Showing 1 - 25 of 137
Artist: Siti Binti Saad
Saad was a legendary taraab singer who could sing in Swahili, Arabic, and Hindustani, making her a favorite from Africa to India. She was discovered as an amateur vocal accompanist and became the first East African to make commercial recordings. Between 1928 and 1939, she was so successful that recording studios were built on the island of... [+] Read More
Artist: Os Namorados
An early bossa nova group arranged and led by João Donato, Os Namorados weren't around for very long, though they did introduce the bossa nova beat on their 1953 song "Eu Quero Um Samba." Formed from the ashes of two other Brazilian samba groups (Os Modernistas and Namorados da Lua), Os Namorados recorded only one self-titled EP, released on 78... [+] Read More
Artist: Cairo Club Orchestra
The hot jazz, blues, and swing of the 1920s, '30s, and '40s has been brought to Australia by the Melbourne-based Cairo Club Orchestra. Led by trumpet player and musicologist Peter Milley, the group remains committed to recapturing the musical magic of the past. Comprised of members of the American Society of Twenties Orchestras, the Cairo Club... [+] Read More
Artist: Robert Armstrong
A love for comics and 78 rpm records combined to envelop Armstrong in the Cheap Suit Serenaders. Armstrong was active in the San Francisco Bay area underground comics scene, producing such comics as Mickey Rat and The Couch Potatoes. Finding that fellow cartoonist Robert Crumb also liked music from the '20s and '30s, Armstrong pulled in old... [+] Read More
Artist: Hal Aloma
Hal Aloma is one of the most versatile and popular Hawaiian artists. First signed because of his amazing abilities as "King of the Steel Guitar," the very young Aloma led his own orchestra and recorded albums of 78 rpm records. Later, he recorded several LPs on the Dot label. These are not difficult to find, and most feature his singing as well... [+] Read More
Artist: Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman (1891-1945) of Killavil, Sligo county, Ireland, is one of the seminal figures in Irish and Irish-American traditional music. He came to the United States in 1914 and became a successful performer of Irish music in vaudeville and variety theaters across America. He settled in New York City, where Irish music was in great demand by... [+] Read More
Artist: Connolly & Len Obrien
The trio of Tipperary accordionist Paddy O'Brien, fiddler Seamus Connolly, and pianist Charlie Lennon joined forces in 1973 to record The Banks of the Shannon, a landmark date in the history of traditional Irish music. O'Brien was perhaps the best known individually -- a series of 78 rpm discs he recorded in 1954 spotlighted his unique style of... [+] Read More
Artist: Marika Ninou
Marika Ninou was one of the leading Greek vocalists during the early-'50s. Her 78 rpm recordings provided a voice for the compositions of Vasilis Tsitsanis, Manolis Hiotis, Yannis Papaioanou, Yorgos Mitsakis, and Apostolas Kaldaras.
A native of Causasus, Ninou came to Athens in 1948, performing an acrobatic act with her husband and son. Her... [+] Read More
Artist: Ishman Bracey
Ishman Bracey (certain 78 rpm record labels are incorrectly spelled "Ishmon," and this has carried over in some sources) was an early figure in Mississippi Delta blues and an associate of singer Tommy Johnson. Bracey learned guitar from "Mississippi" Ruben Lacy, and starting in the 1910s he played local dances, juke joints, fish fries and other... [+] Read More
Artist: Art Satherly
Talent scout, producer, and A&R legend Art Satherley was born Arthur Edward Satherley on October 19, 1889, in Bristol, England. He came to America in his early twenties, initially settling in Wisconsin, where he worked in a factory that made cabinets for Edison phonographs. Satherley's first real job in the record industry was promoting 78 rpm... [+] Read More
Artist: John Carty
Born in London under the watchful eyes of Irish parents, fiddler John Carty has established himself among the elite in traditional music, and as a staunch supporter of its preservation. Carty developed his love for fiddle, banjo, and flute -- all of which he has mastered -- through his multi-instrumentalist father, who was a member of the... [+] Read More
Artist: Blue Plate Special
The retro-swing band Blue Plate Special formed in Los Angeles in 1994; at the time of releasing their debut single "Now Serving" early the following year, the group's line-up consisted of vocalist/guitarist Kevin Wright, pianist Ken Charlson, trumpeter Phil Topping, saxophonists Joe Martin and Derek Carver, bassist Todd Clark and drummer Adam... [+] Read More
Artist: Claudette Soares
Claudette Soares debuted in radio at age ten on the Clube do Guri show (Rádio Tamoio). After a short while she worked for several radio stations and was given the title Princezinha do Baião (The Little Princess of Baião) for her duet performances with the King of Baião, LuÃs Gonzaga. She recorded the first 78 rpm in 1954 (dedicated to the... [+] Read More
Artist: Lana Bittencourt
Lana Bittencourt, a very versatile singer, recorded samba-canção, bossa nova (starting as of 1960), old Brazilian rock, fossa, seresta, international songs in several different languages, and, continuing to perform until today, also interprets songs by Cazuza and other contemporary Brazilian rock composers. She had success with "Se Alguém... [+] Read More
Artist: Bosom Blues Band
Charlottesville, VA, psych-blues outfit the Bosom Blues Band was led by singer/guitarist Larry McCullough, a local folkie who in 1966 was coaxed into joining the Soothsayers, a local combo influenced by the British beat boom and featuring guitarists Allen Gay and Duck Baker, bassist Harold Grieg, and drummer Dickie Parrish. As McCullough... [+] Read More
Artist: The Cheap Suit Serenaders
Comics and 78 rpm records were the twin poles around which the Cheap Suit Serenaders coalesced. Robert Crumb was (and is) one of the most famous underground cartoonists of all time, having nearly invented the genre. Robert Armstrong was also active in the San Francisco Bay area underground comics scene, producing such comics as Mickey Rat and... [+] Read More
Artist: Ben Abney
"Peg Leg" Ben Abney was one of less than a half-dozen blues pianists from Charlotte, NC, to make records during the 78 rpm era. Abney's total recorded output consists of six sides made in Charlotte on June 22, 1936. If his birth date as listed in the Social Security Death Index is to be trusted, then Abney was 52 at the time of these sessions,... [+] Read More
Artist: Roberto Silva
With Ciro Monteiro, Roberto Silva was one of the developers of the richly syncopated melodic division of samba singing launched by LuÃs Reis and Vassourinha. Some of his biggest hits are "Maria Tereza" (Altamiro Carrilho), "Normélia", "Mandei Fazer um Patuá" (both by Raimundo Olavo/Norberto Martins), "Perdi Você" (Raimundo Olavo/Silva... [+] Read More
Artist: The Downhomers
The Downhomers -- sometimes spelled "Down Homers" or "Down-Homers" -- were an Indiana-based country & western group founded in the early to mid-'40s, who were notable for two members: yodelling lead singer Kenny Roberts and his successor, Bill Haley. Based for a time in Fort Wayne, IN, the group's membership included Roberts on vocals and... [+] Read More
Artist: Dóris Monteiro
Dóris Monteiro has had over 50 years of a career filled with success, both as a singer and as an actress. One of the earliest singers to interpret the bossa nova, Monteiro has recorded over 20 solo LPs.
At 13 (in 1947), Dóris Monteiro had her debut on radio in the novice show Papel Carbono at the Rádio Nacional. She won the weekly contest... [+] Read More
Artist: Eddie LeJeune
The son of influential Cajun accordionist and songwriter Iry LeJeune, Eddie LeJuene was only five years old when his father was killed in a tragic automobile accident. Although most of his knowledge of his father's music came from old 78 rpm records, LeJeune has successfully continued his family' s great musical heritage. According to Time Out... [+] Read More
Artist: Skip Gorman
The songs of the American cowboy and the old West are more than the sounds of Hollywood's Western films for folk singer Skip Gorman. Dressed in a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, spurs and chaps, Gorman sings of campfires, cattle drives, the loneliness of the prairies, and the personalities of the old West.
Gorman has been developing his musical... [+] Read More
Artist: Lionel Cormier and the Sundown P
Cajun accordionist Lionel Cormier was one of the founding members of the Sundown Playboys in 1947. Originally called the Elton Playboys after the Louisiana town where Cormier and his family lived at the time, the group recorded for the first time in 1952. The result was a 78 rpm that featured "Sundown Playboy Special" backed by "Welcome Club... [+] Read More
Artist: Denis Payton
Denis Payton was probably the most visible saxophonist in rock -- and certainly in British rock & roll -- of the mid-'60s. As a member of the Dave Clark Five, his baritone sax helped punch up the rhythm section of innumerable songs by the group between 1962 and 1970, while his harmonica and acoustic guitar contributions greatly embellished the... [+] Read More
Artist: Geraldo Azevedo
Romantic lyricism set to virtuosic guitar playing has made Geraldo Azevedo one of the top pop musicians in Brazil. Many of his compositions, including "Caravana", "Copacabana" , "De Outra Maneira" and "Barcarola Do Sao Francisco", have become Brazilian pop classics.
Born in Petrolina, a small town near the banks of the San Francisco River,... [+] Read More
