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Okay -- since so many of you find music a key aspect of not only your lives in general, but also of the movie scene...and, more specifically, the Balto movie scene, I thought I might share with you a new and interesting (and hopefully fun and entertaining) topic.


The year the first Balto movie is set is obviously 1925...reflecting the actual events that occurred in the real town of Nome (and across the actual Alaskan frontier) back in January and early February of 1925. Then, just as now, music was very much at the forefront of popular culture, though you would recognize rather little of it. For teenagers and young adults in the 1920s, dance halls and social gatherings featuring dance music were "all the rage", and the forms of music which were most popular in the United States, and its territorial holdings (of which Alaska was one at the time, having not become a state officially until 1959), included ragtime and Dixieland jazz, American blues music (specifically African-American blues of the deep south), bluegrass, some orchestral music, and nascent forms of what would later become swing. And there were several dance steps which were popular during the era (the Charleston, the Foxtrot, the old waltz, the tango, etc.. Ref: http://www.1920-30.com/dance).


Now, Billboard Magazine, the famous music industry trade magazine, existed during the time, but the firm did not start charting music formally until the 1930s. Therefore, there is no hard, definitive ranking of popular music before that time which cannot be interpreted in various ways. But I DID come up with several references to top fifty hits and so on of the time. I have linked them below, along with a selection of the best "top twenty" of the time. Included with them are YouTube video links, so that you can hear original recordings of these songs from the time!


THIS is what children, teenagers, young adults and adults were enjoying at the time musically. And while radio did exist in America in the 1920s, it is very likely that it was practically non-existent in Nome, much less in most other places in Alaska. What was available in Nome would have been the local vaudeville theater, which staged plays, musicals and the usual vaudeville acts. The name of the theater escapes me at the moment, but I will look it up and, if I can remember to do so, will post it in this topic later.


I love this music, and the music of this era. Having spent some time working in professional FM radio, and also just because I do love music (and have rather eclectic tastes in that), I am just drawn to this stuff. Plus it's fun to imagine what it would have been like to be back in Nome (or anywhere in the world) at that time when this stuff was all the rage!


Some of these songs you may recognize by their title or melody, as they have managed to survive down through time either because they're just that catchy, or because of the novelty of them. Others will sound to you like something out of an old Disney or Merry Melodies/Looney Tunes short cartoon (especially the really old black & white ones). Enjoy! And hey - if this information can help you for ideas for augmenting fan fictions or other fan creations, then by all means, have at it!


Reference links at the bottom of the playlist...(this playlist was drawn from the first reference link below. I also included a song called "The Titanic", listed as #21, for obvious reasons -- the 100th anniversary of the tragic sinking of that ship is coming up THIS weekend!). There are only twenty songs here but one song, "All Alone", was listed no less than three times, once where one was listed right after the other, by three different artists. Only the Paul Whiteman version is not linked here, because I could not find a video for it). Some of the artists listed several times. In other cases, some of these songs or tunes have been done or interpreted by MANY different artists at the time, and since that time. And there are a few of the musical styles I listed earlier in this list...


Like I said...enjoy!




The Prisoner's Song by Vernon Dalhart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0tg5u9y2Ps

Sweet Georgia Brown by Ben Bernie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExeHBsrrtww

St. Louis Blues by Bessie Smith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNWs0LsimFs

Tea For Two (Cha Cha) by Marion Harris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSqfP1tVBeE

All Alone by Al Jolson (of "Mammie, it's your little boy, Sammy" fame ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2RI4gLSotc

Yes Sir! That's My Baby by Gene Austin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_j2CaFF56c

Remember by Isham Jones (the linked version is by Franklyn Baur): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgebSTYmX-0

Dinah by Ethel Waters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-fUMepNw8A

See See Rider Blues by Ma Rainey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hel9npw7puM

I'll See You In My Dreams by Isham Jones & Ray Miller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhAGfp4DIbY

All Alone by John McCormack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyvMbiOwqik

Charleston by Paul Whiteman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpUSEz0i_dE

Paddlin' Madelin' Home by Cliff Edwards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaAhE0UBuqE

If You Knew Susie (Like I Know Susie) by Eddie Cantor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0zKqiClt1k

Collegiate by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAOLqVcJtD4

I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle by Bessie Smith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gtgIMtV34

Oh, How I Miss You Tonight by Ben Selvin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPh3JRfG_7I

O! Katharina by Ted Lewis & His Orchestra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1JGB7Z90Ik

Manhattan by Ben Selvin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUPLD0u7BEY

The Titanic by Ernest Van Stoneman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skSUX7pNmSU



REFERENCES:
In the second reference below, were you so inclined, you can actually find MP3s for sale on Amazon.com...linked on the page!

http://tsort.info/music/yr1925.htm

http://www.musicvf.com/1925.year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_in_music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1925_songs

Great topic! I do enjoy this kind of music.

Thanks! Well, I thought it would take things in a bit of a new and fun direction, given how...HEAVY...things have been of late around here...



After all...these are the songs that would have been known to the likes of Dr. Curtis Welch, Governor Scott Bone, mushers like Leonhard Seppala, Gunnar Kaasen and Wild Bill Shannon, etc.! And, in theory, to the fictional humans of the animated version of Nome (and I suppose the fictional or fictionalized dogs as well...lol)

EDIT:
Note, by the way, that the video for the Charleston features an old video reel which gives instruction on how to DO the dance named for the song. lol And while the instruction moves a lot slower than the actual dance did, it is a curious and amusing piece to watch! Maybe someone might actually learn the dance (which is not actually all that easy to do...it's a bit of a challenge!)

NOTE TO SELF:

Jersey, you crazy fool you...when are you ever gonna learn that posting topics that have a lot of information in them...especially information you took the time to research, organize and post...are not going to generate hardly anything more than quick, cursory visits? That you'll be shocked when responses actually DO appear.

When?


(Thanks, Mighty, for posting a response and including it in the recent fan news on Balto Source. At least that's something...)

You're welcome. It's a shame, it's a great topic.

I keep trying...

...Why, I'll never figure out. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. *Shrug*

JC, I find this topic very interesting and informative! I'm sorry you don't get a lot of response...

But still, great topic! Maybe I will use this information one day if I ever write a fanfiction for Balto, (or even another movie) in the same time period!

That's very kind of you, Wolfox. Thank you very, very much for noticing and taking the time to comment.

You're welcome!

Oh, that is a real nostalgia. My mom listened to such music in the past.

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