Rapidly Rotating Records

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. This little fella, taking a defiant pose, is known by many names depending on where in the country you are, but are most commonly called crayfish. So why is there a picture of a crayfish featured in the playlist for this w...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. On this week’s show, we’ll be celebrating four birthdays; those of Julie Wintz, Juan Llossas, Clark Kessinger and Earl Granstaff. Actually five birthdays, because this is Rapidly Rotating Records’ 25th Anniversary Show! Ha...

Guido Deiro Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? He’s vaudeville star, accordionist and composer Count Guido Pietro Deiro and he starts off this week’s show with his rendition of Hans von Holstein’s tune, “Hong Kong: The Chines...

Mitchell Parish Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? A clue is in the title of this week’s show. He’s lyricist Mitchell Parish and although he’s been heard on the show numerous times before, he’s not had his own birthday segmen...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. So why is a photograph of a cotton field the featured image on thsi week’s Rapidly Rotating Records playlist? Well, because in addition to playing a record by the Brunswick house band called The Cotton Pickers, we have a w...

Clyde Doerr Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. For this week’s edition of Rapidly Rotating Records, we’re back to our usual format and will be having a vocabulary lesson and a “rhythm” segment. We’ll also hear some more from “Sugar” Underwood, take a ride o...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. On this week’s edition of Rapidly Rotating Records, we have no birthday salutes and no segment topics. We are, however, having a “listening party” where I’ll be playing individual random records from my “to be processed” s...

USS Los Angeles Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. This is a photograph of the airship USS Los Angeles in Lakehurst, New Jersey on August 25, 1927 when, due to changing weather and wind currents, she did her famous “headstand.” So why is this the featured p...

Charles Dornberger Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? He’s multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and composer, Charles Dornberger and he’s getting a birthday segment on this week’s show. In other segments, we’ll run some numbers,...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Listeners of a certain age==that is to say my age–may recognize this figure as the personification of the famous “bouncing ball.” The bouncing ball is a virtual device used in motion picture films and video recordings to v...

RKO Radio Picture Logo Antenna Atop The World Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. So why is there a graphic of a giant radio transmitter tower atop the world for this week’s edition of Rapidly Rotating Records? Well, because May is National Radio Month and i...

The Shady Lady B&B Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. So why is there a sign for the Shady Lady Ranch announcing this week’s episode of Rapidly Rotating Records? Well, you’ll find out in the third segment of the show, after segments about Jazzbos and Jo...

Billy Mayerl Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? He’s one of my favorite pianists and composers, Billy Mayerl (pronounced “Merrill”) and you’ll hear him perform one of his super syncopations in the fourth segment of this week’...

George Dewey Washington Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? Well, it says so right on the photograph, so the question then becomes, “Do you know who George Dewey Washington is?” If not, you’ll find out in the first segment of...

W. C. Fields and Charles Sellon as Mr. Muckle the Blind Man in It’s A Gift Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. One of my favorite films of all time is W. C. Fields’ “It’s A Gift” featuring Charles Sellon as Mr. Muckle, the blind man, pictured above with his...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? He’s vibraphonist Cal Tjader, famous in the 1960s and ’70s for his Latin jazz fusion music. So what is he doing headlining the Rapidly Rotating Records playlist? Well, listen to the final se...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who these fellows are? They’re Wilhelm Levkowitz and Isadore Levkowitz, but better known by their stage names, Willie and Eugene, the Howard Brothers. You’ll hear all about them and hear two sides by Willie, as...

Linus Yale, Jr. Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? He’s not a musician, composer or entertainer. So why is he the featured image on this week’s RRR playlist? Well, listen to the fourth segment of the show to find out! In othe...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this cartoon character is? Many of my fellow Baby Boomers will recognize him as the evil “Master Cylinder” from Felix The Cat cartoons. But why in the world has he taken over the RRR playlist? Well because...

Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? He’s American impresario and producer Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. and this week’s is an “All Ziegfeld” edition of Rapidly Rotating Records, with songs featured in many of the...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who these fellows are? Regular listeners to the show will probably recognize them as The Shannon Quartet and they’ll be heard in the third segment of the show in a couple of uncharacteristic recordings. In othe...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who this fellow is? You hear him regularly on the show and he probably made more records during the 78 Era than any other bandleader. He is, of course, violinist and bandleader Ben Selvin and his is one of four...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. So why is there a map of Hindoostan in the playlist of this week’s edition of Rapidly Rotating Records? Well, because in the fourth segment of the show, we’re going to take a musical journey to Hindoostan. You’ll learn a l...

Jim Miller and Charlie Farrell Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. Do you know who these fellows are? They are the popular comic vocal duo of Jim Miller and Charlie Farrell and you’ll hear two of their records in the final segment of this week’s edition of R...

Welcome to Glenn Robison’s Rapidly Rotating Records, bringing you vintage music to which you can’t not tap your toes, from rapidly rotating 78 RPM records of the 1920s and ’30s. So why is there a waveform and spectral frequency display as the featured image for this week’s edition of Rapidly Rotating Records? Well, for two reasons. The first has to do with the show’s theme song. The second has to...