For reasons I cannot begin to comprehend...

 For reasons I cannot begin to comprehend, my latest ZIP file is not working.  It wouldn't be possible for me to have less of a notion WHY this is happening.

I assume the file is not opening for anyone else?  What should I do?

All I know to do is to gather my FLAC files into a folder, then choose the ZIP option.  The files are working fine in the folder, but nothing happens after I've zipped them.

Any advice would be appreciated.  There seems to be nothing whatsoever wrong with the individual files.  If they were corrupted, or whatever the term is, they wouldn't be opening in the first place, I wouldn't think.  

I tried reinstalling VLC Player, but I got the message that my PC already has it.  Great, except that the player is not working for these files.  I'm totally stumped.

UPDATE: I just made another zip file (with other FLAC files), and VLC Player is having no problem with it.  So, quite obviously, VLC Player is my default zip file player--and still functioning as such.  Except, that is, for "Vintage Polka Party."

Why would the ZIP function work in one instance and not the other??

UPDATE #2: Timmy has confirmed that the zip is working on both his WMP and VLC player, so the problem (as I suspected, once I'd given the matter clear review) is unique to my PC, and it's because some files have multiple locations.  Thus, my PC doesn't know how to open them.  

Lee

Vintage Polka Party, 1910-1929! "Polka Bum-Cyk-Cyk," "In the Green Grove," "Julinka Polka," "Obertas from Dukla," more!

So, I had a series of vintage polka sides ripped and ready, and I decided to do a post--so, I added three or four tracks, and here we are.

I guesstimated the year of Polka Bum-Cyk-Cyk as 1910, and from comparing the catalog number (not always a reliable method).  A lively, "modern"-sounding polka, the number has vocal refrains which include a standard, strange high female voice which shows up on many a polka side.   And the lively, almost-nonsense chorus seems quite ahead of its time.

The polkas run the gamut from Polish, to Slovenian, to German, to "Bohemian," to Finnish, and a couple of triple-time obereks are in the mix.  I thought I had at least one mazurka, but gazing at the track list, I don't see one.  And I found a photo of the Hoyer Trio on line, but I don't want to get a copyright complaint, so I won't present it.

The musical units include peasant orchestras, village bands, and large brass bands, but there's a nice unity of style throughout the selections.  Some of these are in frequently-played condition (as in, played on a gramophone), so expect some condition issues, though nothing serious.  Oddly enough, the first selection fared best with an aftermarket 2.7 mil stylus--my better (3.0 and 3.5 mil) needles had the record sounding quite distorted in spots.  Which has me suspecting that the grooves are unusually close together for a Victor 78 of this vintage.

A handful of selections have a formal, large-orchestra sound, while most have something (more or less) closer to the commercial sound to arrive come the 1930s.  With the folk performances, there are some amusing errors by way of chord-change glitches, but the musicians typically adjust quickly to these moments and get right back on track.  Nearly all of these feature the usual multiple-strain/multiple-key form, with the modulations usually going to the subdominant or dominant.  "Related" keys, in other words.  Most selections include no segue passages between the modulations.

The "sokol" band is Czech, and the "bandas" are Polish.  Ditto for the orkiestras.  All of these, far as I know, were recorded in the United States--typically, Chicago or New York.  The "concertina" orchestra is likely German.  The Polish polkas and obertas strike my ears as the most complicated, musically (at least in the area of polyphonic ornamentation).

Almost finished right now are two more posts: One of my favorite junk-label LPs (TV Western Themes on Coronet, with only two of the selections actual TV themes!), and eight 1947 Percy Faith tracks which originally appeared on a Majestic 78 album.

Anyway, polka time!! 

DOWNLOAD: Vintage Polka Party 6-2026.zip

Polka Bum Cyk-Cyk-Cyk--Karol Namyslowski's Peasant Orch., circa 1910
Grasshopper Polka--John Lager and Eric Olson, accordion duet (Scandavian, approx. 3/1918)
In the Green Grove--Polka--Lous Solar's Concertina Orchestra, 8/1918

Husia Siusia--Polka--Pulaski Instrumental Trio, 1928

A Dark Forest Around--Polka--Fr. Dukli Wiejska Banda, 1926

Obertas from Dukla--Same

Clarinet Polka--Edw. Krolikowski i. Jego Orkiestra, 1929

Wasa Polka (Finnish)--Maki Trio, 1929

Crawniak--Polka--Deta Orkiestra Ludowa (small folk orch.), 1921
Goraca Krew--Polka--Polska Orkiestra M. Tesmera, 1926

Julinka Polka--Obersteirische Bauerkapelle (Upper Styrian Farmers' Band, 1912 or 1913)
The Wedding in the House of Wilkos--Orkiestra Witkowskiego, 1927

Happy Girl (Polish)--Fr. Dukli Wiejska Banda (The Village Gang), V: Jan Kapalka, 1927

Sokolska Koracnica (Falcon March)--Slovenian--Hoyer Trio, 1927

The Golden Prague--Cleveland Sokol Band, 1926

Lee

More acoustical 78s for May, 2026: 1904/1905-1924: Wilbur C. Sweatman, Joseph C. Smith, Earl Fuller, Victor Military Band

 

Twenty-one acoustical gems to go with the previously-posted I've returned to a previous response curve and EQ (the one I was utilizing on my older editing program) after using a "safe" and easy acoustic(al) bass turnover for much of this year.  The goal of this curve and EQ combination is to bring out (in a dynamically-balanced way) the lowest available frequencies in these already limited-freq. recordings for a full-bodied sound.  I want the audio to have punch, and especially on sides of the very early 1900s.

Hiss suppression is a secondary--not principal--goal, and when we "maximize" the usable content, the upper-end hiss becomes less of a challenge to deal with, anyway.

Some of these have seen the light of blog before, but most likely in uploads which no longer exist in storage!

F.H. Losey's Noisy Bill is a "characteristic" march of 1904, with superb ragtime syncopation.  My Oxford 78 is a 10-inch reissue of a 7-inch Columbia (though, oddly enough, DAHR lists the Oxford as a 7-incher), and I'm happy with the way that the slide trombone and percussion stand out.  This side has some extra hiss, which I figure to be in the pressing itself, as opposed to a result of needle wear.  Then we just forward to 1909 with Prince's Orch.'s outstanding handling of the famous Black and White Rag (George Botsford, 1908).  Though another Columbia reissue on the Oxford label, its fidelity is full and "bassy."  Then to 1917 and Victor and Joseph C. Smith: The lively one-step Umbrellas to Mend, the lower end of which I managed to capture fairly capably.  Then, a robust 1918 one-step, Arabian Nights, as superbly presented by Joseph Knecht's Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra.  Two classic Wilbur C. Sweatman sides follow from the same year, starting with the downright frantic Those Draftin' Blues, which initially sounded like a wild competition between the bandmembers but, after several more listens, comes across like highly-skilled Dixieland.  And I'm guessing that Lucille employs a banjo harp.

Earl Fuller's remarkable 1917 Pork and Beans has seen a CD reissue, though this is my rip--and I'm not aware of any professional release of Fuller's Singapore (1918), which is possibly my favorite Fuller side.  I much prefer Fuller's Rector Novelty Orch. on Columbia to Fuller's Victor "jazz" releases--and, ironically, the Columbias (to my ears) ultimately sound more like jazz, even though not marketed as such.  Marketing frequently only tells part of the story--and, sometimes, a false one.  The deceptively repetitious Singapore features varied (improvised) trombone phrases, interesting bass (bowed double bass, given that Brian Rust list a string bass and not a tuba?), and other subtly altered details which have this superbly syncopated fox trot chugging along in the best streamlined fashion.  As in Dixieland, the cornet is the linchpin instrument, even if the player (whoever he is) doesn't budge from the melody.  Maybe the finest ragtime-to-jazz example ever pressed onto shellac.  It's like a slowed-down Original Dixieland Jazz Band offering, minus most of that group's flourishes.

Applesauce is an unusually lively 1923 number by The Columbians, and the Victor Military Band's 1916 Katinka medley offers much Victor-label bass, and--like so many of this group's 1910s recordings, it anticipates the dance-band sound to become the 78-rpm norm with Joseph C. Smith, Sam Lanin, et al.  The two other sides by the VMB--Peg O' My Heart and Pullman Porters on Parade--are similarly forward-looking.  Allah's Land, by contrast, is very much of its day (1919) but all the more charming as such.  Bandleader Dullio Sherbo was quoted in a contemporary newspaper piece not singing the praises of jazz music, and yet here we have a fine example of what was, for its day, orchestrated jazz.  That is, "written-down" jazz (which many jazz buffs don't regard as jazz, despite the importance of jazz scoring throughout the music's history), and closer to ragtime than jazz, probably, but jazzy enough.  Maybe "jazz-ish" is the word.

Two more excellent Joseph C. Smith sides, plus the Don Richardson (bandleader, songwriter, and country fiddle player) composition Hezekiah (quite aggressive ragtime), and 1906 ragtime banjo picking by the great Vess L. Ossman, performing Neil Moret's (aka, Charles Neil Daniels) classic Silver Heels.  Jump ahead five years, and it's the brilliant Victor Military Band with a big-band-before-big-band-sounding Alexander's Ragtime Band.  My copy is a little choppy, but it's a full-sounding Victor waxing.  Oh! By Jingo is a famous Albert Von Tilzer one-step, irresistibly rendered by (Sam) Lanin's Roseland Band in 1919, the year of its composition.

We close with the catchy "Oriental" fox-trot Suez, composed by Ferde Grofe and Peter De Rose, and a very lovely version of Tea for Two by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago, directed by Don Bestor on 8/28/1924.  Interesting to hear a tune co-written by Grofe presented in classic Grofe/Whiteman fashion.  It seems fitting.

Note: None of the Joseph C. Smith sides in this list appear on the terrific Archeophone two-CD Smith reissue.

DOWNLOAD: More Acoustical 78s for May 2026.zip

Noisy Bill--Columbia Band, 1904-1905

Black and White Rag (Botsford)--Prince's Orch., Jan.-July, 1909

Umbrellas to Mend--One-Step--Joseph C. Smith's Orch., 9/17/1917

Arabian Nights--One-Step--Joseph Knecht's Waldorf-Astoria Orch., 11/29/1918

Those Draftin' Blues--Wilbur C. Sweatman's Original Jazz Band, 8/16/1918

Lucille--Same, 3/19/1919

Pork and Beans--Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orch., 7/19/1917

Apple Sauce--The Columbians--Dance Orchestra De Lux, 2/3/1923

Katinka--Medley--Victor Military Band, c. Edward T. King, 11/26/1916

Allah's Land--(Dullio) Sherbo's Orchestra, 7/18/1919

Oriental Stars--One-Step--Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra

Alexandria--Same

Hezekiah--One-Step (Richardson)--Conway's Band, Dir. Patrick Conway, 9/20/1915

Silver Heels (Moret)--Vess L. Ossman, Banjo with Orch., 1/26/1906

Alexander's Ragtime Band--Victor Military Band, 10/17/1911

Singapore--Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orch., 12/10/1918

Oh! By Jingo--One-Step (Von Tilzer)--(Sam) Lanin's Roseland Orch., 4/28/1920

Peg O' My Heart--One-Step--Victor Military Band, c. Walter B. Rogers, 11/6/1913

Pullman Porters on Parade--Same, 10/9/1913

Suez (Grofe, De Rose)--(Mike) Markel's Orchestra (May, 1922)

Tea for Two--The Benson Orch. of Chicago, Dir. Don Bestor, 8/28/1924

Lee

Eddie Maynard, His Orchestra and Chorus: Fabulous 50's (Promenade 2084)--repost

musicman1979 requested a re-upload of this offering, which seemed like a good idea, and so here it is.  Originally posted in 2020, but with the original upload junked by Workupload some time ago.  This is a revised version of my original text.

This Promenade LP features an overview of the 1950s, credited to bandleader Eddie Maynard, but with no Eddie Maynard to be heard--the usual cheap-label game.  Well, unless that's Eddie on the cover, which I doubt.  For once, we have a budget LP model holding, not major-label LPs, but albums from the very budget label itself--smart move.

So, my job was to figure out where these tracks, reissued here in 1957 or 1958, originally came from.  And I knew this had to be 1957 or 1958 because the liner notes refer to the 50s as "not yet completed" and mention a "man made satellite" (Sputnik or Explorer?) as a new item.  From the notes: "(The 50's) are the years that saw a Republican Administration replace a long-incumbent Democratic one.  Progress in Atomic Research to such an extent that it might prevent us all from witnessing 'The Stupid Sixties.'  Atomic Research devoted to the ways of peace could however change our out-look on this approaching era to such an extent that certainly the 60's will be called 'Stupendous.'"  Interesting and weird liner notes, and at least Promenade provided something beyond a stock back cover.

Anyway, I figured these were all Prom/Promenade tracks (Homes-level deduction, there), and I was mostly correct.  The big exceptions: Because of You, sung by the famous Perry-Como-soundalike vocalist Johnny Kay, best known for his SPC Christmas tracks, and Cry (more on that second track in a moment).  From the Internet Archive:

Finding this was pure luck.  Since the singer sounded so much like Johnny Kay, I plugged "Johnny Kay" and "Because of You" into the IA, and up popped this.  And it's the LP track!  "Popular Records" (not to be confused with the "Popular" Extended Play Records series) was obviously either 1) a Synthetic Plastics Co. sublabel to begin with or 2) a label bought up by SPC after it tanked.  And there's Cry by Larry Foster with the Preston Saniford Orch., and originally issued on the obscure budget label, Cameo (Cameo Records 323).  And Cameo seems to have been in the same label group as Popular Records.

Why Promenade didn't use Loren Becker's version of Cry is a major mystery, and it should have us wondering whether maybe Columbia decided to threaten Prom over its deft copy of Johnny Ray and the Four Lads.  Could that be?  Columbia may have sent a nasty-gram threatening a day in civil court, and a lawsuit would certainly have sunk SPC's record division/laundry closet.  ("Your sound-alikes are sounding too alike.  Tread softly or we'll sink you.  Yours sincerely, Columbia Records.") 

The others are Prom, Promenade, and Waldorf label jobs, and I've done my best to track down the original artists, labels, and years, though there's a lot of guesswork on the release years.  Nevertheless, at worst, the recording dates would only be off by a year or, at the most, two.

Very good sound on this cheap-vinyl pressing, despite the usual loud hiss in the space between tracks (which I did my best to edit out).  But, despite the junk pressing, these tracks were reissued by Promenade without fake, "rechanneled" stereo or tons of reverb.  For that we can be thankful.





DOWNLOAD:  Eddie Maynard, His Orchestra and Chorus.zip


Here in My Heart--Loren Becker w. Enoch Light Orch. (Prom; 1952)
Because of You--Johnny Kay w. Milton Herbert Orch. (Popular Records)
Young Love--Larry Star (Promenade; 1957)
That's Amore--Artie Malvin w. Bobby Byrne Orch. (Prom; 1954?)
Make Love to Me--Betty Glenn w. Enoch Light Orch. (Waldorf, 1954?)
Till Then--Brigadiers Vocal Quartet, w. Prom Orch. (Prom; 1954)
Cry--Larry Foster w. Preston Sandiford Orch. (Cameo Records 45-323, 1951?)
Earth Angel--The Rockets, The Prom Orch. (Prom, 1955)
Outside of Heaven--Loren Becker, w. Enoch Light Orch. and Chorus (Prom; 1952?)
Jamaica Farewell--Jim Galdys, w. the Promenade Orch. and Chorus (Promenade; 1956)
Heartbreak Hotel--Bill Marine, Maury Laws Orch. and Chorus (Prom; 1956)


Fabulous Fifties, Eddie Maynard and His Orch. (not), Promenade 2084, late 1950s.

Lee

Acoustical 78s for May, 2026: 1907-1922 dance sides

 

This weekend, I found myself sound-restoring seventeen acoustical 78s, and I ended up with sixteen usable tracks.  The first two unusable tracks were strictly a matter of improper "normalizing"--I ripped the Original Dixieland Jass Band's Indiana and Darktown Strutters' Ball in a single track, and this turned out badly.  Reason being, the dynamic balance differs considerably between the two numbers.  So, I had to re-rip them separately, which worked for normalizing.

And I've discovered, based on this batch, that VinylStudio's auto-normalizing feature works perfectly approx. 80 percent of the time.  Otherwise, I have to manually adjust same, which is typically a quick and easy task.  Three of today's sixteen tracks ended up either too loud or too soft, but again the fix is short and simple.  My logical conclusion: Acoustical 78s were recorded at different peak volume levels.  Thus, when balancing the dynamic ranges, some rips will balance out of kilter with the other tracks.

These are some of my favorite pre-electric 78s, and I assembled these from a larger row of maybe 30 discs pulled from overflow rows.  Kentucky Kut Ups, from 1907, is a recent addition to my collection, and against logic this ragtime march has a strong "ragtime to jazz" vibe, though I'm not sure why.  It might be due to the overlapping notes and beats necessarily created by ragtime rhythms, but there's a definite hint of call-and-response.  No doubt, jazz existed in 1907, and this Henry Frantzen march might very well have been influenced by early Dixieland (before Dixieland officially arrived in recording studios).  And we have the Original Dixieland Jass (!) Band on Columbia, with two sides recorded following the group's initial success at the Victor label, and not before, as was commonly believed at one time.  The amazing Fuzzy Wuzzy Rag by (W.C.) Handy's band is early-jazz gold, in my opinion, despite being categorized (by Gunther Schuller, I believe) as a ragtime-not-jazz side.

I think--or at least hope--that the attitude toward early jazz has evolved beyond "It's either King Oliver or it's not jazz," but I can't be sure.  And Der Rote Domino (The Red Domino, aka The Clarinet Polka) is a cool 1915 recording of this famous number, and in a style not unlike its modern presentation, albeit slower in tempo.  This side was recorded by the Columbia Orchestra and then marketed to different ethnic groups, including German-Americans (as with this issue).

Note the "fade" at the end of Barkin' Dog, as recorded by (Ross) Gorman's Syncopators.  I'm guessing that the player simply stepped back from the recording horn, unless there was some volume-dampening tech available in the studio.  Gorman, of course, originated the famous clarinet glissando at the start of Rhapsody in Blue.  This was Gorman's "iconic" contribution therefor.  "Iconic" gets on my nerves, since it's a word which can mean just about anything--or nothing.  It's even less useful than "authentic" as an adjective.  

Anyway, enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: Acoustical 78s May 2026.zip

Indiana--Original Dixieland Jass Band, 5/31/1917--Take 3

Darktown Strutters' Ball--Same, Take 3

Kentucky Kut Ups--Arthur Pryor's Band, 9/13/1907

Cold Turkey--Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orch., 6/1/1917

Slow and Easy--Louisiana Five Jazz Orchestra, 12/16/1919

Swanee--Columbia Dance Orch., Dir. Charles A. Prince, 1/27/1920

Dance It Again With Me--Art Hickman's Orchestra, 9/15/1919

The Red Lantern--Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orch., Dir. Joseph Knecht, 4/19/1919

Down Home Rag--Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orch., 3/19/1918

I Ain't Got Nobody Much--Same

I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise (Gershwin, A: Grofe)--Paul Whiteman and His Orch., 9/1/1922

Fuzzy Wuzzy Rag--(W.C.) Handy's Orchestra, 9/21/1917--Take 3

Barkin' Dog--Gorman's Novelty Syncopators, 9/2/1919

"Oh" (Oh!)--Ted Lewis Jazz Band, V: Jack Kaufman, 12/9/1919

Der Rote Domino--Polka Mazurka--Columbia Orchestra, 1/11/1915

So Long, Oo-Long (How Long You Gonna Be Gone)--Raderman's Novelty Orch, 1920

Lee