Another adventure back into the early days of recorded sound with James Errington, this time joined by Cambridge 105 Radio’s Maciek Pawlikowski to listen to some of the sounds of 1913, the year of the short-lived hot dance ragtime craze, led by the first all-black orchestra and the couple who brought the foxtrot to prominence.
Centuries of Sound is an independent podcast without any advertising, and it’s only with the support of my patrons that the show can survive. To download full mixes, get early access to the radio podcast, and a get host of other benefits for $5 (or local equivalent) per month (and yearly payment is also now available) please come to https://patreon.com/centuriesofsound
More time-travel to the early days of recorded sound with James Errington. This time we find out about the interminable history of musical snobbery, hear some immensely beautiful, surprisingly thick Edison diamond discs and hear what Al Jolson and Billy Murray are up to.
Centuries of Sound is an independent podcast without any advertising, and it’s only with the support of my patrons that the show can survive. To download full mixes, get early access to the radio podcast, and a get host of other benefits for $5 (or local equivalent) per month (and yearly payment is also now available) please come to https://patreon.com/centuriesofsound
Time travel through audio history with James Errington, this time joined by Cambridge 105’s own Kasia Wozniak to listen to the sounds of 1911, featuring Eastern European émigrés Al Jolson, Irving Berlin and Sophie Tucker; the future president of Poland playing some Chopin; scat singing 15 years before it was supposedly invented; a story about three trees and a bunny rabbit and another story where a baby is mistaken for a piano, and hilarity ensues.
Centuries of Sound is an independent podcast without any advertising, and it’s only with the support of my patrons that the show can survive. To download full mixes, get early access to the radio podcast, and a get host of other benefits for $5 (or local equivalent) per month (and yearly payment is also now available) please come to https://patreon.com/centuriesofsound
Back for the new decade, that decade being the 1910s, audio historian James Errington returns for a deep dive into the sounds of 110 years ago. This time we’re joined by Cambridge 105’s own George Kirkman to listen to some ragtime frolics, eccentricities, proto-barbershop, proto-gospel and some meandering comic monologues.
Centuries of Sound is an independent podcast without any advertising, and it’s only with the support of my patrons that the show can survive. To download full mixes, get early access to the radio podcast, and a get host of other benefits for $5 (or local equivalent) per month (and yearly payment is also now available) please come to https://patreon.com/centuriesofsound
Time: 8pm GMT, Saturday 25th December Place: Cambridge 105 Radio
In this festive edition of Centuries of Sound, audio curator James Errington is joined by his son Theo to check out some Christmas records from the years 1902 to 1924. We have choirs, carols, brass bands, and of course a selection of bizarre novelty Christmas wax cylinders for your Christmas evening listening
You can listen to the show on 105fm in Cambridge, on DAB digital across Cambridgeshire, on the Cambridge 105 website here, or on any good radio apps, or play the whole extended version on this mixcloud player.
This compilation of Christmas recordings spans an era which includes the entirety of WW1 and the influenza pandemic of 1918/1919, but of course you wouldn’t guess it from the contents. The only reminder perhaps is the two different versions of “Silent Night”, which was famously sung by opposing sides in the trenches at Christmas 1914.
I’m presenting this in two formats – a mix, which is on my main feed at centuriesofsound.com and as a compilation, which is only available to patrons. Join my patreon at patreon.com/centuriesofsound and get a load of bonus content like this, as well as helping this site to survive in these very difficult times.
Here is the tracklist, the same for both versions.
00:00 Harry E. Humphrey – Santa Claus Hides In Your Phonograph 03:17 Choir Of The Royal Court Opera With Orchestra And Church Bells, Acc. Harmonium, Bells – Silent Night, Holy Night 06:07 Gilbert Girard – Santa Claus Tells of Mother Goose Land 07:43 Band – Christmas Memories 11:41 Nebe-Quartett – O Tannenbaum 13:31 Albert Whelan – Scrooge’s Awakening 15:44 Edison Concert Band – Bells Of Christmas 19:55 Thomas Edison – Mr. Edison’s Christmas Greetings 24:05 George Hamilton Green Novelty Orchestra – Moonlight Waltz 27:36 George Islon – Christmas Eve In The Old Homestead 30:06 Edison Mixed Quartet – Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 33:07 Metropolitan Quartet – Christmas, Christmas, Blessed, Blessed Day 36:34 Bransby Williams – The Street Watchman’s Christmas 40:29 Edison Concert Band And The Edison Mixed Quartet – Ring Out The Bells For Christmas 44:40 Carol Singers – Joy To The World 47:06 Yolande Noble And Percy Clifton – Buying The Christmas Dinner 49:20 Robert Gayler – Christmas Eve- a Fantasie On Old German Christmas Carols 52:17 Manuel Romain – Christmas Time Seems Years And Years Away 54:14 Harry E. Humphrey – The Night Before Christmas 57:35 Elizabeth Spencer, Harry Anthony And James F. Harrison – Silent Night
Time: 8pm BST, Saturday 12th September 2020 Place: Cambridge 105 Radio
Another sonic journey into the pre-history of recorded music with James Errington, this time joined by London musician Cecily to listen to some of the sounds of 1919, a lull between the first jazz boom and the start of blues with a cornucopia of exotic sounds springing up to fill the gap.
You can listen to the show on 105fm in Cambridge, on DAB digital nationwide, on the Cambridge 105 website here, or on any good radio apps.
Or, as you’ve already missed the broadcast, not to worry, you can use this player instead.
Time: 8pm BST, Saturday 15th August 2020 Place: Cambridge 105 Radio
More treasures excavated from musical history with sound curator James Errington. This time it’s 1918, the war is nearly over, but the war records are just getting into their stride, and the shockwave of this new music we’re now calling jazz is still shaking the record industry to its foundations. An exciting, turbulent year for music and for the world.
You can listen to the show on 105fm in Cambridge, on DAB digital nationwide, on the Cambridge 105 website here, or on any good radio apps.
Or, as it is too late to do any of those things, just stream it here.
Audio curator James Errington is joined by jazz historian Joe Moore to discuss the astonishing year of 1917, when a new music called “Jass” or “Jaz” or “Jazz” swept the world, changing it forever. A genuinely astonishing time for music, brought to life with contemporary archive sounds.
You can listen to the show live on 105fm in Cambridge, on DAB digital, on the Cambridge 105 website here, or on any good radio apps.
I mean, you could have, it’s too late to listen live now. But no worries, you can still listen here:
This time James Errington is joined by John Ashlin to explore the music of 1916. While Europe lies devastated in the midst of the darkest year of the first world war, America is hotting up, with the birth of jazz and blues music imminent, while the old world of Vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley is struggling to adapt.
You can listen to the show on 105fm in Cambridge, on DAB digital nationwide, on the Cambridge 105 website here, or on any good radio apps.
But as you’ve already missed it, here is a mixcloud stream, so you can listen at your leisure. Enjoy!
