Nostalgia Trip: Relive the Golden Age of Florida Tourism Through Vintage Recordings

By , June 23, 2023 6:03 pm
Relive the Golden Age of Florida Tourism Through Vintage Recordings

We’re excited to share with you our latest collection of vintage Florida recordings! If you’re looking for a way to transport yourself to the sunshine state this summer, this is the perfect opportunity. With over 13 recordings featuring the state itself and various cities within it. You’re sure to find something that captures the essence of Florida. Whether you’re a longtime resident or a first-time visitor, these recordings will allow you to experience Florida in a whole new way. So, sit back, relax, and let the sounds of Florida transport you to a time gone by. Close your eyes and let your imagination take you on a journey through the Sunshine State. Imagine if you will the gentle rustling of palm trees, the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore, and the chirping of tropical birds to transport you from your current location to Florida!

Relive the Golden Age of Florida Tourism Through Vintage Recordings

Here are just a few of our favorite recordings from this collection.

  1. Florida by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
  2. Tamiami Trail by Gene Austin
  3. Miami Beach Rhumba by Xavier Cugat & his Orchestra; Aladdin & The Boyd Triplets
  4. Miami by Al Jolson with the Carl Fenton’s Orchestra
  5. Moon Over Miami by Lud Gluskin and his continental Orchestra

Check out our website to relive the golden age of Florida Tourism through vintage recordings and discover the entire collection of Florida recordings within the Recorded Sound Archives.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with what’s new at the RSA!

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, you can apply for Research Station Access


FAU Students, Faculty and Staff can listen to recordings unrestricted by clicking the Research Station icon located in the upper right corner of the website logging in using their FAU NET ID and password.

Discover the Piano and Musicians for World Piano Day!

By , March 29, 2023 4:36 pm
Discover the Piano and Musicians for World Piano Day!

Happy World Piano Day! Piano Day is held on the 88th day of the year in celebration of and reference to the 88 keys on a standard piano. This idea was created by the German pianist and composer Nils Frahm in 2015 “because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener”.

Discover the Piano and Musicians for World Piano Day!

In celebration, here at the Recorded Sound Archives we wanted to share a few videos that we’ve created over the years that showcase the piano and all of its marvelous wonders along with pianists you should know. Enjoy!

Bob Berkman Explains How the Pianola Works

Learn more from one of our featured performers Bob Berkman about how the Pianola Works.

Ben Roth-Aroni Showcasing his Player Piano

Do you think player pianos are a thing of the past? Join Ben Roth-Aroni as he shares some new and old tunes on his player piano at home during National Piano month in September!

Ben Roth-Aroni Shares Piano Rolls

In this playlist, discover different piano rolls played by Ben Roth and learn a little bit of history.

Here are Seven Other Pianists You should Know

  1. Fats Waller
  2. Bob Zurke
  3. Sergei Rachmaninoff
  4. Irving Fields
  5. Duke Ellington
  6. Count Basie
  7. Pete Johnson

Discover Staff Favorites for Women’s History Month

By , March 24, 2023 6:54 pm

Throughout history, women have made significant contributions to the world of music. From the medieval period to the present day,female musicians have overcome social and cultural barriers to become successful composers, performers, and music educators.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, RSA staff has put together seven women musicians you should know.

  1. Ella Fitzgerald
  2. Sarah Vaughan
  3. Babe Zaharias
  4. Shoshana Damari
  5. Dinah Washington
  6. Carmen Miranda
  7. Doris Day

Discover more women musicians within the Recorded Sound Archives by visiting our Women Musicians through time collection.

Discover Staff Favorites from 2022

By , January 13, 2023 3:57 pm

Did you know that FAU Libraries has a sound archive which you can access and listen to recordings for research from the comforts of your own home?  

Last year, the Recorded Sound Archives digitized 710 albums along with 7,421 songs for those to access reaching over 126 countries, and receiving 141,270 hits from all over the world.

As a New Year’s gift and a welcome to the FAU community we wanted to share a few staff favorites from 2022.

Discover Staff Favorites from 2022

  1. Sweet and Low by Amparita Farrar
  2. Songs of the Auvergne by Madeline Grey
  3. Chopin: The Twenty-Four Preludes by Alfred Cortot
  4. Goofus by Phil Harris
  5. Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now by Patience and Prudence; Mark McIntyre Orchestra
  6. Cuidadito Compay Gallo by Henry King and his Orchestra
  7. You Sing That Song to Somebody Else by Henry Archer and his Orchestra
  8. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Bessie Smith
  9. Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’ by Frank Sinatra
  10. If you were my Girl by Perry Como

And let us know in the comments, some of your favorite vintage artists, albums and songs.

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.

FAU Students, Faculty and Staff can listen to recordings unrestricted by logging into the Research Station using their FAU NET ID.

Let’s Talk About Party Records

By , September 19, 2022 3:50 pm

As part of Banned Books week here at FAU Libraries, we wanted to share Party Records. Learn more about these records and why they were made in the video below.

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives , we have one Party record which you can listen to on our website to get a taste of what was deemed obscene at the time.

To listen to this recording visit: https://rsa.fau.edu/album/56743

And let us know in the comments, what are some other banned recordings we should talk about?

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.

FAU Students, Faculty and Staff can listen to recordings unrestricted by logging into the Research Station using their FAU NET ID.

RSA Staff Picks: Our Summer ’22 Favorites

By , August 31, 2022 8:04 pm

Discover RSA staff picks, as summer comes to an end and the fall semester is in full swing this week at FAU Libraries, we thought we’d share RSA Staff Picks: Our Summer ’22 Favorites.

RSA Staff Picks: Our Summer '22 Favorites - List of 15 recordings digitized by RSA Staff members.

Staff Picks: Our Summer ’22 Favorites

  1. There’ll be some change made by Mildred Bailey
  2. If you were but a dream by Frank Sinatra
  3. Somebody loves me by Bing Crosby
  4. Marianne & Goodbye Chiquita by Terry Glikyson and the Easy Riders
  5. Tweedle Dee by Frank Messina and the Mavericks
  6. Isle of Capri by Irving Fazolas Dixielanders & other artists
  7. Ugly Woman by De Paurs Infantry Chorus
  8. The Yellow Roses of Texas by Johnny Desmond
  9. Clementine by John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra & other artists
  10. The Morningside of the Mountain by Hugo Winterhalther and his Orchestra
  11. Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 by Boston Symphony Orchestra
  12. Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks by Boston Symphony Orchestra
  13. Mozart: “Jupiter” Symphony No.41 in C, K. 551 by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra
  14. Take Me In Your Arms and Hold Me by Les Paul & Mary Ford
  15. When Your Lips Met Mine by Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights

And let us know in the comments, what are some of your favorite songs you discovered this past summer?

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.

FAU Students, Faculty and Staff can listen to recordings unrestricted by logging into the Research Station using their FAU NET ID.

Listen to RSA Staff Favorites by Louis Armstrong

By , August 4, 2022 7:09 pm

Happy Birthday, Louis Armstrong! Today would have been Louis Armstrong’s 121st birthday. Did you know that a Jewish immigrant family helped Armstrong buy his first horn?

In a memoir from 1970 titled Louis Armstrong and the Jewish Family in New Orleans, LA the year of 1907 Armstrong described his time working for the Karnofsky family, a local Lithuanian-Jewish family who hired him to do odd jobs for their peddling business.

The jazzman would later write that the Karnofskys treated him as though he were their own child, often giving him food and even loaning him money to buy his first instrument, a $5 cornet which he paid back. (he wouldn’t begin playing the trumpet until 1926). As a sign of his gratitude to his Jewish benefactors, Armstrong later took to wearing a Star of David pendant around his neck until the end of his life in memory of the family who had helped him.

Listen to RSA Staff Favorites by Louis Armstrong

Here are a few RSA staff favorites of Louis Armstrong to get you started:

RSA Staff Favorites by Louis Armstrong

  1. You’re Next
  2. Melancholy
  3. Frankie And Johnny
  4. When the Saints Go Marching In
  5. Satchel Mouth Swing

Celebrate Armstrong’s birthday today by listening to the music behind one of the most influential figures in jazz by visiting the RSA Website: https://rsa.fau.edu/louis-armstrong

And let us know in the comments, what is your favorite Louis Armstrong song?

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.

FAU Students, Faculty and Staff can listen to recordings unrestricted by logging into the Research Station using their FAU NET ID.

Listen to the Donut Song by Burl Ives

By , June 3, 2022 4:09 pm

It’s National Donut Day and on this day one song comes to mind, The Donut Song by Burl Ives. Despite it’s age, this song has a wonderful message about life:

When you walk the streets you’ll have no cares

If you walk the lines and not the squares

As you go through life make this your goal

Watch the donut, not the hole.

Meaning appreciate what you have (the donut), shed your desires, worries and wants (the hole).

You can listen to this song on the Recorded Sound Archives website: https://rsa.fau.edu/track/113310

& let us know in the comments what your favorite type of donut? We’re pretty partial to Boston Cream donuts here in the sound archive.

Listen to Stars and Stripes this Memorial Day Weekend

By , May 27, 2022 2:37 pm

Over the years, whether it was a program about the war or just reminding people to remember and honor our many brave, patriotic fallen heroes, Stars and Stripes has always been playing in the background. Here at the Recorded Sound Archives we wanted to share a Piano Roll of the famous Stars and Stripes Forever March.

Did you also know that the Stars and Stripes Forever March by John Philip Sousa was RCA Victor’s billionth record played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of Serge Koussevitzky?

You can learn more about this achievement by reading the original article post back in 1946.

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives we have digitized this recording which can now be listened to on our website just in time for Memorial Day Weekend.

We hope you have a safe Memorial Weekend and take a moment to remember and honor our many brave, patriotic fallen heroes while listening to this piece.

Yankee Doodle – A Bit of Music History

By , April 19, 2022 3:20 pm

Yankee Doodle” was a well-known song in the New England colonies before the battles of Lexington and Concord, but only after the skirmishes there was it appropriated by the American militia.

Tradition holds that the colonials began to sing the tune as they forced the British back to Boston on April 19, 1775.

By 1777, “Yankee Doodle” had become an unofficial American anthem. After the Revolutionary War, “Yankee Doodle” surfaced in stage plays, classical music, and opera.

You can listen to a few versions of this song here at the Recorded Sound Archives website:

https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12135

https://rsa.fau.edu/album/47376

https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12027

If you’d like to learn more about the history of Yankee Doodle visit the Library of Congress website.

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