Ben Selvin and other worm food.

It's no secret that I love older music. I don't usually go farther back than 1925 (as far as recordings go) due to technology break throughs around that time greatly improving sound quality.

That, and one you get back earlier than ... say ... 1920, the surprise casual racism can be jarring. 

Anyway, old music appeals to me not only aesthetically (music from all eras does to one degree or another), but because it is also a historical exercise for me.

It is the intersection of my passion for music and my passion for history.

I like listening to these long ago voices from the past calling across the expanse of time to tell me something. I love taking the time to learn about the historical context of certain songs, the lyrics, arrangement, recording technology, performers, and what effect it may have had on the masses at the time.

Each one is like a reflection of life. The same was we look on a hit from our own past and feel nostalgic about it, but deeper.

Like trying to unlock those little corners of past culture that we forget about.

We place so very much importance on songs and artists, and such of today ... and yesterday. So what about the artists from three or four days ago? 

There always seemed to me that there was a line in the sand between the jazz era (say, 1915-1955), and the overlapping rock era (say, 1945-2005?). There might be a line already formed between the rock era and the hip hop era, but I'm probably too old to feel how deep it is.

For those of us from the 'rock' era, we knew/know every dang detail of our favorite bands and musicians. And if you let us, even in the decrepitude of our dotage, we will gush like teenagers about them. We knew a FEW things about the largest bands from the preceding jazz era. In a nostalgic sort of way because of our parents or grandparents. 

Rock will never die!

Lol, until it does.

This is Ben Selvin. 

I doubt literally anyone reading this now has ever even HEARD of Ben Selvin.

Ben Selvin still holds the world's record for recording the most songs. An estimated 13,000 - 20,000. I can't even properly fathom just how much recording that is.

He had a lot of hits too - in the years before there really were record 'charts' to properly track 'hits', but retrospective research reveals a lot. 

This is his recording of released "Dardanella" released in December of 1919.

This song went to number one and was NUMBER ONE FOR THIRTEEN WEEKS. 

It sold six million copies. SIX MILLION COPIES in and around 1920. 

Six MILLION copies in 1920. 

Ben Selvin is worm food since 1980, many decades after he had already stopped recording, but carried on a carrier in music at least until the 1960s. 

And now, a man in the record books for as many as 20,000 recordings including many #1 hits and record breaking sales is pretty much unknown by all except for a random kook you might encounter on the interweirds on a small obscure social media site in a wee unremarkable blog post.

The gravity of this hits me.

No matter how great you think your favorite top artist is now, your kids will think them 'corny'. Your grandkids will think them 'nostalgic' for the sake of their love for you, and your great-grandkids will not know of their existence at all. Except for a few of them that might be kooks. 

So, here's to Ben Selvin!