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Order Flapper Fox Trots CD

High brow was in full flower in the twenties. But the flappers got down and dirty with jazz — or rather, the white, refined version of that improvisational jamming — in elegant (or just plain gaudy) ballrooms or right in their own living rooms. They danced the Charleston, the Black Bottom, the Fox Trot, Tango, and all sorts of exotic steps.

The music that became popular in the twenties and developed further in the thirties, raised the hackles of the conservative few just as rock and roll and its successors have done in our time. In The Ladies’ Home Journal for August 1921 the question was posed, “Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?” Mrs. Marx E. Oberndorfer, National Music Charman, General Federation of Women’s Clubs, answered vigorously in the affirmative:

[Jazz is] that expression of protest against law and order, that bolshevik element of license striving for expression in music. . . . dancing to Mozart minuets, Strauss waltzes, and Sousa two-steps certainly never led to the corset check-room, which holds sway in hotels, clubs, and dance halls. Nor would the girl who wore corsets in those days have been dubbed ‘old ironsides’ and left a disconsolate wallflower in a corner of the ballroom. . . . Such music has become an influence for evil.

a worse evil than the saloon used to be. Those moaning saxophones and the rest of the instruments with their broken, jerky rhythm make a purely sensual appeal. All of us dancing teachers know this to be a fact. . . . The music written for jazz is the very foundation and essence of salacious dancing. The words also are often very suggestive, thinly veiling immoral ideas.

Early in the decade, the radio was more novelty than broadcast medium. Stringing a hundred feet of wire in the back yard in order to pick up some dim amateur broadcast on a crystal set did not lend itself to musical entertainment. Of course, there was the player piano and the Victrola. The youngsters especially would purchase the latest tunes at the local record store, bring them home, roll up the rug, crank up the Victrola and dance.

As the decade progressed, the radio rapidly developed, gaining amplification that made it viable for home entertainment. In those early days, the fare was pretty poor, since most of the professionals were wary of performing in front of a microphone. Even so, the radio could provide clarity of tone the talking machine couldn’t match. You couldn’t hear Galli-Curci on the radio, but what you did hear sounded more like real music than any phonograph could offer.

In 1925, with the introduction of the electric recording process and the orthophonic Victrola, the phonograph could offer much better sound, but even so, its popularity declined. Dance halls with live bands abounded, and the radio had begun carrying broadcasts of top bands.

Following are a few selections from the late teens through the thirties. I have also compiled an audio CD which includes most of these songs. Go to the bottom of the page for more information.

(The photo to the left features the Bobby Heath Review, the source of “Roll ’em Girls, Roll ’em”)

If you have RealAudio 3.0 or higher installed (or a compatible player) and the music doesn’t play for you, please let me know. Some systems seem to mis-read the metafile. You can try direct access (download takes about 3 minutes) by typing the music file name into the location bar, changing the extension to .ra (instead of .ram). The file name should appear on your status bar when you point to the associated play button. Be sure to use the complete URL — http://bassocantante.com/flapper/music/[file].ra

Crazy Rhythm
Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra

Black Bottom / Birth of the Blues
Ohman and Arden & their orchestra

Evening Star
Irving Aaronson & His Commanders

My Blue Heaven
Gene Austin

Yes, We Have No Bananas
Great White Way Orchestra, Billy Murray vocal

Roll ’em Girls, Roll ’em
Billy Murray

Speedboat Bill
Ray Noble & the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra

Crazy Words, Crazy Tune
Irving Aaronson & His Commanders

Chloe (Swamp Song)
All Star Orchestra (vocal - Franklyn Baur)

Doin’ the Raccoon
George Olsen & his Music

Bye Bye Blackbird
George Olsen & his Music

Put Away a Little Ray of Golden Sunshine
George Olsen & his Music

Ha-Cha-Cha
Rudy Vallée & his Connecticut Yankees

Turn Off Your Light, Mr. Moon Man
Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth

You’se a Viper
“Stuff” Smith and his Onyx Club Boys (vocal by Jonah Jones)

The Flapper Fox Trots CD contents are shown below. The price is $10.00 (USD) plus shipping: $3.00 (USA), $5.00 outside the US (cash or international money order in US funds for orders outside the US). Orders placed in the US and countries supported by Google Checkout may pay online with Visa or MasterCard. To order by mail, simply send a note stating how many copies of the Flapper Fox Trots CD you want, along with your check or money order and shipping information to:

OR — forego the disk, jewel case, artwork, etc. Download the mp3 version for $8.00. You will receive download instructions within 24 hours of receipt of payment (unless I'm on vacation or something).

Cautionary notes:

1. Flapper Fox Trots CD and mp3 sets are made from original 78 rpm recordings. I have used minimal noise reduction. The recordings are not pristine; you will hear needle noise, just as a flapper would have heard it. The recordings do not sound like a modern studio-made CD.
2. If you order the download version, be sure to e-mail me WITH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS to get instructions for download. Google Checkout seems to lose e-mails sent through their system, then customers are mad at me because they didn't receive the download instructions.
3. In any case, if you don't receive expected information from me by e-mail, check your spam folder (it may be online, so check there, too). On several occasions I've dealt with merchants who sent info in good faith only to have my sbcglobal.net spam filter snatch it. I've learned to check that folder if something goes missing.

Choose your option from the drop-down menu, then click the “Buy Now” button