This blog post was co-written with Jan McKee, Reference Librarian, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. This year, after Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, why not burn off some of those calories and thwart those tryptophans by dancing the Turkey Trot instead of sleeping on the living room sofa? This vigorous dance was developed …
Last night the Library of Congress honored veteran songwriter and performer Billy Joel with its coveted Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Library of Congress awards the prize annually to a composer or performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with George and Ira Gershwin. It’s not entirely coincidental that the Library has also just uploaded a revealing interview with Joel …
In the varied universe of educational films–titles like Facts on Film, which we’ve featured on “Now See Hear!”–few have achieved a wider cultural resonance than the 1947 Coronet Films classic Are You Popular? It’s pretty much the epitome of the type of “social guidance” film that to modern audiences can seem unintentionally hilarious in their …
The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson, Administrative Assistant at the Packard Campus. Thursday, November 20 (7:30 p.m.) A Night of Electric Blues: Great Blues Performances on TV (1955-1989) Selected from the Library’s video collections and digitally restored by Video Preservation Specialists at the Packard Campus, this memorable evening features legendary blues artists …
This blog post was co-written with Megan Harris, reference specialist for the Veterans History Project, Library of Congress. What you’ve just heard is from the Marine Corps Combat Recordings, an amazing and vivid accounting of the war in the South Pacific during World War II. Not only are these recordings one of the most historically …
It’s natural that the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center is associated with film, video, and sound recordings–we are, after all, the custodial Division for the Library’s A/V holdings–but in reality we’re so much more than that. I’ve already featured some of our print material on “Now See Hear!”; for example, copyright descriptions, periodicals, posters, and lobby …
Thursday, November 13 (7:30 p.m.) Here’s Edie: The Best of Edie Adams on Television (1962-1964) Edie Adams (1927-2008) may be best known as the Muriel Cigar girl, for her movie roles in The Apartment and It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, or for being the wife of actor and comedian Ernie Kovacs. Her work …
In 1947 the Library of Congress acquired the George Kleine collection of 456 film titles as well as stills and correspondence. Kleine was a pioneer motion picture producer and distributor who’s not well known today but was an important part of the early American film industry. He was the “K” in Kalem (named for Kleine, …
The following post is by David Sager, Processing Technician in the Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. This post is in commemoration of the 84th anniversary of Buddy Bolden’s death and the never-ending discussion of his legendary lost cylinder recording. Charles “Buddy” Bolden, 1877-1931, often referred to as the “first man of jazz,” holds an …
