The Soundies

A History and Catalog of Jukebox Film Shorts of the 1940s

Mark Cantor (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

893 Seiten

2023
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-8313-3 (ISBN)

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The 1940s saw a brief yet audacious experiment in mass entertainment: a jukebox with a screen. Patrons could insert a dime, then listen to and watch such popular entertainers as Nat ‘King’ Cole, Gene Krupa, Cab Calloway or Les Paul. For the first time, the history of these early music videos is explored in depth.

The 1940s saw a brief audacious experiment in mass entertainment: a jukebox with a screen. Patrons could insert a dime, then listen to and watch such popular entertainers as Nat "King" Cole, Gene Krupa, Cab Calloway or Les Paul. A number of companies offered these tuneful delights, but the most successful was the Mills Novelty Company and its three-minute musical shorts called Soundies.

This book is a complete filmography of 1,880 Soundies: the musicians heard and seen on screen, recording and filming dates, arrangers, soloists, dancers, entertainment trade reviews and more. Additional filmographies cover more than 80 subjects produced by other companies. There are 125 photos taken on film sets, along with advertising images and production documents. More than 75 interviews narrate the firsthand experiences and recollections of Soundies directors and participants. Forty years before MTV, the Soundies were there for those who loved the popular music of the 1940s. This was truly "music for the eyes."

Mark Cantor is a Los Angeles-based musicologist, historian and archivist of jazz and popular music on film. He is the curator of the Celluloid Improvisations Music Film Archive, perhaps the largest privately held collection of musical performance on 16mm film worldwide. For more information, please visit the author’s website at www.jazz-on-film.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Forewords by Leonard Maltin and Will Friedwald

Preface

Introduction

Part One: History and Development

1. The Soundies Experience

2. Soundies Fundamentals

3. Early Antecedents—A Brief History

4. Research and Development

5. Just Shy of Making It

6. Techniprocess and Featurettes

7. The Mills Novelty Company, the Soundies Distributing Corporation of America and the Mills Panoram

8. The Production Process

9. The Production Companies

10. The Interviews

Part Two: The Soundies Inventory

The Catalog

Soundies Miniature Revue (X reissues)

The Soundies Performers and Session Descriptions

Part Three: Conclusions

Part Four: Other Inventories

Appendices

Recording Sessions

Production Number and Company Identifications

Release Dates

Sideline Extras

Bibliography

Index

Techniprocess Index

Featurettes Index

Narrative Index

Erscheinungsdatum	31.08.2022
Zusatzinfo	125 photos, appendices, bibliography, indexes
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	216 x 279 mm
Gewicht	2341 g
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Musik ► Pop / Rock
ISBN-10	1-4766-8313-1 / 1476683131
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-8313-3 / 9781476683133
Zustand	Neuware