To mark Labour Day, we trace a line from quiet graft to collective thunder: Stanley Kirkby’s “The Farmer’s Boy” (1912, Beka-Grand-Record) opens with rural work ethic and upward hope; Alan Turner’s “The Village Blacksmith” (Victor) hammers out craft pride and debtless independence; and Chaliapin’s “Dubinushka” (HMV DA 621, 1924)…
Tag: 78rpm

International Relations
This week on Three Tune Tuesday, we’re taking a trip across borders with an “International Relations” theme — but not the kind fought with guns and flags. Instead, we follow how early 20th-century popular music imagined, borrowed, and sometimes outright distorted the sounds of “foreign” places. From the faux-exotic fox-trot…
Music we Learned from Cartoons
This week’s Three Tune Tuesday isn’t about concert halls or high culture. It’s about the tunes we first met through Bugs Bunny in drag, Elmer Fudd in a horned helmet, and Daffy Duck pounding a piano. Music we learned from cartoons. Fantasmagorie
Non Sousa Marches
This week on Three Tune Tuesday, we’re marching to a different beat — and it’s definitely not Sousa’s. We’ve lined up three bold, cheeky, and slightly irreverent marches that trade rigid patriotism for a wink and a grin. From the circus-crazed chaos of Entry of the Gladiators, to the clapping,…
Sousa Marches
This week on Three Tune Tuesday, we dive into the world of Sousa marches — not just as music, but as cultural artifacts. From the bold nationalism of The Stars and Stripes Forever to the disciplined dignity of Semper Fidelis, and finally to the unexpectedly comedic afterlife of The Liberty…