63. . In 1974 Bulterman refounded the band for a series of broadcasttransmissions. You can click here for a collage of photo's I made of the band during that time.

Bix Beiderbecke & His Orchestra - Parlophone R2711 (81518)

Recorded October 5, 1927. Leon Bismark Beiderbecke was born in Davenport, Iowa, on March 10, 1903, second son of a prosperous coal merchant, grandson of a banker. He played the cornet and the piano and became the first great white jazz musician. In 1923 he joined a small student orchestra called the Wolverines and made his first recordings with them. In 1926 he went to St.Louis with his close friend Frankie Trumbauer, a sweet-toned saxophonist with whom Bix made his best recordings during the next two years. He was gentle, shy and absent-minded, and drunk most of the time. From 1928-1930 he worked for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Suffering from pneumonia and acute alcoholism accompanied by delirium tremens, he died in pain and horror in a boarding house in Sunnyside, Queens on August 6, 1931, only 28 years old. He quickly became a legend...

Bing Crosby and The Mills Brothers with Orchestra Acc. - Brunswick Order No. A9263 Cat.No. 6240 A

Recorded New York, December 16, 1931. John Jr. (1910), Herbert (1912), Harry (1913) and Donald (1915), together The Mills Brothers, Four Boys and a guitar, became an instant hit in 1928, after signing a three-year contract with CBS radio. Their first record recorded for Brunswick, "Tiger Rag", became a nation wide seller with more than a million copies. Early November 1931 the young Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (born May 3, 1903) began an engagement at the Paramount Theatre in New York. On November 13 The Mills Brothers joined Bing for a series of shows. A month later they teamed up in a NYC recording studio to record "Dinah".Three weeks later the recording sat atop the charts...

Nice people - quick-step (Mills & Malcolm)

Joe Loss and His Band (With Vocal Chorus) - Regal Zonophone MR 2998 CAR.5286

Joe Loss was born in Liverpool on 22 June 1910 and in the early '20s completed musical studies at the Trinity College Of Music and the London School of Music. In September 1930 he led his first professional band. Loss has an unbroken record of leading a band for over four decades, always preferring to play in dance halls rather than hotels. He once said that 'the better the restaurant or hotel the lower the standard of dancing'. Loss' best band was undoubtedly that of the late '30s and early '40s with vocals from Chick Henderson, who was killed at sea in the war. Joe Loss himself died 6 June 1990. Click here for the original sheet music of "Nice People".