Fun Friday Resources

It’s almost the 20s again, and you know what happened last time: wild parties, Bright Young Things, and shocking dances.

Well, here at Lichtenbergianism Central, we want you to be well-prepared, so here: have some shocking dance music from 100 years ago.

First up is the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive: Huge collection of Edison cylinders, very searchable. You can find things like “Ain’t You Comin’ Back to Dixie” foxtrot or “As You Please” one-step. What—you don’t know how to foxtrot? Go learn. (Lots of other resources there!)

The Library of Congress National Jukebox: More than dance music, but it’s not hard to find. Try searching for dance terms like foxtrot or Charleston.

And lastly we have the Boston Public Library Vinyl LP Collection: Not so much Roaring 20s stuff here, but you can still find some really neat things if you’d like to explore other times. Or other levels of cheesiness. (Note that not all albums are complete recordings.)

So there you go. Get those garters and flasks ready, and dance until the sun also rises over East Egg.