Yet another 'Blast From The Past'

I first met Jan Garber and His Orchestra in dad's garage when I was maybe four years old, or maybe five, in 1936 or 1937. There was a stack of old 78s
beside a wind-up RCA Victor Victrola (just like in those old pictures, Kids) on the workbench, near the back. There weren't any needles left for the player, so I used a very small finishing nail from dad's carpentry stuff. It worked, but it was hell on those old records. They had such big grooves in those days, though, that the sharp point of a very small nail worked almost like one of those proper disposable needles the machine used. Those were about three-quarters of an inch long, and looked very much like a piece of one of my mom's regular needles from her sewing kit.

The record I played most was Jan Garber's 'All I Do Is Dream Of You', because there was something about that tune that simply grabbed me. I didn't know then that his orchestra was one of the most popular during the late 1920s and early 1930s. I just enjoyed listening to it. I still do. I hope you enjoy it too. The music of the 1920s was so popular, I think, because ragtime was evolving into real jazz, and the tempo was snappy, and the tunes were catchy, and it was hard to listen to that stuff without feeling like dancing. It's still hard to listen to this stuff without feeling like dancing... and that's what made the 'Roaring 20s' really roar. I'm sorry I missed it.