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Classic and neglected recordings from the 1920s, 30s and 40s

Tonight we find an old cowhand, a cricket celebration, a brilliant vocal mimic and we join a search for a musician who plays just about everything and wears a size 37 suit!

The Archive is a celebration of masterpieces and forgotten gems from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Recordings which saw the great stars of popular music and instrumentalists of the day stepping up to the microphone and perform exactly what we hear today with no way of correcting errors or eccentricities. We don't or can't look back further than the artifical barriers we've set ourselves -- the beginnings of rock'n'roll perhaps, the Beatles era, flower-power or Punk. The place we don't go back beyond. But tonight we enjoy tracks by The Sunshine Boys, Burl Ives, Billie Holiday and Mary Martin from this archive as Russell Davies opens up that glorious hinterland of older music, incidentally playable now in far better sound quality than was available at the time.

57 minutes

Last on

Mon 31 Jul 2017 23:00

Music Played

  • Nat King Cole

    You're The Cream In My Coffee

    • Time For Tea.
    • 15.
  • Sunshine Boys

    When I Take My Sugar to Tea

    • The Sunshine Boys.
    • 2.
  • Frankie Trumbauer

    I'm An Old Cowhand

    • Jack Teagarden Volume III.
    • 5.
  • Burl Ives

    The Big Rock Candy Mountain

  • Mel Blanc

    I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat

    • Britain's First Number Ones 1945-52 CD3.
    • 8.
  • Sammy Davis Jr.

    The Way You Look Tonight

    • The Capitol Collector's Series.
    • 2.
  • Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians

    Singing In The Bathtub

    • Single.
    • 2.
  • Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra

    Sweethearts On Parade

    • You Better Know It.
    • 4.
  • Al Bowlly With The Henderson Twins And Ken Snakehips Johnson And His West Indian

    It Was A Lover And His Lass

    • Say, Don't You Remember?.
    • 22.
  • Lord Beginner

    Victory Test Match

    • London Is The Place For Me: Trinidadian Calypso In London, 1950-1956.
    • 1.
  • Mary Martin

    A Wonderful Guy (South Pacific)

    • American Musical Theater Volume 3.
    • 6.
  • Teddy Grace

    What Used To Was Used To Was (Now It Ain't)

    • Turn OnThat Red Hot Heat.
    • 9.
  • Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra

    I'm Looking For A Guy Who Plays Alto And Baritone, And Doubles On Clarinet, And

    • Beat The Band To The Bar.
    • Living Era.
    • 18.
  • Ambrose and His Orchestra

    Big Ben's Saying Goodnight

    • Love Is The Sweetest Thing.
    • 8.

Broadcast

  • Mon 31 Jul 2017 23:00