Sitting on the Porch

Archive for December, 2010

Ever wanted to follow the evolution of swing bands prior to the big band era?  Do yourself a favor and give this station a listen. Most of the selections are from the era leading up to the polished big band sound, and every now and then you get a chance to hear some of the big stars in their infancy.

On the early side, you get pure 1920′s ragtime, and on the late side you get Bing and a little Sinatra.  The time in between is fascinating – a very young Judy Garland is doing “Swing Mr. Charlie” right now.  Right before that was a Milky Way commercial from what sounds like the late 30′s.  The playlist is really long.

Caution: Rant: In the ragtime bands and through the mid 30′s, there were baritones (euphoniums) in many of the bands, with feature solos.  At some point they got dumped.  Shameful…. Shameful….

For most of my work week, I switch off between this station on Live365 and a Django Reinhardt station on Pandora.

UPDATE: Check out the Cladrite Radio Blog at www.CladriteRadio.Com.

Enjoy!

“I think that’s the real circle of life; Your parents fake their way through it, you fake your way through it, and hopefully you don’t raise a serial killer.”

- Phil Dunphy