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By Recorded Sound Archives, October 31, 2019 8:05 am

While some horror films feature blood-curdling scores (Jaws, Halloween, The Exorcist), there are certain songs that will forever be associated with the movies they helped make all the more terrifying. Just in time for Halloween, here are six vintage songs made infinitely creepier by horror movies, four of which you can find here at the Recorded Sound Archives.

First up, is the Jeepers Creepers franchise which features the song Jeepers Creepers playing through the radio prior to the creature approaching and can be found playing on an old-timey radio as the movie progresses.

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives, you can listen to a few versions of the song by artists such as Larry Clinton and his orchestra , Jack Teagarden and the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

But our personal favorite here in the sound archive is Ethel Water’s version of Jeepers Creepers.

Next up is a classic from the 90s, while not necessarily a horror movie we’ve included it in honor of all things spooky. Hocus Pocus features three witches that come back to life after being accidentally summoned. In the movie, Winifred Sanderson along with her sisters sing the tune I Put a Spell on You at the town’s Halloween Party which was originally released in 1956 and sung by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

Watch the clip below to see Screamin’ Jay Hawkins perform I Put a Spell On You back in 1989 on the Arsenio Hall Show.

Another haunting tune that can be found in the Recorded Sound Archives, is Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips by Johnny Marvin who originally sang the song prior to Tiny Tim which is featured in the movie Insidious.

Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips starts to play as the Demon who is terrorizing this family uses a victrola-like device to sharpen its nails while the song plays on with marionettes and puppets moving about.

You can listen to the original by Johnny Marvin in the sound archive by clicking here.

Next up is the movie Misery which features Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes an obsessed fan who kidnaps her favorite writer forcing him to rewrite his novel.

At one point, she exclaims with happiness that she’ll play her favorite song in the movie which just so happens to be Liberace’s Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 along with I’ll be seeing you both of which can be found here at the Recorded Sound Archives on the album Liberace by Candlelight.

And finally, we have Halloween II with the song Mr. Sandman by the Chordettes which can be heard playing at the beginning of the movie’s opening credits and as the film comes to an end.

click here to watch the opening scenes from the movie to listen to the song.

While we only feature six songs, there are tons out there to be discovered four of which you can listen to here at the Recorded Sound Archives.

Please note, due to copyright some items may only be available as a 45 second snippet.

If you are a Researcher or Educator in need of full access to these recordings, click here.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, September 27, 2019 12:17 pm

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage month, we wanted to share one of several recordings within our hispanic/latin american collection of recordings. Last year we highlighted Xavier Cugat, as an important artist who shaped the world of Latin music into what it is today.

This year we’d like to highlight the voice of Graciela Párraga and composer Vicente Gómez. Both of whom are featured on the album Blood and Sand within the Recorded Sound Archives Hispanic/Latin American collection.

Very little can be found about Graciela Párraga other than what can be found on the jacket of this album. Graciela Párraga was born in Havana, Cuba.  Although it is mentioned that she gained noterity and fame by singing to a large group of women prisoners within a dentention center inside Cuba where she received tons of offers to sing professionally, all of which she refused. It goes on to say her professional singing career began shortly back in 1937 with her arrival in New York.

She went on to sing at several hotels also working at the East Side night club La Rue for two years. Appearing in radio, Miss Párraga went on to sing on the Rudy Vallee Show of which several transcriptions were made and were broadcast throughout all 21 Latin American Republics at the time. In the 1938 issue of Stage Magazine, Miss Párraga was one of the Palm Award winners for her work while at La Rue.

She went on to perform at Hotel Berkeley in London and during her stay in England, where she performed twice weekly for Television by the British Broadcasting Company.  She was even invited to sign for her Royal Highness and the Ex-Queen of Spain at a garden party given by the Duke of Alba.

Upon returning to the United States, Miss Párraga was invited to sing at a Reception Ball given by the Cuban Embassy in honor of Colonel Fugencia Batista, during his good-will visit to the United States. And on one of her return trips to Cuba, Miss Párraga  was appointed Chancellor to the Consulate General of Cuba in New York and Honorary Artistic delegate for the promotion and appreciation of Cuban music in the United States and Europe.

In this position she went on to give a series of concerts throughout the United States in leading colleges such as Vassar, Columbia University, Princeton and more.

You can hear the voice of Graciela Párraga by clicking here along with Vicente Gómez playing guitar on the Blood and Sand soundtrack he composed himself prior to retiring to compose and teach.

This is just one of over over 180 Latin American recordings for you to listen to. Click here to view collection.

Please note, due to copyright some items may only be available as a 45 second snippet.

If you are a Researcher or Educator in need of full access to these recordings, click here.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, June 6, 2019 6:00 pm

Did you know the Recorded Sound Archives at FAU Libraries has over 49,000 albums along with over 150,000 songs in its databases, which is growing everyday with the help of volunteers? With so many recordings to choose from, we have given Research Station users the ability to request items be digitized.

Below you’ll find a list of recordings that were recently added to the Research Station this Spring 2019 from requests made by Research Station Users.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

Recently Added to Research Station

From Sunset to Sunset by Paul Zim

32 Golden Hits of Nahal by The Nahal

Aw Horachamim & Adonoj Moloch by Moritz Perlmann

Cantor of the U.N. Synogogue by Harold Klein

Avraham Fried Aderaba by Avraham Fried

Harmony – Songs of Cecelia Margules by Various Artists

Modzitz Classics Volume One by Ben Zion Shenker

T’filoh L’Moshe by Moshe Teleshevsky

Jerusalem of Gold – Songs of the Six Day War by David Eshet

Marcus Goldman Orchestra by Marcus Goldman Orchestra

At Madison Square Garden by Esther Jungreis

I’d Rather Pray and Sing by Mordechai Ben David

Take Me Home by David Lazerson

Achdus by Various Artists

Honor! Honor! by Charles Holland

On Ma Journey by Jonathan Brice & Carol Brice

I’m So Glad Trouble Don’t Last Alway by Carroll Clark

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot by Lawrence Brown & Paul Robeson

Spirituals by Adelaide Hall & Kenneth Cantril

Moshe Teleshevsky by Moshe Teleshevsky

Chalutsim/Zum Gali Gali/Aviv/Emek Avoda by Eve Lippman Gladys Gewirtz

An Den Mond (To the Moon) by Frida Benneche

Des Madchens Klage by Frida Benneche

Shalom Eretz Israel by B’nai Shalom Singers

Amazing Grace by Jon Spong & Sherrill Milnes

Dizzy’s Diamonds: The Best of the Verve Years by Various Artists

I Gianti Del Jazz by Various Artists

An Electrifying Evening with The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet by Dizzy Gillespie Quintet

Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra by Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra

Dizzy Gillespie Plays by Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie’s Big 4 by Various Artists

Horn of Plenty: Dizzy Gillespie by Various Artists

Jam Session: Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Gerry Mulligan by Various Artists

Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie by Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie

Big Hits from Israel by The Amranim

Mordecai Ben David Sings Neshama Soul by Mordechai Ben David Werdyger

The New Jewish Sound by Various Artists

Jubilation by Jordan Penkower & the Sterling Sound

The Sun, the Lake and the Jewish Stars by Various Artists

Jewish Celebration in Song Vol. II: The Traditional Wedding by Ken Gross Orchestra

Harei Yehudah by Various Artists

Meir Rimon and his Hor – Nigunim by Meir Rimon

Oriental Songs by Jo Amar

Nigunim of Lubavitch, Vol. 3 by Shmuel Althaus

Shalom by General Israel Orphans Home for Girls

Bialik Songs by Nama Hendel

The New Slavery by Stanley Schwartz

25 Years of Israel in Songs by Various Artists

The Return to Jerusalem by Jordan Penkower and The Sterling Sound

Chabad Nigunim by Chabad Choir

Camp Judaea Sings Folk and Modern Israeli Songs by Avram Grobard

The Jerusalem Echoes by Moshe Yess & The Jerusalem Echoes

Lubavitcher Nigunim No. 2  by Aharon Haritonov, Meier Yanowsky of Nikoaiyev and Shmuel Althaus

Lectures in Tanya – Volume 1 by Joseph Wineberg

Lectures in Tanya – Volume 2 by Joseph Wineberg

Jo Amar Sings Yismah Moshe and Other Sephardi Sabbath Songs by Jo Amar and The Levantine Orchestra and Chorus

Yamim Noraiim by Jo Amar

Tumba by Moshe Nathanson & Abraham Ellstein

Sholosh R’Golim – Chassidic Melodies of Three Festivals by Ben Zion Shenker and Modzitzer Choral Ensemble

Here is Israel – Record No. 3 by Various Artists

Pirchei Tzion by Various Artists

Der Yiddisher Shtern by Seymour Rechtzeit

The Best of Jewish Short Stories from Eastern Europe and Beyond by Various Artists

See a recording that hasn’t been digitized?

As a research station user you can request it using the Music on Demand forms on the website.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, October 2, 2018 12:44 pm

Photo of Xavier Cugat. This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress.

As part of Hispanic / Latino Heritage month, we’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to some important artists who shaped the world of Latin music into what it is today. Today we would like to highlight Xavier Cugat. Born January 1, 1900 in Catalonia, Spain, his family had bigger plans venturing first to Cuba when he was five. In Cuba, this is where Xavier picked up the violin training as a classical violinist he went on to play with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana.

Photo of Xavier Cugat. This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress.

Xavier trained further in Paris and Berlin and in 1915, his family boarded the SS Havana en route to New York City where Cugat went on to train before serving five years as a violinist appearing in recitals with Erinco Caruso. Cugat went on to lead the resident orchestra at the Waldorf-Astoria before and after World War II before venturing out west to Los Angeles.

Here are 3 interesting facts about Xavier Cugat, you may or may not know about him.

Three interesting facts about Xavier Cugat!

1. He was a classically trained violinist who conducted with his bow, and can be seen in quite a few films waving his violin bow. Below is an animated gif showcasing Xavier Cugat in Stage Door Canteen waving his bow as he conducts his orchestra. You can watch the clip below from Stage Door Canteen, 1943 where Xavier Cugat can be seen conducting with his bow at 1:16.

via GIPHY

2. Xavier was known as the Rhumba King and is credited with pushing Latino music and dance into popularity and best-known for having popularized the rumba in the United States during the 1930s.

He and his band, the Gigolos, were featured in several popular Hollywood movies in the 1940s and 1950s. They introduced many popular Latin American rhythms to North American audiences and toured extensively every year, playing tangos, rumbas and congas.

“Under the influence of tropical skies and a couple of daiquiris, people developed a taste for my Latin American style of music,” he once said.

3. Xavier went on to work for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. Not a huge stretch, considering art seemed to run in the family. His older brother Francis Cugat worked as a portrait, poster, book jacket artist and set designer.  He is known for his 1925 cover of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cugat himself can be seen in a few films drawing his caricatures prior to or during a performance.

via GIPHY

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives, we have over 30 recordings by Cugat and several of this bands. To listen to more music by Cugat, click here.

In celebration of Hispanic / Latino Heritage month, we have digitized over 180 Latin American recordings for you to listen to. Click here to view collection.

Please note, due to copyright some items may only be available as a 45 second snippet.

If you are a Researcher or Educator in need of full access to these recordings, click here.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, August 10, 2018 1:30 pm

Did you know the Recorded Sound Archives at FAU Libraries has over 49,000 albums along with over 150,000 songs in its databases, which is growing everyday with the help of volunteers? With so many recordings to choose from, we have given Research Station users the ability to request items be digitized.

Below you’ll find a list of recordings that were recently added to the Research Station this Summer 2018 from requests made by Research Station Users.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

Recently Added Music

Hadesh Yameinu (New Music at Park Avenue Synagogue) by Azi Schwartz

Dort Vie Libe Dort Is Glik by Aaron Lebedeff

The Shicker Ticker by Seymour Rechtzeit & Miriam Kressyn

Famous Chassidic and Shabath Songs by Various Artists

El Estilo by Leibele Schwartz

Minke Beim Telefon by Bessie Thomashefsky

Let’s Dance by Yaffa Yarkoni

Song Celebration 1976 by Various Artists

Favorite Songs for Children by Yaffa Yarkoni

Lehitim Leyiladim by Eelaneet

Gila Almagor by Gila Almagor

Bab el Wad: The Gate to Jerusalem by Yaffa Yarkoni

Yaffa Yarkoni Greatest Hits by Yaffa Yarkoni

Ronni Ve’simchi by Shmuel Lerer

30 Years with Yaffa Yarkoni by Choir of Tel Aviv & Yaffa Yarkoni

Ilanit Sings Children Songs by Ilanit and Aviva Had

Shiru Shir – Volume 3 by Hadassa Sigalov

In Praise of Kalya by Yaffa Yarkoni and Aric Einstein

Songs of Edith Piaf by Various Artists

Hanukka Songs, Vol. 2 by Miriam Avigal

Yaffa Yarkoni by Yaffa Yarkoni & Anee Tslil Haagadot

Liebe by Seymour Rechtzeit

Tiher Rabbi Yismoel by David Amsel

Weal Yedei by Sawel Kwartin

The Happy People by Danny Rubenstein

The Time of Singing – The Fourth NFTY Album by Various Artists

NCSY-LIVE by Various Artists

Pirchei Holyland by Pirchei Holyland

Dear Mom / Sweet by Yaffa Yarkoni

Der Galicianer Cavallero by Peisachke Burstein

6 Sipurei Yiladim by Ester Sofer

Yaffa Yarkoni Sings International by Yaffa Yarkoni and Bob Adams Orchestra

Bo-oo Lesachek Come, Let’s Play by Ester Sofer Hadassah Sigolov

See a recording that hasn’t been digitized?

As a research station user you can request it using the Music on Demand forms on the website.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, March 7, 2018 7:20 pm

Did you know that in 1933, Lucrezia Bori began a career as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Opera during the Great Depression on top of performing?

Retiring, later that she wanted at age 48, Lucrezia Bori helped save the Metropolitan Opera. While the Metropolitan continued to sell tickets to performances with no difficulty despite the Great Depression. The contributions of its stockholders fell off dramatically and by the end of 1932 the board of directors found that a great deal of money would be needed if the next season were to be held.

Bori agreed to work with the Opera’s managers to obtain the funds and in 1933, she headed an organization called the Committee to Save the Metropolitan Opera House. Where Lucrezia made appeals by flyer, letter, and in personal contacts with potential benefactors to help save the Met. She traveled widely and participated in numerous benefits, at which she performed.

During this period of fundraising, Lucrezia also continued to carry out an exhausting schedule of performance at the Met.

To help raise the final funds needed,  a masquerade ball was held to raise financial support for the opera house.  Over 3,000 of the city’s aristocracy attended paying $10 each admission, contributing the final $30,000 towards the $300,000 fund needed to save the opera along with $10,000 to cover the cost of the ball.

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives we are celebrating Women’s History month through music by highlighting the voice of Lucrezia Bori and her accomplishment of saving the Metropolitan Opera.

To listen to recordings by Lucrezia Bori, click here.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, February 2, 2018 6:24 pm

Did you know that Ethel Waters was the first African American to be nominated for an Emmy Award? In 1962, the legendary jazz and blues singer received the nomination for her performance in a “Route 66” episode, “Good Night, Sweet Blues.”

Ethel Waters in “Route 66”, episode “Good Night, Sweet Blues.”

In the episode, “Good Night, Swee Blues”, Ethel Waters plays Jenny Henderson, a retired singer in failing health who commissions Tod and Buzz to find and bring her the members of the Memphis Naturals, the band she performed and recorded with thirty years earlier.

Waters’ nomination for this role paved the way for women like Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson, Alfre Woodard, Halle Berry, Kerry Washington, Regina King, and Viola Davis, now the first Black woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Beyond acting, Waters’ also performed jazz, big band, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.

Her best-known recordings include “Dinah,” “Stormy Weather,” “Taking a Chance on Love,” “Heat Wave,” “Supper Time,” “Am I Blue?” and “Cabin in the Sky,” as well as her version of the spiritual “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives we are celebrating Black History month through music by highlighting the voices of the past and their accomplishments.

To listen to recordings by Ethel Waters, click here.

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By Recorded Sound Archives, December 6, 2017 4:18 pm

Join FAU Libraries March 4-8 in celebrating Jewish Culture through Kultur Festival highlighting music from Florida Atlantic University Libraries’  Special Collections performed by distinguished artists and internationally acclaimed musicians and actors including the Klezmer Company Jazz Orchestra, Beyond The Pale, klezmer band from Toronto, Brian Potts Vibraphone Quartet and Yiddish Tango LIVE!

Links to all events listed below with date, time and links to purchase tickets.

Funny Girl in Concert

FAU  – Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium

Click here to buy tickets

Beyond The Pale

FAU – Wimberly Library 5th Floor

Click here to buy tickets.

Jewish Melodies in Jazztime

FAU – Wimberly Library 5th Floor

Click here to buy tickets.

Yiddish Tango LIVE!

FAU – Wimberly Library 5th Floor

Click here to buy tickets.

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By RSA Guest Blogger, August 2, 2017 9:52 am

Two weeks after his 101th birthday, pianist and composer Irving Fields passed away August 20, 2016 in Manhattan. He was perhaps the longest working musician in the world. At the age of hundred, he used to play the piano several nights a week at Nino’s Tuscany restaurant in Manhattan. Irving Fields became known by fusing Jewish tunes, jazz, and popular songs with Latin music.

Born as Isidore Schwartz in 1915 New York City to Jewish immigrants, Irving Fields started working as a pianist in the thirties during the years of the Great Depression. In this time of high unemployment, he started playing piano in resort hotels in the Catskills Mountains, and then he found work as a pianist on cruise ships sailing from New York to Havana, capital city of Cuba. In Havana, Irving Fields listened to the great Cuban orchestras, and developed his love for Latin music. Attracted by pictures from palm trees and beaches in travel magazines, Irving decided to settle in Miami Beach and performed in hotels playing dinner music, and did sessions with local orchestras.

After joining the army, he began the Irving Fields Trio, with a bass and a drummer, and started composing his own songs. In 1947, his song Miami Beach Rhumba became a big success by versions of Kay Kyser, Freddy Martin, Carmen Miranda, and even by the popular band leader Xavier Cugat. During the Latin craze trend in the 40s, Irving Fields was at the right time and place, and soon Miami Beach Rhumba was followed by the number one hit song Managua, Nicaragua (1947) recorded by big band leader Guy Lombardo, and ten years later by Chantez-Chantez (1957) by singer Dinah Shore.

In 1959, the Irving Fields Trio recorded the album Bagels and Bongos blending popular Jewish tunes with Latin rhythms such as Bei Mir Bist Du Schön as a mambo, Havannah Negila a paso doble, and I Love You Much Too Much a rhumba. The album became a big hit all over the world, and was followed by the albums More Bagels and Bongos (1960), Pizzas and Bongos (Italian traditionals), Champagne and Bongos (with French standards), and Bikinis and Bongos (with Hawaiian music). Every song was mixed with a Latin beat, which turned out to be a story of success.

After the success with his trio in the sixties, Irving Fields went back working as a solo pianist on cruise ships again, where he sailed the whole world, and finally settled as a music entertainer in restaurants, from 2004 six nights a week in Nino’s Tuscany, Manhattan. This would become the place, where he started his second career.

In the last decade, several films appeared about Fields playing piano on YouTube. These films form a good impression of his talent, wisdom, and humor. Although Irving Fields was not a user of a computer or the Internet, he did compose the YouTube theme song.

Regarding my research about the influence of Jewish tunes in American popular song, I contacted Irving Fields, and then I received several handwritten letters from him. At my birthday March 2010, I met Irving Fields and his lovely wife Ruth in person in Nino’s Tuscany restaurant, where he entertained the guests with his music. From my letters, he knew that I should visit him this special evening. To my surprise, he welcomed me with a newly composed personal anniversary song. When listening to his music and talking to him, I knew that I was close to one of the last persons, already in his nineties, who could tell me first-hand about the history of popular music in the Tin Pan Alley period before the second World War.

Irving Fields and Niels Falch at Nino’s

Of course, I also asked him about his secret for longevity, and he replied with more than ten rules. The first three rules for longevity are; (1) Have a sense of humor (you’ll never get ulcers), (2) Think of these three magic letters before you make a decision: L.T.D. Look, Think and Do, and (3) Be the first to say “hello” with a smile on your face and a friendly glow. Following these rules during his life, Irving Fields became ultimately 101 years young.

Even U.S. President Donald J. Trump admired Irving Fields, and shared one of his secrets for longevity: “Irving has said that work is a blessing, especially when you like your work. He loves his work, and that love is evident in his music. Irving is a great pro.”

Irving Fields will be remembered as the pianist who blended bagels and bongos, although he never had a way to play a bagel…

You can listen to over 30 recordings by Irving Fields on the Recorded Sound Archives website by clicking here.

RSA Guest Blogger, Niels Falch, is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is currently writing a dissertation on the influence of Jewish music in American popular songs.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

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By Benjamin Roth-Aroni, July 25, 2017 1:31 pm

There was a “joke” in the cantorial world that “If you can’t get Koussevitzky, get Aroni!”  Personally, I think Aroni (my dad) had a better voice.

His voice instructor and many others told him that he could have been, or should be an opera singer, but he loved being a cantor too much.

His voice didn’t age noticeably from his first recordings, specifically The Grape Song recorded in 1950, to his last recording Kohanecha Yilb’shu Tzedek recorded in 1990.

Both recordings can be heard on the RSA website, along with 34 other recordings by Cantor Zvee Aroni, just one of over 260 cantorial voices to choose from in the Cantorial Voices Collection.