"Because ignorance of your culture is considered uncool"
December 21, 1945 – Don Bell report from Manila -Mutual Broadcasting – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – December 21, 1945. The Independence movement in the Dutch East Indies was quickly gaining momentum and resistance to it was gaining intensity. The Indonesian National Revolution, or Indonesian War of Independence, was an...
Despite news earlier in the week of the sinking of the German Battleship Admiral Graf Spee, Germany was celebrating Christmas, this week in 1939, with a shipment of some 1 million Christmas trees into Berlin. War news, it seemed, wasn’t going to deter anybody from celebrating. The trees were plentiful...
Couple cents? Become a Patron! As crowds line up, snaking down city blocks and shivering in sub-zero temperatures in anticipation of snagging a bargain on what has now become the second Great Holiday; Black Friday – a name which seems ironic, as it should be called Green Friday as retailers...
Style Council tonight. In concert from Gold Digger’s in 1984 and preserved for posterity by the ever-venerable BBC Radio 1’s In Concert series. When The Jam called it quits and went their separate ways, there was always a question as to what Paul Weller would be doing, what new direction...
Carl Millöcker – A veritable one-man Factory of Viennese Operetta in the late 19th century. Karl Millöcker – Der Bettelstudent (abridged) – Soloists, chorus and Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera – Hermann Weigert, cond – Recorded in 1930 – Polydor (export) – Deutsche Grammophon (domestic) – Gordon Skene Sound...
Just in time for Christmas. Again from the French Radio Transcription collection. Here is a 1955 radio broadcast performance of A Christmas Cantata by Arthur Honegger, featuring Baritone Pierre Mollet, Maurice Duruflè, Organ. The Chorus of the ORTF, conducted by Yvonne Gouvernè. The Children’s Choir of the ORTF, conducted by...
What began during World War 2 as a holiday ritual, continued on for decades as members of the Hollywood contingent boarded planes and headed off to Army camps to spend Christmas with the troops. In 1952 it was Korea. And for 17 days, from Christmas to New Years, the USO...
Since we’re approaching knee-deep in the Christmas season, what better excuse to play the Carla Bley Christmas Carols Concert from Berlin in 2008 than now. As one of the leading lights in the Free Jazz Movement, Bley has been involved in an extraordinary number of projects, with a far ranging...
Elton John live at Hammersmith Odeon – Christmas 1973. Maybe no sign of Jingle Bells anywhere, but the festive spirit is alive and well and Elton, even with a cold, gives a brilliant performance. 1973 was huge for Elton John. I remember the buzz and almost non-stop playing of Goodbye...
KROQ – Jimmy Rabbit – December 24, 1977 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – You have to admit, Christmas 2020 will go down in history as the holiday that didn’t happen. But then, you think about it and it has always been a crapshoot one way or the other. There...
Gordon Skene, two-time Grammy Nominee and archivist runs The Gordon Skene Sound Archive and this website, which is dedicated to preserving and encouraging an interest in history and historic news, events, and cultural aspects of our society. Past Daily is the only place on the Internet where you can hear a Nixon speech, listen to an interview with John Cassavettes or play a broadcast of Charles Munch rehearsing the Boston Symphony in 1950, all in the same place. It's living history and it's timeless.
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