Showing posts with label RadioLulu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RadioLulu. Show all posts

Saturday, April 4, 2020

RadioLulu off the air, with a few recommended videos

After 18 years of streaming Louise Brooks and silent film related music, Radio Lulu has come to an end. The Louise Brooks Society online station was begun in 2002, and has reached countless listeners all over the globe. For more on this sad occasion, see the earlier LBS blog post, "Louise Brooks Society announcement regarding RadioLulu".


The station rotation began with "Louise," sung by Maurice Chevalier. In fact, it was my love of this song that led me to launch RadioLulu. In the early days of the Louise Brooks Society, a brief snippet of Chevalier's famed recording launched whenever someone clicked on the LBS website. I was not alone in my love for this particular recording. I recall once receiving an email from a fan who said they visited the LBS website everyday just to hear the snippet!


Because you likely want to hear it again, here is another video recordings of "Louise, a song which originally had nothing to do with our Louise. "Louise" was a show-stopping number from the 1929 film, The Innocents of Paris, Paramount's first musical. The song is sung by Maurice Chevalier, with the Leonard Joy Orchestra,  and it peaked at #3 on US Music Charts in 1929. Today, however, "Louise Brooks" has become associated with Brooks.


And finally, here is Chevalier performing the song in 1932. Chevalier recorded the song a few times over the years, but usually stuck to this original arrangement. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Louise Brooks Society announcement regarding RadioLulu

The economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic is leading many of us to reevaluate our needs and expenses. Who knows what the future holds? For me, these expenses includes various costs incurred in running the Louise Brooks Society and its website. There are domain and web hosting fees, subscription fees, costs associated with research and with editing software, etc.... I have been running the Louise Brooks Society for 25 years, and it all ads up.

Listen while you can!


I intend to continue the Louise Brooks Society for as long as I can, but have decided to cut costs where I am able. Thus, with great regret, I am announcing that RadioLulu will cease streaming in the first week of April. I will also be cutting back on other background expenses associated with my wordpress website.


A melancholy Louise Brooks listens to a 78 rpm record in Prix de Beauté (1930)

I launched RadioLulu back in 2002, and enjoyed sharing with others the considerable amount of Louise Brooks-related audio and musical material I had gathered. The station's description reads "RadioLulu is a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed internet station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today. Located on the web at http://192.99.8.170/start/radiolulu/ — RadioLulu features vintage and contemporary music related to Louise Brooks as well as the silent and early sound eras."



In the early years, I found an audience.... Famed film critic Leonard Maltin once rated the station a “Wow” on his website. The Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman (author of Maus) told me he tuned-in on occasion. As had the award-winning science fiction writer Richard Kadrey, and celebrated Dr. Who actor Paul McGann. In fact, when I first met McGann some years ago, his first words were "You’re the guy that does RadioLulu. It’s incredible. I listen all the time." In 2015, I received an email from a listener named Nick. He was employed at the Vito Russo Library at the Gay Center in New York City; Nick wrote to say that RadioLulu was played at the library every Saturday, and that “Everybody loves it.” It was nice to have a fan or two!


In the beginning, RadioLulu found a home on Live365, a streaming service for aspiring DJ's like myself. However, when that platform crashed in 2016 (read more HERE), and the expense involved in streaming skyrocketed, RadioLulu was left without a home. After a couple of months, it found a second home on SHOUTca.st, which was syndicated to other channels and devices through TuneIn. For a time, you could even listen to RadioLulu through your TV via ROKU.

However, that second home on SHOUTca.st, while affordable -- was limited and problematic. If too many individuals listed, then I exceeded my bandwidth and the station was knocked off the air until the beginning of the next usage cycle. All too often, I received emails from individuals asking what happened to the station. I was dissapointed to be dissapointing others.

I am not sure what the future holds for RadioLulu. Hopefully, I would like to make use of its many hours of content and turn it into thematic podcasts with shows devoted to different topics -- like the music of Prix de beaute or Beggars of Life, with shows of songs recorded by Brooks' co-stars and contemporaries, with vintage music about the movies, etc.... RadioLulu features more than 850 recordings! And notably, many of them come from rare 78 rpm discs you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else. It is important that this old music still be heard.  I am referring to vintage track like George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me” (Brooks knew Gershwin, and this was her favorite Gershwin song according to Barry Paris), Xavier Cugat’s “Siboney” (recommended by Brooks in her rare booklet, Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing), and a few numbers by Sid Kay’s Fellows (the jazz band seen playing in the wedding reception scene in Pandora’s Box). Read more about RadioLulu's programming HERE.

Louise Brooks holding a portable record player, circa 1925

Monday, April 15, 2019

RadioLulu back on Tune-In with Louise Brooks & silent film inspired music

Good news! RadioLulu is back on Tune-in with Louise Brooks & silent film inspired music. That's means you can listen to this Louise Brooks Society streaming station across multiple devices - your computer, phone, or even your television. The Tune-In page for RadioLulu can be found at https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLulu-s299232/  Or, listen here and now while you read this incredibly fascinating post! To do so, simply click on the player below.


Want to learn more about RadioLulu? Visit the information page on the Louise Brooks Society website at THIS LINK.

RadioLulu is a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed internet station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today. Or in other words, RadioLulu features vintage and contemporary music related to Louise Brooks as well as the silent and early sound eras. Launched in 2002, this unique station features vintage music from five of Brooks’ films....  and so much more.


If you love the films of the silent era, tune into RadioLulu. Among the film stars and Jazz Age personalities heard on the station are

Dorothy Mackaill ~ Helen Morgan ~ Libby Holman ~ Lee Wiley ~ Annette Hanshaw
Paul Whiteman ~ Theda Bara ~ Charlie Chaplin ~ Clara Bow
Fanny Brice ~ Ethel Shutta ~ Rudolph Valentino ~ Marilyn Miller ~ Rudy Vallee
Leon Errol ~ Ramon Novarro ~ Dolores Del Rio ~ Adolphe Menjou 
Al Jolson ~ Lupe Velez ~Noah Beery ~ Lawrence Gray ~ Marlene Dietrich
Conrad Nagel ~ Blanche Ring ~ Janet Gaynor ~ Charles Farrell
Ruth Etting ~ Victor McLaglen ~ Lillian Harvey ~ Pola Negri ~ Blanche Sweet
Harry Richman ~ Brigitte Helm ~ Helen Kane ~ Buster Keaton
Anny Ondra ~ Buddy Rogers ~ Betty Compson ~ Bebe Daniels ~ Ben Lyon
Maurice Chevalier ~ Josephine Baker ~ Kiki de Montparnasse ~ Frank Fay
Norma Talmadge ~ Gilbert Roland ~ James Hall ~ Joan Bennett ~ Jimmie Fidler
W.C. Fields ~ Claudette Colbert ~ Gloria Swanson ~ Joan Crawford 
Alice Faye  ~ Jean Harlow ~ Joan Blondell ~ Russ Columbo ~ James Cagney


Thursday, March 8, 2018

Louise Brooks Society on Twitter @LB_Society

The Louise Brooks Society is on Twitter @LB_Society.

In fact, the LBS is followed by more than 4,769 individuals. Are you one of them? Sign up to get the latest news. And, be sure and check out the LBS Twitter profile and the more
than 5,370 LBS tweets so far!


Louise Brooks ✪

@LB_Society

Louise Brooks Society - all about the silent film & Jazz Age icon who played
Lulu in Pandora's Box. Visit our website, blog & online radio station!

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

RadioLulu Redux

Did you know that the Louise Brooks Society has its own online radio station? It's called RadioLulu. You can listen to using the Tune-In app, or using Winamp or the Windows Media Player, or, you can even listen via the Tune-In app on ROKU on your TV.

RadioLulu is a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed internet station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today. Located on the web at http://192.99.8.170/start/radiolulu/ — RadioLulu features vintage and contemporary music related to Louise Brooks as well as the silent and early sound eras. This is music you're not likely to hear anywhere else.



Launched way back in 2002, this unique station now features vintage music from five of Brooks’ films — the haunting themes from Beggars of Life (1928) and Prix de Beauté (1930), as well as musical passages from The Canary Murder Case (1929), Empty Saddles (1936), and Overland Stage Raiders (1938). On RadioLulu, you’ll also hear the familiar “Sidewalks of New York” (which was played on the set of The Street of Forgotten Men), as well as John Philip Sousa’s seldom heard “Atlantic City Beauty Pageant” (which was written for the Miss America contest, as seen in The American Venus).


Vintage recordings by Brooks’ screen co-stars are also featured on RadioLulu. Among them are Adolphe Menjou, Esther Ralston, Dorothy Mackaill, James Hall, Lawrence Gray, Noah Beery, Frank Fay, Joan Blondell, and Buck Jones. There is even a song by Blanche Ring, who appeared in It’s the Old Army Game and was the aunt of Brooks’ first husband, Eddie Sutherland. A few of Brooks’ European co-stars are also represented, among them Siegfried Arno (Pandora’s Box), Kurt Gerron (Diary of a Lost Girl), and Andre Roanne (Prix de Beauté). Each is a rarity. As well, there are vintage tracks associated with Brooks’ brief time with the Ziegfeld Follies, including a handful of recordings by performers who shared the stage with the actress, such as Ethel Shutta, Leon Erroll, and the great W.C. Fields.

RadioLulu includes a number of songs by Brooks’ friends and acquaintances, as well as individuals she worked with over the years. Actress Tallulah Bankhead, chanteuse Lucienne Boyer, torch singer Libby Holman, bandleader Emil Coleman, and nightclub owner Bruz Fletcher can all be heard on RadioLulu. Other tracks associated with the actress and featured on RadioLulu include George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me” (Brooks knew Gershwin, and this was her favorite Gershwin song), Xavier Cugat’s “Siboney” (recommended by Brooks in her rare booklet, Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing), and two numbers by Sid Kay’s Fellows (the jazz band seen playing in the wedding reception scene in Pandora’s Box).

All together, RadioLulu features more than 850 tracks! Notably, many of them come from rare 78 rpm discs you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else. Of course, there’s Maurice Chevalier’s much-loved “Louise” as well as more than a dozen tracks with Louise, Lulu, or LouLou in the title. Among them is the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks’ recording of “Louise, You Tease,” as well as a number of different recordings of both “Don’t Bring Lulu” and “Lulu’s Back in Town”.

Many contemporary tributes to the actress can also be heard on RadioLulu. These include songs by Natalie Merchant, Rufus Wainwright, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark (OMD), John Zorn, and Soul Coughing. Famed cartoonist Robert Crumb is heard on “Chanson pour Louise Brooks”. And there’s Ross Berkal’s tribute, “MLB (for Louise Brooks).” Berkal, who is mentioned in the Barry Paris biography and is a longtime member of the Louise Brooks Society, was acquainted with the actress later in her life.


Beyond songs related to Louise Brooks, RadioLulu also features hundreds of songs from the 1920s and 1930s (along with a smattering from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s). There is music from the movies aplenty, as well as rare recordings by early Hollywood stars and Jazz Age celebrities. There are tracks by the popular crooners and torch singers of the time, as well as little known numbers by regional dance bands and hotel orchestras. There are also early Broadway show tunes, early European jazz, popular vocal numbers, theme songs, and even a few novelty numbers.

Recordings by early Hollywood figures such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Lupe Velez, Clara Bow, Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford are streamed. So are recordings by later stars Buddy Rogers, Claudette Colbert, Jean Harlow, Paulette Goddard, Barbara Stanwyck, and Dorothy Lamour. A few of the European actors and actresses heard on the station include Brigitte Helm, Camilla Horn, Anny Ondra, Conrad Veidt, Pola Negri, and Marlene Dietrich (notably, her early German-language recordings).



Among others, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell are heard singing the classic “If I Had A Talking Picture Of You,” one of a number of movie-related songs. There’s also “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” “At the Moving Picture Ball,” and “Hooray for Hollywood,” as well as rare vintage recordings about Chaplin, Garbo, Keaton, Mickey Mouse and Zasu Pitts. Be sure not to miss H. Robinson Cleaver’s “Grace Moore Medley,” Fred Bird & Luigi Bernauer’s “Hallo Hallo Hier Radio,” and Jack Hylton and His Orchestra’s “My brother makes the noises for the talkies.”

What else can be heard on RadioLulu? How about Constance Bennett singing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” or Alice White & Blanche Sweet singing “There’s A Tear For Every Smile in Hollywood” (from the soundtrack to Showgirl in Hollywood). The Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orchestra performs “The Vamp,” Nate Shilkret plays “Flapperette,” and Marion Harris sings “I’m a Jazz Vampire.” Regulations explaining proper radio station identification are given by none other than Cary Grant, co-star of the 1937 Brooks’ film, When You’re in Love.

RadioLulu features many of the leading stars of the Jazz Age and Depression era—Rudy Vallee, Russ Colombo, Ben Selvin, Fred Waring, Ted Weems, Paul Whiteman, Annette Hanshaw, Helen Kane, Mildred Bailey, Lee Wiley, Ruth Etting, Kay Thompson, and Frankie Trumbauer. There are recordings by such famous names as Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman, alongside rarely heard artists like the Eskimo Pie Orchestra and the Brox Sisters, as well as Scrappy Lambert, Fred Elizalde, and Dorothy Dickson! You never know who or what will turn up on this eclectic, always entertaining station.

And that’s not all…. RadioLulu plays Ragtime, swing, standards, and some real hot jazz, including such popular hits as the “Charleston,” “Black Bottom,” and “Varsity Rag.” There are vintage recordings of popular favorites like “Stardust” and “As Time Goes By,” along with great, but little known works like James P. Johnson’s “You’ve Got to be Modernistic.” By the way, the single longest track is George Jessel’s spoken word history “The Roaring Twenties 1920-1929.”

Among the unusual European numbers on RadioLulu are little heard gems from the 1930s Polish chanteuse Hanka Ordonówna as well as the Gershwin of Czechoslovakia, Jaroslav Jezek; there’s a stirring number by the great British cinema organist Sidney Torch; and even a 1929 recording of the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht singing “Mack the Knife.” Along with lovely favorites by the likes of Josephine Baker, Django Rheinhart, and Mistinguett. Also heard are artist models Suzy Solidor and Kiki of Montparnasse. Both posed for the surrealist photographer Man Ray, an admirer of Louise Brooks.

There is nothing else quite like RadioLulu.

Here are ten vintage RadioLulu tracks you won’t want to miss: “Makin’ Whoopee” by B.A. Rolfe & His Lucky Strike Orchestra, “Runnin’ Wild” by Isabella Patricola, “The Sheik of Araby” by Fats Waller, “My Man” by Fanny Brice, and “Puttin on the Ritz” by Harry Richman, as well as “You Oughta be In Pictures” by Little Jack Little & His Orchestra, “College Rhythm” by Jimmy Grier, “Singin’ In The Rain” by Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike), “Slumming On Park Avenue” by Alice Faye, and “Ramona” by Dolores Del Rio.

And here are ten contemporary RadioLulu tracks you won’t want to miss: “Lulu” by Twiggy (the 1960’s supermodel), “Valentino” by Connie Francis, “Louise” by Eric Clapton, “Weight Lifting Lulu” by The Residents, “Interior Lulu” by Marillion, as well as “Marlene Dietrich’s Favourite Poem” by Peter Murphy, “I’m In Love With A German Film Star” by The Passions, “Just Like Fred Astaire” by James, “Lulu Land” by Camper van Beethoven, and “Brandenburg Gate” by Lou Reed & Metallica (from their Lulu album).

Over the years, this unique, long running station has gained many fans and listeners. Famed film critic Leonard Maltin once rated it a “Wow.” Likewise, Louise Brooks devotee and celebrated Dr. Who actor Paul McGann called it “incredible.” The Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman (author of Maus) has tuned-in on occasion, and told us so. As has the award-winning science fiction writer Richard Kadrey. And would you believe that a retro Spanish pop/swing/rock group named Radio Lulu named themselves after the station?

Music has played a significant role in the life and films of Louise Brooks. That’s why RadioLulu was started, as a means of sharing some of the many rare and related recordings collected by the Louise Brooks Society. Listen today for free by clicking on the widget at the top of the page. Let us know what you like or don’t like, and what you might want to hear. Got something to contribute. We would like to hear about that too.

Louise Brooks listens to RadioLulu. How about you?


Thank you for your interest in Louise Brooks, RadioLulu, and the Louise Brooks Society. Be sure to follow RadioLulu on TWITTER or FACEBOOK. And, for even more fun, visit the LBS account on SOUNDCLOUD for more related audio rarities.

In 2018, the LBS hopes to put together some thematic podcasts featuring material from RadioLulu, as well as material (like classical music) not featured on the streaming station. For example, there is music related to the time Louise Brooks was in Denishawn....

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Some RadioLulu Podcast Themes

A couple of days ago, I posted an admittedly longgggggggg blog regarding RadioLulu, the LBS sponsored, Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed, internet only station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today.

I did so because, lately, I have been working on the station, freshening-up both its playlist and its HOMEPAGE on the Louise Brooks Society website, and wanted to let everyone know. There is a lot of great music to be heard on this unique station.

RadioLulu is located on the web at http://192.99.8.170/start/radiolulu/. There you can see songs the station is currently playing and has recently played. Otherwise, for those who might want to tune-in here and now, click on the widget shown below, listen, and enjoy.



At the bottom of that admittedly longgggggggg post, I mentioned that I had been considering putting together some thematic podcasts, perhaps sometime in 2018.

I figure I would gather together six or ten songs, and talk about them a bit, like a DJ might. Each show might run 30 to 60 minutes. I could explain why these songs play on RadioLulu and how they are related to Louise Brooks. Believe you me, there is always a reason, or some justification of a kind, no matter how obscure. Recently, for example, I was streaming RadioLulu at home using the Tune-In app through Roku when my wife asked why I had included Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy"? The answer may not be obvious to the casual listener, but I knew why. It's played on RadioLulu because it was the flipside on a 78 rpm of one of the handful of "Beggars of Life" recordings I own.



Well, I've given of podcasts a lot of thought, and I came up with about three dozen different themes for different shows. Here are a few of them. Each, I think, should prove interesting and entertaining. Look for them starting in 2018. (First I got to learn how to record and edit-in songs in a podcast.)

Beggars of Life: Variations on a Theme (Song)
-- "Beggars of Life" and other related tracks

Louise Brooks Recommends
-- dance numbers recommended by the actress in "The Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing"

Syd Kay's Fellows
-- recordings by the wedding band seen in "Pandora's Box"

Homage to Lulu
-- contemporary recordings in homage to Louise Brooks

Diary of a Lost Girl: Music of Otto Stenzel & Juan Llosa 
-- recordings by the original film score composer & the small combo seen in the film

Flappers & Vamps
-- Jazz Age recordings of “Flapperette,” "Runnin' Wild," “I’m a Jazz Vampire,” etc...

Screen Co-Stars
-- vintage recordings by Adolphe Menjou, Esther Ralston, Dorothy Mackaill, James Hall, Lawrence Gray, Noah Beery and others

Also on the Bill
-- rare recordings by Emil Coleman, Bruz Fletcher and others who shared the stage with Louise Brooks during her time as a ballroom dancer in the 1930s

God's Gift to Women
-- recordings by the stars of the 1931 film, Frank Fay & Joan Blondell (and maybe a song by Barbara Stanwyck, who was married to Fay at the time)

Denishawn
-- dance numbers by Denishawn composer Louis Horst, and other related classical music

Charlie Chaplin
-- mostly vintage recordings associated with the Little Tramp (songs written by, conducted by, or about CC)

If I Had a Talking Picture of You
-- vintage movie-related songs from long go like “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” “At the Moving Picture Ball,” “Hooray for Hollywood” and “My brother makes the noises for the talkies”


Monday, October 30, 2017

RadioLulu - the Louise Brooks Society's online streaming music station

Did you know that the Louise Brooks Society has its own online radio station? It's called RadioLulu. You can listen to using the Tune-In app, or using Winamp or the Windows Media Player, or, you can even listen via the Tune-In app on ROKU on your TV.

RadioLulu is a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed internet station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today. Located on the web at http://192.99.8.170/start/radiolulu/ — RadioLulu features vintage and contemporary music related to Louise Brooks as well as the silent and early sound eras. This is music you're not likely to hear anywhere else.



Launched way back in 2002, this unique station now features vintage music from five of Brooks’ films — the haunting themes from Beggars of Life (1928) and Prix de Beauté (1930), as well as musical passages from The Canary Murder Case (1929), Empty Saddles (1936), and Overland Stage Raiders (1938). On RadioLulu, you’ll also hear the familiar “Sidewalks of New York” (which was played on the set of The Street of Forgotten Men), as well as John Philip Sousa’s seldom heard “Atlantic City Beauty Pageant” (which was written for the Miss America contest, as seen in The American Venus).


Vintage recordings by Brooks’ screen co-stars are also featured on RadioLulu. Among them are Adolphe Menjou, Esther Ralston, Dorothy Mackaill, James Hall, Lawrence Gray, Noah Beery, Frank Fay, Joan Blondell, and Buck Jones. There is even a song by Blanche Ring, who appeared in It’s the Old Army Game and was the aunt of Brooks’ first husband, Eddie Sutherland. A few of Brooks’ European co-stars are also represented, among them Siegfried Arno (Pandora’s Box), Kurt Gerron (Diary of a Lost Girl), and Andre Roanne (Prix de Beauté). Each is a rarity. As well, there are vintage tracks associated with Brooks’ brief time with the Ziegfeld Follies, including a handful of recordings by performers who shared the stage with the actress, such as Ethel Shutta, Leon Erroll, and the great W.C. Fields.

RadioLulu includes a number of songs by Brooks’ friends and acquaintances, as well as individuals she worked with over the years. Actress Tallulah Bankhead, chanteuse Lucienne Boyer, torch singer Libby Holman, bandleader Emil Coleman, and nightclub owner Bruz Fletcher can all be heard on RadioLulu. Other tracks associated with the actress and featured on RadioLulu include George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me” (Brooks knew Gershwin, and this was her favorite Gershwin song), Xavier Cugat’s “Siboney” (recommended by Brooks in her rare booklet, Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing), and two numbers by Sid Kay’s Fellows (the jazz band seen playing in the wedding reception scene in Pandora’s Box).

All together, RadioLulu features more than 850 tracks! Notably, many of them come from rare 78 rpm discs you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else. Of course, there’s Maurice Chevalier’s much-loved “Louise” as well as more than a dozen tracks with Louise, Lulu, or LouLou in the title. Among them is the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks’ recording of “Louise, You Tease,” as well as a number of different recordings of both “Don’t Bring Lulu” and “Lulu’s Back in Town”.

Many contemporary tributes to the actress can also be heard on RadioLulu. These include songs by Natalie Merchant, Rufus Wainwright, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark (OMD), John Zorn, and Soul Coughing. Famed cartoonist Robert Crumb is heard on “Chanson pour Louise Brooks”. And there’s Ross Berkal’s tribute, “MLB (for Louise Brooks).” Berkal, who is mentioned in the Barry Paris biography and is a longtime member of the Louise Brooks Society, was acquainted with the actress later in her life.


Beyond songs related to Louise Brooks, RadioLulu also features hundreds of songs from the 1920s and 1930s (along with a smattering from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s). There is music from the movies aplenty, as well as rare recordings by early Hollywood stars and Jazz Age celebrities. There are tracks by the popular crooners and torch singers of the time, as well as little known numbers by regional dance bands and hotel orchestras. There are also early Broadway show tunes, early European jazz, popular vocal numbers, theme songs, and even a few novelty numbers.

Recordings by early Hollywood figures such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Lupe Velez, Clara Bow, Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford are streamed. So are recordings by later stars Buddy Rogers, Claudette Colbert, Jean Harlow, Paulette Goddard, Barbara Stanwyck, and Dorothy Lamour. A few of the European actors and actresses heard on the station include Brigitte Helm, Camilla Horn, Anny Ondra, Conrad Veidt, Pola Negri, and Marlene Dietrich (notably, her early German-language recordings).



Among others, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell are heard singing the classic “If I Had A Talking Picture Of You,” one of a number of movie-related songs. There’s also “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” “At the Moving Picture Ball,” and “Hooray for Hollywood,” as well as rare vintage recordings about Chaplin, Garbo, Keaton, Mickey Mouse and Zasu Pitts. Be sure not to miss H. Robinson Cleaver’s “Grace Moore Medley,” Fred Bird & Luigi Bernauer’s “Hallo Hallo Hier Radio,” and Jack Hylton and His Orchestra’s “My brother makes the noises for the talkies.”

What else can be heard on RadioLulu? How about Constance Bennett singing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” or Alice White & Blanche Sweet singing “There’s A Tear For Every Smile in Hollywood” (from the soundtrack to Showgirl in Hollywood). The Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orchestra performs “The Vamp,” Nate Shilkret plays “Flapperette,” and Marion Harris sings “I’m a Jazz Vampire.” Regulations explaining proper radio station identification are given by none other than Cary Grant, co-star of the 1937 Brooks’ film, When You’re in Love.

RadioLulu features many of the leading stars of the Jazz Age and Depression era—Rudy Vallee, Russ Colombo, Ben Selvin, Fred Waring, Ted Weems, Paul Whiteman, Annette Hanshaw, Helen Kane, Mildred Bailey, Lee Wiley, Ruth Etting, Kay Thompson, and Frankie Trumbauer. There are recordings by such famous names as Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman, alongside rarely heard artists like the Eskimo Pie Orchestra and the Brox Sisters, as well as Scrappy Lambert, Fred Elizalde, and Dorothy Dickson! You never know who or what will turn up on this eclectic, always entertaining station.

And that’s not all…. RadioLulu plays Ragtime, swing, standards, and some real hot jazz, including such popular hits as the “Charleston,” “Black Bottom,” and “Varsity Rag.” There are vintage recordings of popular favorites like “Stardust” and “As Time Goes By,” along with great, but little known works like James P. Johnson’s “You’ve Got to be Modernistic.” By the way, the single longest track is George Jessel’s spoken word history “The Roaring Twenties 1920-1929.”

Among the unusual European numbers on RadioLulu are little heard gems from the 1930s Polish chanteuse Hanka Ordonówna as well as the Gershwin of Czechoslovakia, Jaroslav Jezek; there’s a stirring number by the great British cinema organist Sidney Torch; and even a 1929 recording of the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht singing “Mack the Knife.” Along with lovely favorites by the likes of Josephine Baker, Django Rheinhart, and Mistinguett. Also heard are artist models Suzy Solidor and Kiki of Montparnasse. Both posed for the surrealist photographer Man Ray, an admirer of Louise Brooks.

There is nothing else quite like RadioLulu.

Here are ten vintage RadioLulu tracks you won’t want to miss: “Makin’ Whoopee” by B.A. Rolfe & His Lucky Strike Orchestra, “Runnin’ Wild” by Isabella Patricola, “The Sheik of Araby” by Fats Waller, “My Man” by Fanny Brice, and “Puttin on the Ritz” by Harry Richman, as well as “You Oughta be In Pictures” by Little Jack Little & His Orchestra, “College Rhythm” by Jimmy Grier, “Singin’ In The Rain” by Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike), “Slumming On Park Avenue” by Alice Faye, and “Ramona” by Dolores Del Rio.

And here are ten contemporary RadioLulu tracks you won’t want to miss: “Lulu” by Twiggy (the 1960’s supermodel), “Valentino” by Connie Francis, “Louise” by Eric Clapton, “Weight Lifting Lulu” by The Residents, “Interior Lulu” by Marillion, as well as “Marlene Dietrich’s Favourite Poem” by Peter Murphy, “I’m In Love With A German Film Star” by The Passions, “Just Like Fred Astaire” by James, “Lulu Land” by Camper van Beethoven, and “Brandenburg Gate” by Lou Reed & Metallica (from their Lulu album).

Over the years, this unique, long running station has gained many fans and listeners. Famed film critic Leonard Maltin once rated it a “Wow.” Likewise, Louise Brooks devotee and celebrated Dr. Who actor Paul McGann called it “incredible.” The Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman (author of Maus) has tuned-in on occasion, and told us so. As has the award-winning science fiction writer Richard Kadrey. And would you believe that a retro Spanish pop/swing/rock group named Radio Lulu named themselves after the station?

Music has played a significant role in the life and films of Louise Brooks. That’s why RadioLulu was started, as a means of sharing some of the many rare and related recordings collected by the Louise Brooks Society. Listen today for free by clicking on the widget at the top of the page. Let us know what you like or don’t like, and what you might want to hear. Got something to contribute. We would like to hear about that too.

Louise Brooks listens to RadioLulu. How about you?


Thank you for your interest in Louise Brooks, RadioLulu, and the Louise Brooks Society. Be sure to follow RadioLulu on TWITTER or FACEBOOK. And, for even more fun, visit the LBS account on SOUNDCLOUD for more related audio rarities. In 2018, the LBS hopes to put together some thematic podcasts featuring material from RadioLulu, as well as material (like classical music) not featured on the streaming station. For example, there is music related to the time Louise Brooks was in Denishawn....

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Louise Brooks on the air this Friday afternoon



Should all go according to plan THIS TIME, I will be guest DJ-ing on KDVS this Friday afternoon. KDVS is a free-form college radio station (out of Davis, California), and I will be spinning Louise Brooks and silent film related rock & pop and jazz from 1 - 2:30 pm PST. 

(I will be playing tunes heard on RadioLulu.) I suspect more than a few tunes I play will make their West Coast radio debut! 

Listen over the air in the Davis / Sacramento area at 90.3 FM, or stream online at https://kdvs.org/ (I'm not sure if the show is archived for later listening.)
 

 

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Polish Tango 1935: Ach zostań (Oh, Stay!) by Adam Aston

This is pretty atmospheric: A Polish Tango from 1935 - "Ach zostań" ("Oh, Stay!") by Adam Aston, featuring some nice video visuals. Adam Aston can be heard on RadioLulu.

Adam Aston & Orkiestra Syrena Records - Ach zostań! (Oh, Stay!) Tango z teatru "Wielka Rewia" (Tango from theatre "Grand Revue") (J.Petersburski /A.Włast), Syrena-Electro 1935 (Poland)


And another from Aston, the lovely "Madame Loulou", 1934.

Harry Waldau's valse-hesitation received in Polish a charming, witty text of one of the finest cabaret writers of the inter-war Poland, Konrad Tom. He tells us a heartbreaking story of Madame Loulou, who is so pretty, so charming, so friendly, and who lives alone "without any storm around her" - that she must be "a victim of a gossip" made about her by people jealous of her parfumes, her gowns and those men, who "only sometimes" visit her in her elegant apartment in a Alee of the Roses...

The great text and many first-class performers (among the best is Adam Aston, who relly touches the very fin-de-siecle core of this tune's style)made this song an evergreen - one of the classics of the Polish cabaret.

Adam Aston - Madame Loulou (Konrad Tom/Harry Waldau), Syrena Electro 1934.


Sunday, January 31, 2016

Louise Brooks "I listen to the radio."

Today is the last day to listen to RadioLulu. I am looking for a new home for the hundreds of Louise Brooks and silent film related audio tracks I have collected over the years. Where they will end up I don't know. Over the last few days, I have been looking into finding a new home where I could affordably and legally stream the station. When and if I find a solution, I will let everyone know. Stay tuned.


I certainly appreciate all the positive feedback I have received after first posting an article on Huffington Post. I appreciate the comments the article has received, the emails I have received, and the "likes" the stattion has received in its last days.

In a little known 1968 interview, Louise Brooks declared, "I can't sit and watch TV all the time; I'd go insane. But I read and read and read; and I write; and I listen to the radio..." I don't know what model of radio Brooks had, but perhaps it was something like whjat is pictured below. I can imagine her listening to RadioLulu, remembering.


Saturday, January 30, 2016

RadioLulu in Dead, Long Live RadioLulu

Like others, I’ve long had the fantasy of being a disc jockey. As a DJ, I would share favorite music with listeners, introducing songs and artists with the occasional anecdote or bit of trivia only I might know. “Have you heard this rare recording by …?” or “Did you know that this singer also performed on …?” As a DJ, I imagined the pleasure others might take in hearing a performer or recording they, like me, especially enjoyed.

In 2002, I was able to turn my fantasy into reality thanks to Live365.com, the streaming radio service provider. A pioneer in the field since 1999, Live365 enables individuals like me the chance to program music which plays over the internet. It was simple. I paid a small annual fee, around $120.00, to cover music licensing fees and other costs associated with streaming content over the web.

But now, it’s all over.

Recently, Live365 announced that as of January 31, 2016 it will cease operations. As I understand it, it’s shutting down is largely a result of actions by the Copyright Royalty Board, which raised rates for net broadcasters while special lower rates for smaller broadcasters (like me) were phased out. With the writing on the wall, Live365 laid off staff and investors pulled out.

As radio news sites have reported, the loss of Live365 is a tremendous blow to the diversity of internet radio—diversity made possible by thousands of niche broadcasters running their stations more as hobbies than businesses.

I was one of those hobbyists. And the station I created was called RadioLulu. It  was named after Lulu, the character played by Louise Brooks in the 1929 silent film, Pandora’s Box. RadioLulu plays Louise Brooks inspired and silent film themed music of the Twenties, Thirties and today. I think it is unique.

The station features rare recordings by early film stars (who knew Rudolph Valentino or Charlie Chaplin cut records?), as well as theme songs from silent films (“silent films were never silent”), early show tunes, dance bands, Jazz Age jazz, European rarities, novelty numbers, and more. There are hotel orchestras, crooners, torch singers and even a bit of contemporary rock and pop, the latter mostly tributes to Brooks by the likes of Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark (OMD), Natalie Merchant, Rufus Wainwright, and even avant-jazz instrumentalist John Zorn.

Back in 1995, I launched the Louise Brooks Society, a website which serves as home to an on-line archive and international fan club devoted to this singular silent film star. She is my passion. I have been collecting material, including recordings, related to the actress ever since. With Brooks, one thing would lead to another....

RadioLulu is a place where I was able to share my audio collection with others. Here, fans could hear all manner of rare recordings by Brooks’ co-stars (Adolphe Menjou, Frank Fay, Joan Blondell, etc…) as well as her contemporaries (Clara Bow, Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Barbara Stanwyck and others). RadioLulu also features music from five of Brooks’ films — including the haunting themes from Beggars of Life (1928) and Prix de Beauté (1930), as well as fan favorites like Maurice Chevalier’s “Louise.”




To give the music context, I added tracks from the times. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell can be heard singing the poignant 1929 hit, “If I Had a Talking Picture of You,” one of a number of movie-related numbers on RadioLulu.

There are also numbers like “Hooray for Hollywood,” “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” and “At the Moving Picture Ball,” as well their downbeat flip-side, like Constance Bennett’s rendition of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and the Alice White & Blanche Sweet number “There’s A Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood” (from the soundtrack to Showgirl in Hollywood). Along with spoken word intros and miscellaneous snippets of dialogue, RadioLulu even featured regulations explaining proper radio station identification given by none other than by Cary Grant, co-star of the 1937 romantic musical, When You’re in Love (in which Brooks had an uncredited role). Grace Moore, Grant's co-star, is also featured.

It would be hard to list all the odd, interesting, and notable recordings on RadioLulu. Among the 432 tracks and nearly 23 hours of programming, I also included a few rare vintage songs about movie stars—Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton, Zasu Pitts, and Mickey Maus among them.

I am especially proud of having tracked down four different vintage recordings of the haunting theme from Brooks’ only French film, Prix de Beauté. She didn’t sing it—her role in this early talkie was dubbed; but who did has long been a matter of debate among fans. Some have even suggested Edith Piaf, but she isn’t it. My four different vintage recordings solve the mystery. Each can be heard on RadioLulu along with the 2006 cover version they inspired, “Chanson pour Louise Brooks,” by the French group Les Primitifs Du Futur, featuring the famed cartoonist Robert Crumb on mandolin.



My obsession with tracking down little known related recordings has even led to a discovery or two. One such discovery was figuring out who the jazz combo is seen playing at the wedding party in Pandora’s Box. It turns out they were Sid Kay's Fellows, a popular dance band in Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s. They accompanied Sidney Bechet during his concerts in the German capitol, and during their heyday, released a number of 78 rpm recordings. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the group–which included Jewish musicians—were forbidden to perform publicly. I managed to track down some of their early recordings, and today Sid Kay's Fellows can be heard once again on RadioLulu.

I also tracked down the musical group seen in Brooks’ other great G.W. Pabst directed film, Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). That small combo was lead by the Spanish-born musician Juan Llossas, who would soon find fame for his Tangos. Did you know the Tango was once all the rage in Weimar Germany? RadioLulu features a few such recordings. One RadioLulu track I especially like is Marek Weber’s “A media luz.”




RadioLulu also features an unusual recording by Jaroslav Jezek, the “George Gershwin of Czechoslovakia.” In 1929, the year that Brooks played Lulu in Pandora’s Box and was suddenly famous all over Europe, Jezek wrote and recorded “Zasu,” a memorable song whose sheet music depicts the actress! Coincidence? Not likely.

And speaking of Gershwin, my station also features a handful of songs penned by Gershwin, with whom Brooks had a flirtatious acquaintanceship. By the way, Brooks’ favorite Gershwin song, “Somebody Love Me,” can be heard on RadioLulu.

Though I know I will never reach a mass audience, I love programming RadioLulu. It’s the few listeners I reach that I aim to please. According to my monthly listener reports, at any one time dozens and sometimes even hundreds of individuals from around the world tune into RadioLulu. Over the years, a few thousand individuals have “liked” the station.

Occasionally, I do receive an email or a listener posted comment praising the station and saying how much they loved the Roaring Twenties or early jazz or old movies. On New Year’s Eve, a woman named Theresa emailed. She wrote, “Wish I had discovered you earlier. Best station I've ever heard for old, unique style music of the 20's and 30's. Love hearing people I have only heard of but never actually heard like Josephine Baker, Ruth Etting, and so many movie stars not known for singing.  So fabulous! Will you be able to keep going with licensing changes?  This music and your station is a treasure.”

That made me feel good. And so did film critic Leonard Maltin, who wrote a short piece about the Louise Brooks Society and pointed out my website even had its own radio station “that allows you to listen to music of the 1920s. Wow!”

Sometimes, recognition has come from unlikely places. There is a contemporary Spanish group named Rädio Lulú who play swing and retro pop music and may have even taken their name from my station.

And sometimes, recognition comes from unlikely sources. A few years ago, I had the chance to meet the English actor Paul McGann, who starred in With Nail and I and played the eighth Doctor Who. Like me, he too is a devotee of early film. When we met, McGann had a quizzical look on his face before saying, “You’re the guy that does RadioLulu. It’s incredible. I listen all the time.” The Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman has told me he tunes-in, as has the award-winning science fiction writer Richard Kadrey.

Last November, I received an email from a listener named Nick. He is employed at the Vito Russo Library at the Gay Center in New York City; he wrote to say that RadioLulu is played at the library every Saturday, and that "Everybody loves it." That was gratifying as well. And that is why since 2002 I have pursued this labor of love called RadioLulu.





There is a lot of great music on Live365, as well as a lot of passion behind its many stations. I will miss all the niche stations like mine and like those that play only Tiki music. I will miss the chance to discover new music. I will miss the opportunity to listen to favorites like Radio Dismuke (an amazing station featuring popular music of the 1920s & 1930s), Radiola! (another station featuring popular music of the 1920s & 1930s “guaranteed to wake up the mind and make it smile”), and Weimar Rundfunk (European Dance Orchestras and Hot Dance Bands). Each are longtime broadcasters. I am sure each will find a new home, if they haven’t already.

There is a lot of great music on RadioLulu. Along with such famous names as Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, Benny Goodman, Tallulah Bankhead, Django Rheinhart, and Fred Astaire, there are as many less well known but just as deserving artists like the Eskimo Pie Orchestra, Scrappy Lambert, Hanka Ordonówna, Annette Hanshaw, Lee Wiley, Kiki of Montparnasse (Man Ray's muse), and Sidney Torch (the great British cinema organist). There is even a 1929 recording of the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht singing “Mack the Knife.”

In 1940, Brooks self-published a now extremely rare booklet titled Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing. I have a copy, and in it, the actress turned dancer recommended a few recordings with which to practice one's steps. I tracked down those recordings, and that's why you'll hear Xavier Cugat’s “Siboney” and Wayne King's "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles."

Here are some tracks you won’t want to miss: “You Oughta be In Pictures” by Little Jack Little & His Orchestra, “Makin’ Whoopee” by B.A. Rolfe & His Lucky Strike Orchestra, “Puttin on the Ritz” by Harry Richman, “The Vamp” by the Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orchestra, “Flapperette” by Nate Shilkret, and “I’m a Jazz Vampire” by Marion Harris. Oh, and don’t miss “Lulu” by Twiggy (the 1960’s supermodel). It is one of a couple dozen songs with “Lulu” or “LouLou” in the title.

I am not sure what will happen with RadioLulu. I am looking around for new streaming sites. I hope to continue sharing my collection of Louise Brooks inspired and silent film themed music with the world. How can I not?


a slightly different version of this article appeared on the Huffington Post

Friday, June 12, 2015

Something about RadioLulu you'll want to read

Here's the latest on RadioLulu....

RadioLulu is a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today. Located on the web at www.live365.com/stations/radiolulu — RadioLulu features music from the films of the silent and early sound era, as well as recordings by early stars, show tunes, a little sweet jazz, cabaret artists, contemporary tracks and more. In addition, there are theme songs, novelty numbers, torch singers and crooners — as well as a numerous tracks with “Lulu” or “LouLou” in the title. And of course, there’s Maurice Chevalier’s much-loved “Louise”. All together, RadioLulu features more than 430 tracks totaling almost 23 hours!


Music has played a significant role in the life and films of Louise Brooks. (Remember, “Silent films were never silent.”) And that’s why RadioLulu was started, as a means of sharing some of the many rare related recordings collected by the Louise Brooks Society.

Launched in 2002, this unique station features music from five of Brooks’ films — the haunting themes from Beggars of Life (1928) and Prix de Beauté (1930), as well as musical passages from The Canary Murder Case (1929), Empty Saddles (1936), and Overland Stage Raiders (1938). On RadioLulu, you’ll also hear the familiar “Sidewalks of New York” (played on the set of The Street of Forgotten Men), as well as John Philip Sousa’s “Atlantic City Beauty Pageant” (written for the Miss America contest seen in The American Venus). There are also vintage recordings by Brooks’ screen co-stars, Adolphe Menjou, Noah Beery, Blanche Ring (aunt of husband Eddie Sutherland), Esther Ralston, Dorothy Mackaill, James Hall, Lawrence Gray,  Frank Fay, Joan Blondell, and Buck Jones. Similarly, Brooks’ European co-stars are represented by recordings from Siegfried Arno (Pandora’s Box), Kurt Gerron (Diary of a Lost Girl), and Andre Roanne (Prix de Beauté). Each recording is a rarity.

There are vintage tracks associated with Brooks’ brief time with the Ziegfeld Follies, including a handful of recordings by performers who shared the stage with the actress, such as Ethel Shutta, Leon Erroll, and the great W.C. Fields.

RadioLulu also features songs by Brooks’ friends and acquaintances, as well as individuals she worked with over the years. Actress Tallulah Bankhead, torch singer Libby Holman, chanteuse Lucienne Boyer, bandleader Emil Coleman, and nightclub owner Bruz Fletcher are all included. Other tracks associated with the actress heard on RadioLulu include George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me” (her favorite Gershwin song), Xavier Cugat’s “Siboney” (recommended by Brooks in her book, Fundamentals of Ballroom Dancing), and two numbers by Sid Kay’s Fellows (the jazz band seen playing at the wedding reception in Pandora’s Box). Also, there’s Ross Berkal’s latter day tribute, “MLB (for Louise Brooks)”. Berkal, who is mentioned in the Barry Paris biography and is a longtime member of the Louise Brooks Society, was friendly with Brooks later in her life.

Some of the many tributes to the actress by contemporary recording artists are also played on RadioLulu. They include Natalie Merchant, Rufus Wainwright, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark (OMD), John Zorn, Sarah Azzara, and Soul Coughing. Even famed cartoonist Robert Crumb is heard on “Chanson pour Louise Brooks”.

Recordings by early Hollywood figures such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Lupe Velez, Bebe Daniels, Clara Bow, Norma Talmadge, Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford are also streamed. So are recordings by later stars Buddy Rogers, Claudette Colbert, David Manners, Jean Harlow, Paulette Goddard, Barbara Stanwyck, and Dorothy Lamour. A few of the European actors and actresses heard on the station are Brigitte Helm, Camilla Horn, Anny Ondra, Conrad Veidt, Pola Negri, and Marlene Dietrich (notably her early German-language recordings).

Gloria Swanson is one of the many silent and early film stars featured on RadioLulu.

Among others, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell are heard singing the classic “If I Had A Talking Picture Of You,” one of a number of movie-related songs heard on RadioLulu. There’s also “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” “At the Moving Picture Ball,” “Hollywood Stomp” and “Hooray for Hollywood,” as well as rare vintage songs about Chaplin, Garbo, Keaton, and Zasu Pitts. And don’t miss H. Robinson Cleaver’s “Grace Moore Medley”, Fred Bird & Luigi Bernauer’s “Hallo Hallo Hier Radio”, and Jack Hylton and His Orchestra’s “My brother makes the noises for the talkies”.

What else is heard on RadioLulu? Tune in to hear Constance Bennett sing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, or Alice White & Blanche Sweet sing “There’s A Tear For Every Smile in Hollywood” (from the soundtrack to Showgirl in Hollywood). The Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orchestra perform “The Vamp”, Nate Shilkret plays “Flapperette”, and Marion Harris sings “I’m a Jazz Vampire”. Regulations regarding radio station identification are given by none other than Cary Grant, co-star of the 1937 Brooks’ film, When You’re in Love.

And that’s not all…. You’ll hear James P. Johnson’s “You’ve Got to be Modernistic”, the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks’ recording of “Louise, You Tease”, as well as a handful of different recordings of both “Don’t Bring Lulu” and “Lulu’s Back in Town”. All will delight. RadioLulu plays Ragtime, dance bands, Big Bands, hotel orchestras, standards, swing, and some real hot jazz, including such popular hits as the “Charleston”, “Black Bottom”, and “Varsity Rag”. There are also sentimental favorites like “Stardust” and “As Time Goes By”.

Among the unusual European tracks streamed on RadioLulu are little heard gems from the 1930s Polish chanteuse Hanka Ordonówna as well as the Gershwin of Czechoslovakia, Jaroslav Jezek, a stirring number by the great British cinema organist Sidney Torch, and a 1929 recording of the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht singing “Mack the Knife”. Also heard are one-time models Suzy Solidor and Kiki of Montparnasse. Both posed for the surrealist photographer Man Ray, an  admirer of Louise Brooks.

RadioLulu features many of the leading stars of the 1920s and 1930s — Rudy Vallee, Russ Colombo, Ben Selvin, Fred Waring, Ted Weems, Paul Whiteman, Annette Hanshaw, Helen Kane, Mildred Bailey, Lee Wiley, Ruth Etting, Kay Thompson, and Frankie Trumbauer, as well as Josephine Baker, Django Rheinhart, and Mistinguett. There are also rarely heard artists like the Eskimo Pie Orchestra and the Brox Sisters, as well as Scrappy Lambert, Fred Elizalde, and Dorothy Dickson. You never know what will turn up on this eclectic, always entertaining station.

Louise Brooks listens to a record.


There is nothing else quite like RadioLulu. Over the years, it has gained many fans and listeners. Famed film critic Leonard Maltin rated it a “Wow.” Louise Brooks devotee and celebrated Dr. Who actor Paul McGann called it “incredible.” The Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman (author of Maus) said he has tuned-in on a number of occasions. As has the award-winning science fiction writer Richard Kadrey. And would you believe the retro Spanish pop/swing/rock group Radio Lulu named themselves after the station?

Listen today by clicking on the widget above. Be sure to follow RadioLulu on Twitter and Facebook. And check out the RadioLulu wish list on Amazon.com

There is a lot of great music on RadioLulu. Along with George Jessel’s narrative history of “The Roaring Twenties 1920-1929″ and such famous names as Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman, here are ten tracks you won’t want to miss: “Makin’ Whoopee” by B.A. Rolfe & His Lucky Strike Orchestra, “Runnin’ Wild” by Isabella Patricola, “The Sheik of Araby” by Fats Waller, and “Puttin on the Ritz” by Harry Richman, as well as “You Oughta be In Pictures” by Little Jack Little & His Orchestra, “Singin’ In The Rain” by Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike), “Slumming On Park Avenue” by Alice Faye, “Ramona” by Dolores Del Rio, and on a more contemporary note, “Lulu” by Twiggy (the 1960’s supermodel), and “I’m In Love With A German Film Star” by The Passions.

RadioLulu needs your help. Consider becoming an underwriter: the Louise Brooks Society pays $120.00 annually to stream this unique online station. That amount includes licensing fees associated with broadcasting music over the web through LIve365. Show your support by paying for part or a full year’s broadcast. Individuals who make a donation will be acknowledged on this page and on the RadioLulu homepage.  (Full or partial underwriting for the current year is available.) To help underwrite RadioLulu send an email or join the LBS as a contributing member. // Or, consider purchasing a CD for RadioLulu from its Amazon.com wish list. It will be used in adding additional tracks to the station. Thank you for your interest in Louise Brooks, RadioLulu and the Louise Brooks Society.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

RadioLulu, a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film themed online radio station

Don't forget to "tune-in" to the recently updated RadioLulu, a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film themed online radio station streaming music of the Teens, Twenties, Thirties, and today. RadioLulu's unique mix of programming features music from Brooks' film, recordings by Brooks' co-stars, along with the biggest hits of the Jazz Age, songs sung by silent film stars, music from early talkies, show tunes, novelty numbers, and lots, lots more.




RadioLulu has a Facebook page and a Twitter account @Radio_Lulu. Please visit each and "like" or follow each. Thanks for your interest and support, and thanks for listening!


Monday, September 1, 2014

John Philip Sousa and Louise Brooks

A while back, I purchased a CD of John Philip Sousa's music for wind bands. The disc contains a track of some interest, The Atlantic City Pageant March (1927). According to the linear notes, "During Sousa's final years, beginning in 1926, the band often played summer engagements at Atlantic City's Steel Pier. The Atlantic City Pageant March was written at the request of the city's mayor, and honoured the famous Atlantic City Beauty Pageant." That's a little less then two years after Louise Brooks and Famous Players-Lasky were in Atlantic City (during the first week of September in 1925) filming The American Venus, whose story centered on the pageant.



Curiously, this is not the first time I have come across an instance of Sousa "shadowing" Brooks . . . . I noticed 
- while looking in the Independence Daily Reporter - that Sousa and his band performed in Independence, Kansas just a week or so after Brooks and Denishawn had danced there in January, 1924. (The paper reported that the band concert was the next big happening in town after the dance recital.) Another time, I came across a screening of Evening Clothes in Chicago. At that 1927 event, Sousa's band performed onstage prior to the film being shown!

Friday, June 20, 2014

Louise Brooks Society is on Twitter @LB_Society

The Louise Brooks Society is on Twitter @LB_Society. As of today, the LBS is followed by more than 2,700 individuals. Are you one of them? Why not join the conversation? Be sure and visit the LBS Twitter profile, and check out the more than 3,465 LBS tweets so far!
The LBS twitter stream can also be found in the right hand column.
And that's not all.

RadioLulu ♪♫♬♪

also has a Twitter account at @Radio_Lulu.
This new account tweets about Louise Brooks and music and additions to
RadioLulu - the online radio station of the Louise Brooks Society
at live365.com/stations/298896 Check it out today!
Powered By Blogger