Episode Archive

The moon has served as muse for countless numbers of poets, from the unnamed and unknown, to Shelley, Dickinson, and Kerouac. But only one of these had to worry about record label execs. You’re on the Sound Beat. You’re listening to Jack Kerouac reading his poem “The Moon Her Majesty”, on Dot Records’ Poetry for the Beat Generation, ...

Play Ball! Baseball’s unofficial anthem gets the All-Star treatment.

Some believe Elvis liked Nashville’s RCA studio so much that…he never left. Presley recorded “I Was the One” as the b side to “Heartbreak Hotel”, his first RCA single, in 1956.  It was later converted to a TV studio, but some claim Elvis never, well, left the building. Legend has it whenever Presley’s name was mentioned ...

The National Film Board of Canada honored Oscar Peterson with a short film, “Begone Dull Care”, in 1949. It was  directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart. Using drawn-on-film animation, McLaren and Lambart paint and scratch directly onto film stock to create a visual representation of Oscar Peterson’s jazz music. Check it out here!

Who does the word “crooner” bring to mind? Sinatra, Bing, Buble? Well, if not for a terrible accident, Columbo might have headed that list.

You’re listening to the Palestrina Choir on a Victor 78 from 1927 And, you’re on the Sound Beat! The choir is singing the Hymn to Apollo, one of the Homeric hymns: a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods. It’s thought to have been written in 522 BC. Apollo is the son of Zeus, God ...

Charlie Chaplin would become the world’s biggest star, but the first emergence of the Little Tramp played second fiddle to…go-karts.

War of the Worlds…dj style.

Where did you go in the 1930s when you wanted some of ground-breaking music that would become rock and roll? Sometimes…you just went to church.

Little Einsteins, Mozart for Mommies…we’ve come a long way, babies!