Talk:1933 in music

preface top records 1933

I replaced the lame top records 1933 with a less lame section. I added a short preface after observing trend in the top listings. I don't know if anybody reads this stuff, but you are welcome to modify or revise if you have something positive to add. If not, leave it alone, I wrote it on the fly and it probably has some issues. Comment or revise in here.

There were many talented writers, producers and performers in the music industry during 1933, but record sales were very low, and work hard to find. Most of the records released came from Radio Corporation of America (Victor) and American Record Corporation (Brunswick), with a trickle from Columbia (that would completely disappear by mid-1934).

Four ot the top five records paired one of the label's top vocalists (Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Al Bowly) with a headline band (Reisman (Victor) and Lombardo (Brunswick)). Victor also featured Howard Arlen, composer of "Stormy Weather" as vocalist with house band Reisman. This tactic was extremely successful in stimulating sales in the depressed economic conditions.

The top twenty popular records of 1933 listed below were extracted from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954, record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, and other sources as specified. Numerical rankings are always approximate.

In revising these sections during the 1930s and 1940s, and reading Billboard articles while gathering information, I soak up American history on the Great Depression and it's effect on the record industry. Like the recent past and a worldwide pandemic, the 1930s blew social structures to pieces with the Great Depression, Dust Bowl and mass migration experiences lasting more than a decade. Another dimension or nuance is that The Billboard articles are often written in 80 year-old industry slang, reducing understanding and increasing translation difficulty (by the way, I charge $300/hr as jock/spinner translator, if you have any big lawsuits dating back to this period :) After writing my comments off the top of my head, I am wanting to back it up with citations that I unfortunately did not write down. It shouldn't be too hard. I already have some interesting Leo Reisman notes, and remember his orchestra being referred to as "house band" during his early 1930s Victor period. He was Fred Astaire's band on "Night and Day" and "Cheek to Cheek", both #1 for 10 wks and #1 records of 1933 and 1935, respectively. Bing has always distinguished himself as a great solo artist who made a variety of choices of artists he made music with. His great success over many years removed any financial hurdles. I am sure somebody has written book(s) on this that I haven't read yet. Tillywilly17 (talk) 10:01, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

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