A World Famous Writer is having one of his plays read at the upcoming
Brighton Festival this May. (Brighton is in the UK)
The action takes place in 1936 and the play will benefit from some
sound effects, including (possibly) one or two pop songs of the
period.
I've got some Jeanette MacDonald stuff.
Any bright ideas?
Hi probono,
The decade of the 30s was definitely an interesting time in history.
People were struggling to get out of a terrible depression and Europe
was barreling toward war. Oddly enough, the music is primarily upbeat
and optimistic.
It isn't often I get to say something is before my time, anymore, but
1936 *is* before my time. :)
However, I found a long list of popular tunes for that year. While
that's all it is, just a list, many of titles are familiar to me and I
can even hum them and recall a few of the lyrics.
The Top Requested Hits Of 1936
www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Top54-Back/1936.html
Without knowing the play's theme -- love, war, comedy, tragedy, etc.
-- I'm hard put to make definite suggestions. I will mention some of
the biggies, though.
Bing Crosby's 'Pennies From Heaven' from the movie of the same name.
Lyrics are here. It reached #1 on the charts.
Pennies From Heaven
http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/pennvalley/biology/lewis/crosby/pennies.html
How about a Cole Porter tune, sung by Rosemary Clooney? (From the
Show: Red, Hot and Blue 1936)
It's De-lovely
http://www.rosemaryclooney.com/LyricPages/itsdelovely.html
Benny Goodman's 'Goody Goody'
http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/lyrics/g/goody_goody.txt
According to this site, 'Star Dust' might possibly be the biggest of
biggies. "Now celebrating its 75th anniversary, "Star Dust" has lodged
itself deeper in Americans' subconscious than any other popular song.
It is the most-recorded pop tune in history, with at least 1,800
versions; some estimates reach 2,300. And it is surely the only song
that can claim interpreters as diverse as Louis Armstrong, Frank
Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Liberace, Billy Ward and His Dominoes, Artie
Shaw, Arthur Fiedler, John Coltrane, the London Symphony and Fred
Flintstone."
75 years of 'Star Dust'
http://www.freep.com/entertainment/music/star7_20020407.htm
In my search for the tune "The Music Goes Round and Round," I came
across this page which links you to the #1 songs of 1936. The list
provides the name and the performing artist, and those (most of them)
which are underlined link you to a simple page of lyrics, but no sound
files.
#1 Songs of 1936
http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/top1/by_year/1936.html
[A brief note about why I was looking for 'The Music Goes Round and
Round' -- When I was a young'un, I used to watch Lawrence Welk's TV
show, because I really liked the singer Larry Hooper. He had a
wonderfully deep voice and he often sang that song. I'll be humming it
for the rest of the day, I'm sure.]
Thanks for this question and the memories you've brought back to me.
You know where the clarification button is, so feel free to use it if
I've not answered this question to your satisfaction, eh?
Regards,
revbrenda1st
Search strategy:
pop songs 1936
://www.google.ca/search?q=pop+songs+1936&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
discography Bing Crosby
://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=discography+Bing+Crosby&btnG=Google+Search&meta= In Search Of American Popular Song::
ParlorSongs.com In Search Of American Popular Song special articles, a listing of articles history of one of American popular songs greatest illustrators.
http://parlorsongs.com/insearch/insearch.phpHOME |
70s Songs - 1978 Most Popular Songs::
70s songs started out rather mellow and wound up with disco at the end of the 70s. Best 80s Music - 1982 Most Popular Songs
http://hubpages.com/hub/70s-Songs-1978-Most-Popular-SongsHOME |
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Popular songs (& recorded artists) - 1936