I’m going crazy with digitizing right now. I’ll start posting some of this stuff soon, maybe this weekend. Are there any Tony Martin fans out there? Apparently my grandpa was one, or at least went on a Tony kick. I just digitized over 10 records of his show for Bourjois. Right now I’m doing a bunch of “Your Hit Parade” shows, which are really fun. Most of these records are in pretty good shape, so it won’t take me long to get them ready to post.
The death of my 33.3rpm motor has actually turned out to be a good thing. I can record records in less than half the time on 78, and there doesn’t seem to be any loss from changing the speed digitally. I’d still like to get the 33.3 fixed, but it’s not a priority. Now, if the 78 goes out too… but I won’t even think about that possibility.
Anyway, just keep watching this space! And if you want to listen to some tunes to get you into the Christmas spirit, check out these posts from last year: Christmas 1946, Christmas 1945.
Didn’t see any ‘Your Hit Parade’ shows in the Playlist – are these extras?
My grandpa didn’t label the “Your Hit Parade” records with the program title, and I only recently figured out what they are. In the playlist they’re discs 40-47, 54, 55, and 82 (I think). So far I’ve digitized 40-47.
I’m not sure how many totally complete shows I’ll have. I haven’t listened through them all at the proper speed yet. From the little bit I’ve heard so far, it seems like it was probably a 30-minute show, which means 2 sides. Most of the time, my grandpa put two-sided programs on two separate records and unfortunately there are several missing records right around all the Your Hit Parade discs. Hopefully I’ll still have some complete shows, but I won’t know until I start listening and trying to put them together, which I hope to start over the next few days. Do you know of any sources that list what songs were in the program on what date?
Yes I do. The Tobacco Lists online. I’ve verified over a hundred YHP programs in the last month or so.
http://tobaccodocuments.org/atc/
In the search terms enter Your Hit Parade and sort by Ascending date. All the documents are there – you might have to fish around a little bit to find a specific. If you get stuck send me an email.
Mike