Posts tagged: vintage

The Pop Before Pop: Vintage Sounds for Father’s Day

By , June 13, 2025 7:00 pm

When you think of “pop music,” you might imagine slick beats and catchy hooks. But rewind a century, and “pop” meant something quite different. In the 1920s and 1930s, popular music was the heartbeat of family living rooms, broadcast radios, and record players spinning 78rpm discs.

This Father’s Day, we invite you to step into a musical time machine with the Recorded Sound Archives and celebrate the vintage voices that defined what “dad music” sounded like back then—whether it was crooning love songs, swinging jazz, or toe-tapping novelty tunes.

What Was “Pop Music” in the 1920s–30s?

Popular music in the early 20th century reflected the tastes of a growing middle class. Songs from Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, and vaudeville were chart-toppers before the Billboard charts even existed. Fathers of the era—whether relaxing with a pipe and phonograph or whistling on the way to work—likely knew these melodies by heart.

Featured Recordings from the RSA

Here are a few timeless tracks from the RSA collection that capture the sound of an earlier generation of fathers:

Gene Autry – “Back in the Saddle Again
Label: Columbia, 1939
America’s beloved singing cowboy brought joy to fathers and children alike. Autry’s Western charm and wholesome storytelling made him a staple in households across the country.

Billy Murray – “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
Label: Victor, 1927
Billy Murray’s spirited delivery made him one of the most recorded artists of the early 20th century. This cheerful tune was perfect for sing-alongs and whistling dads alike.

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra – “Whispering
Label: Victor, 1920
One of the earliest big band recordings to gain massive popularity, this instrumental hit set the stage for dance hall music and the rise of jazz-inspired pop.

Cal Stewart – “Uncle Josh in a Department Store
Label: Victor, early 1900s
In this comical monologue, Uncle Josh recounts his first chaotic encounter with a department store—getting lost, confused, and overwhelmed by the bustle of city shopping. It’s a timeless “dad out of his element” moment that still hits home today.

Fats Waller – “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie
Label: Victor, 1936
Waller’s charismatic voice and playful piano brought warmth and wit to the music dads loved. This song strikes a perfect balance between humor and heartfelt.

Honoring the Sounds of Fatherhood

Music has always been part of the soundtrack of fatherhood. Whether your dad played Glenn Miller on vinyl or you’re a father yourself rediscovering these vintage gems, we hope these songs bring a smile and spark some nostalgic joy this Father’s Day.

Explore more recordings on the Recorded Sound Archives website today!

Recently Added to Research Station (Spring 2019)

By , June 6, 2019 6:00 pm

Recently Added to Research Station 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.

Boca Magazine highlights FAU Sound Archives Collection

By , June 28, 2013 2:49 pm

In a small room on the fifth floor of FAU’s Wimberly Library, zippered bags clutch dozens of record sleeves of vintage children’s music, relics from another time. There’s Bongo, a circus bear unicycling on a tightrope and voiced by Dinah Shore. There’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” whose record sleeve depicts just that. There’s the Three Billy Goats Gruff, Pinocchio, Little Toot and Humpty Dumpty. One album cover, featuring Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird, includes a pencil-written note in the margin: “To: Dick Hertz. Birthday, Jan. 20, 1951. From: Mommy.”

These forgotten treasures are currently the domain FAU’s Recorded Sound Archives (RSA), which began in 2009 as an extension of its popular Judaica Sound Archives; nowadays, the institution restores and digitizes lost and important music of all kinds. These recently obtained children’s record sleeves, their once-vibrant cover art damaged by flood and mold from Hurricane Sandy, are mostly second copies from the vast collection of Peter Muldavin, the world’s foremost expert on vintage children’s records. When his Long Island storage facility suffered storm damage, he donated its contents – 786 records – to the RSA, whose passionate archivist, Ben Roth, is a friend. Some of the 78 rpm records date back to the 1920s, bearing price tags of a quarter a piece.

The restoration business, on Roth and company’s end, is a long and painstaking one. They are still in the process of entering all the data, with plans to release some of their results through their website starting in January. Roth showed me a bit of the RSA’s fascinating restorative process, some of whose accoutrements look like something out the old Mousetrap game. First, the records are dipped, like strawberries in chocolate, in a motorized tank devised for cleaning jewelry, in which ultrasonic waves eliminate the ingrained dirt. Then they are positioned in front of an industrial hair dryer haphazardly duct-taped into position on a metal stand – an appropriately primitive way of cleaning these analog goodies.

As for the damaged, crackly sound of the records, that can be polished by more modern means – Sony’s Sound Forge computer software. The sleeves have been photographed and inventoried for digital restorations, but unfortunately the originals in the zipper bags will be discarded – their damage is too severe.

If you make an appointment, you may be able to listen to some of these recordings in the RSA’s headquarters, while admiring the collection’s vintage turntables, including an entirely hand-cranked 1911 Victrola and a 1924 credenza model that Roth says “cost more than a car” at the time of its manufacture.

Link to original blog post: http://www.bocamag.com/blog/2013/06/28/record-time/

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