Life Goes To A Party

This is one of those collections that inspired me to seek out more of the same music. It's tough to cram an entire decade of popular music into 20 songs, but I think this Volume 1 set shows a terrific effort (unlike Volume 2). One of my next acquisitions was the Art Deco set of Fred Astaire, Dorsey's Clambake Seven, as well as some Larry Clinton. Are there many songs that match Bea Wain's energy on Martha, or Edythe Wright on Tommy Dorsey's The Music Goes 'Round And Round? ... From Allmusic.com, "The 1930s were a tumultuous decade, and the record business almost went under after the stock market crash of 1929 and the Depression that gripped the nation. But in adverse times America still wanted to be entertained, and Victor provided much of the soundscape for that decade. This first of two volumes features escapist fare like Bing Crosby's "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," Leo Reisman's optimistic "Happy Days Are Here Again," Fred Astaire's "We're in the Money," Cole Porter's "You're the Top," Tommy Dorsey's "The Music Goes 'Round and Around," and Kate Smith's patriotic flag-waver "God Bless America." But it was also the beginning of jazz taking the nation by storm, with tracks like Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," Benny Goodman's "Life Goes to a Party," Meade "Lux" Lewis' "Honky Tonk Train Blues," Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade," and Bunny Berigan's "I Can't Get Started with You" counted in the mix. And great torch songs like Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" and Mae West's (with Duke Ellington) "My Old Flame," along with infectious novelties like Wayne King's "Josephine" and Maurice Chevalier's "Mimi," help to give the big picture of the decade in this marvelous collection. Transfers are still a bit grainy, as these recordings were still a good decade and a half away from the invention of magnetic tape, but nothing sounds like a battered 78 on here either." I would suggest that sometimes a battered 78 can still sound good. Scans of the covers included. Enjoy. +

Tracks

1. Happy Days Are Here Again
2. Cooking Breakfast For The One I Love
3. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
4. Mimi
5. Stardust
6. We're In The Money
7. Jitter Bug
8. My Old Flame
9. You're The Top
10. The Music Goes 'Round And 'Round
11. Honky Tonk Train Blues
12. Josephine
13. Honeysuckle Rose
14. I Can't Get Started
15. Life Goes To A Party
16. The Donkey Serenade
17. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
18. Martha
19. Moonlight Serenade
20. God Bless America