ALADDIN 205; DECEMBER, 1947

 
With only a few more records to go before we get to the 1950’s we’re going to take some time to add in a few 1940’s songs we either overlooked or intentionally avoided for various reasons when first covering this ground. It won’t take long and hopefully will paint a more vivid picture of the first era of rock as we head into the second era in the next week or two.
 

 

I don’t know what box singers and musicians check off on their official documents as it pertains to their careers – my guess is it’d be the catch-all “Entertainer” category – but maybe the better category would be Sales.

Singers are essentially selling themselves to the public. Yes, their songs, or rather their records, are their specific product in a sense, but they’re not peddling those door to door, nor even trying to push them on retailers or jukebox operators themselves… those are the jobs of others in the industry.

But the singer is selling themselves… their voice, their songwriting ability, their stage presence, charisma and general appeal… to the masses, hoping that it’ll draw in customers to buy their records, to see their shows, to deposit their spare change in jukeboxes or request their songs on the radio. The better the performances the better your chances at succeeding.

But sometimes they were hampered by the very companies that stood to benefit off their salesmanship, as this record shows all too well.
 
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