The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

92 years ago tonight ( 29 October 1923). "Running Wild" opened on Broadway.
It was predicted that "Old Fashioned Love" would be the big hit. While it became a popular song, nothing could compare with the phenomenon that would grow in the coming months (almost 2 years) with The Charleston. In honor I posted the Arthur Gibbs recording made almost 3 weeks before the show opened. The B side of course

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksk84xezmvQ

Thank you! Nicely done. Nice C-4 there next to the Orthophonic too btw.

Considering what a big hit the Charleston was, it is surprising how few copies seem to have survived, at least here in the UK. Occasionally one turns up on eBay and makes good money, but a friend got lucky recently and found a good copy in a junk shop for £1.

It had only taken him 45 years of searching!

Valecnik wrote:Thank you! Nicely done. Nice C-4 there next to the Orthophonic too btw.

You are welcome and Thank you,
I have some videos of the C-4 playing Needle Types and Viva-Tonals.
I will be posting some more Needle Types in the near future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ5leHVWENQ (14047L Bessie Couldn't Help It)

epigramophone wrote:Considering what a big hit the Charleston was, it is surprising how few copies seem to have survived, at least here in the UK. Occasionally one turns up on eBay and makes good money, but a friend got lucky recently and found a good copy in a junk shop for £1.

It had only taken him 45 years of searching!

Very good point!
One of my own theories is that The Charleston was kept by the original owners or kept getting played till it wore out or was accidentally broken or even pulled from the stack by the original owners children then played out. The Charleston saw a resurgence in the 30s, (The birth of Swing reworked lots of Hot Jazz), then again in the 40s (Flapper and Sheik mid-life crisis) and then finally again in the early 1950s (Mama, Teach Me to Do the Charleston!). I believe when a stack of "old" records were given away or thrown out The Charleston stayed around and could therefore been more likely to get broken or abused.

It took me quite a few years to find my first copy of Whiteman as well, after finding more than half a dozen, now I still pick up copies for friends. As a challenge I am collecting all of the 1920's recordings of the Charleston - I am up to about 20 or so but since you are from the UK, I am still looking for a copy of the Savoy Orpheans' version. I love the spoken intro about the "New syncopated rhythm"

It was the Savoy Orpheans version that my friend found.
I also like the California Ramblers recording on the Bell label, which I have saved from YouTube, but the prospects of finding that disc in the UK are somewhere between nothing and no chance.

How did you get that shirt printed up???

a12548 wrote:How did you get that shirt printed up???

I bought it and other record label t-shirts on ebay from oxamoxa. He does not have any Needle Type shirts listed currently, but he might have more.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/oxamoxa/m.html? ... 7675.l2562