Oh, wow! We just got faster internet this week and Brian has been checking out YouTube. It’s a place where folks put up videos. Often it’s hokey home videos or a quite amateur take from a small pocket digital camera of a live concert, for example. But there are a few historical gems as well.

Ruth Etting was one of the most popular singers of the flapper era. She has a very interesting story (married to a mobster) and I think her personal life was really sad… but boy, could she sing… and from what I understand her peers adored her.

Now there is some Ruth Etting on YouTube. I just finished watching “That’s Him Now.” Oh, my. Flapper and then some. Totally 1920s. If your connection is at all good, I highly recommend this cut.

Also consider these items from the same era:

Anita Page Tribute

Ukulele Ike (with crowd of tap dancers)

Singing in the Rain (Ukulele Ike and dozens of dancers, incredible)

Gold Diggers of Broadway (tap, acrobatics, ballet and incredible costumes)

Annette Hanshaw (my fave early jazz singer, this from 1933)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 at 10:38 amand is filed under Dance and Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.