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01 - Happy Days Are Here Again 1930
02 - The One Man Band 1931
03 - Little Mary Brown 1931
04 - In My Bouquet of Memories 1928
05 - My Man From Caroline 1930
06 - Learn to Croon 1931
07 - Aint She Sweet 1930
08 - Do the New York 1931
09 - Baby Face 1930
10 - Bend Down, Sister 1931
11 - You Said It 1931
12 - Sing Another Chorus, Please 1931
13 - This Is The Missus 1931
14 - Smile, Darn Ya, Smile 1931
15 - Steppin' in Society 1925
16 - Nobody Loves My Baby Like My Baby Love 1927
17 - I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby 1931
18 - Potatoes Are Cheaper Now's the Time To 1929
Selvin started his professional life at age 15 as a
fiddle player in
New York City night clubs. A "husky" lad, he looked older than he was and as such was permitted into such establishments.
A mere six years later, as leader of his own
dance band,
the "Novelty Orchestra," Selvin released the biggest-selling popular
song in the first quarter-century of recorded music. That single, "
Dardanella", eventually went on to sell more than 5 million copies and an additional 2 million pieces of
sheet music.
According to
The Guinness Book of World Records, Selvin recorded more musical sides (on
78-rpm discs) than any other person. One reason for this prolific output is that he recorded for dozens of different
labels during this high-growth time in the industry, using a different name (or slightly different name) for each
label.
Selvin's output has been estimated at 13,000 to 20,000 song titles.
Ben Selvin data
- During
the Columbia era, he recorded under many different names including
"The Broadway Nightlites", "The Knickerbockers", "The Columbians", "The
Cavaliers", "Barney Trimble and his Oklahomans", "Perley Stevens and
his Orchestra", "Jerry Mason and his Californians", "The Harmonians",
"Rudy Marlow and his Orchestra", "Columbia Photo Players", "Frank
Auburn and his Orchestra", "Kolster Dance Orchestra", "Lloyd Keating
and his Music", "Earl Marlow and his Orchestra", "Ed Loyd and his
Orchestra", Ray Seeley and his Orchestra", "Sam Nash and his
Orchestra", "Mickie Alpert and his Orchestra", :Johnny Walker and his
Orchestra", Chester Leighton and his Sophmores", "Wally Edwards and his
Orchestra", "Roy Carroll and his Sands Point Orchestra", "Buddy
Campbell and his Orchestra", "Golden Terrace Orchestra", "Ted Raph and
his Orchestra", "Georgia Moonlight Serenaders", "Cloverdale Country
Club Orchestra", and "Ed Parker and his Orchestra".
- Had an instrumental part in the development of Muzak in the mid-1930s.
- Was an A&R Director at RCA Victor in charge of the company's popular Camden Label and
- served as the Musical Director for a recording in 1954 by John Serry, Sr..
Originally
a violinist, Ben Selvin probably made more records than any other
bandleader of the 78 rpm era, his career in the record industry spanning
decades. He may be best known among record collectors not for specific
recordings but for quantity. Articles on page 145 of the January 1924
issue of Talking Machine World and page 86 of the January 1924 issue of
Metronome celebrated Selvin's 1,000th record--this was early in Selvin's
career. The articles, evidently based on the same press release
prepared by Selvin himself, state that the musician was "twenty-five
years of age." Page 67 of the February 1925 issue of Metronome states
that Selvin "recently made his 1200th phonograph record." He remained
important in the record industry for decades, even becoming a vice
president of Columbia during the heyday of Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore,
Doris Day and Buddy Clark. Later he was an A & R man for RCA,
overseeing the popular RCA Camden series of reissued material until
forced to retire at age 65.
He was born around 1898 to Russian
immigrants. His father, Max, was a tailor. Page 34d of the September
1927 issue of Talking Machine World gives this background information:
"Ben Selvin, a native of New York, started fiddling at the age of seven.
He made his first public appearance at the Star Casino at the age of
nine. Acclaimed a prodigy, and presented with a gold medal in
recognition of his genius, it was planned to send him to Paris for
further study. Reverses prevented, but Ben was determined to succeed, so
he kept on working in and around New York. In 1913 Mr. Selvin made his
first appearance on Broadway. From there he went to Rector's, then to
Reisenweber's and Healy's. When nineteen years old, Ben Selvin organized
his own orchestra and played at the Moulin Rouge for Broadway's record
orchestral run--a run of seven years." Page 86 of the January 1924 issue
of Metronome states, "In 1922 he was assigned to the newly created
Broadway, which, with an augmented orchestra, he took by storm. Soon his
popular aggregation was transferred to the 'Pavilion Royal,' where more
admirers were won."
Victor's November 1919 supplement credits
Benjamin B. Selvin for arranging the two numbers on Victor 18614
performed by Selvin's Novelty Orchestra, "Mandy" and "Novelty One-Step."
Soon afterwards came his best-selling record, "Dardanella," with lyrics
by Fred Fisher, music by Johnny Black and Felix Bernard. This was cut
by Selvin's Novelty Orchestra for Victor 18633 on November 20, 1919, and
issued in February 1920.
The June 1921 issue of Talking Machine
World announced that Selvin's Novelty Orchestra, engaged at the time at
the Moulin Rouge in New York City, "signed up exclusively for the making
of Vocalion records." (Curiously, Brunswick and other companies
continued to issue discs of Selvin's Orchestra.) The September 1922
issue of the trade journal announced that Selvin would continue to be
exclusive to the Vocalion label, and page 143 of the September 1923
issue of Talking Machine World announced that Selvin again signed to be
an exclusive Vocalion artist, adding, "Although only twenty- eight years
old he not only directs the Selvin Orchestra at the Moulin Rouge, New
York, but he directs and manages the Bar Harbor Society Orchestra and
the Broadway Syncopators, both exclusively Vocalion combinations....It
is said, besides furnishing six records or twelve selections a month for
the Vocalion list, his orchestra also accompanies most of the Vocalion
artists in their recordings of popular songs....[H]e keeps three
arrangers busy preparing effective and novel orchestrations."
He
worked often in radio by 1924. Page 57 of the June 1924 issue of
Dominant Orchestra Monthly states, "Few radio orchestras have so
completely captivated 'listeners-in' as has Ben Selvin's Moulin Rouge
Orchestra, Vocalion record artists who broadcast every Monday night over
Station WJZ." Page 54 of the November 1924 issue of Talking Machine
World describes WJZ programs sponsored by the Aeolian Company in New
York City: "The program on Monday was opened by several irresistible
dance numbers by Ben Selvin's Woodmansten Inn Orchestra, Vocalion record
artists..."
His status as an exclusive Vocalion artist ended on
September 1, 1924. He began recording for Columbia, Paramount and the
Plaza Music Company, which issued records on Banner and related labels.
In 1926 and 1927 he also worked for Brunswick--he had last recorded for
the company in 1922 before signing as an exclusive Vocalion artist. He
continued to record for Vocalion, which became a Brunswick subsidiary in
January 1925.
Page 70 of the February 1925 issue of Metronome
announced that "The Famous Phonograph Orchestras Bureau has been
organized with headquarters in the Publicity Building, 1576 Broadway,
New York City. Associated in this enterprise are Charles Dornberger, Ben
Selvin and George D. Lottman. Bookings are made for several of the
orchestras that record for the phonograph companies, and a very
satisfactory business is reported."
Now with even closer business
ties to phonograph companies, he vigorously attacked the new medium of
radio, doing it in a way to make phonograph recordings seem a perfect
product. Page 67 of the February 1925 issue of Metronome quotes a press
release issued by Selvin: "Radio in its present stage is a menace to the
artist who broadcasts; its publicity value dwindles into insignificance
when compared to the harm that it does. I have decided to cancel all
future broadcasting dates because I find that radio goes a long way
toward impairing one's reputation. The tonal balance perfected in the
phonograph recording studios is utterly lacking in radio reproduction;
some instrument always stands out as a rule over the air, to the
complete exclusion of all the rest. I have investigated this condition
intensively, but no amount of position- moving or special orchestrating
seems to remedy it. The banjo, particularly, will often muffle the
dulcet and sweet tones of the saxophone, and other instruments prove
similarly offensive. Then, there is a harmful tendency on the part of
many musicians, particularly amateurs, to 'hog' the air in their
over-anxiety. This, combined with the very poor balance achieved by the
broadcasting orchestra, makes radio music a really hideous thing. Until
these evils are remedied, I, for one, am going to let the radio alone."
He
soon performed on radio again, presumably lured to the medium by a
sufficiently lucrative contract. Page 60 of the March 1925 issue of
Metronome states, "Ben Selvin has added three men to his Woodmansten
[Inn] orchestra and will have nine musicians on the job for the coming
season. Selvin is now broadcasting through station WFBH and is doing his
own announcing." That all of radio's "evils" listed a month earlier by
Selvin had been remedied so quickly is unlikely.
By the end of
1927 he was closely associated with Columbia. Page 34d of the September
1927 issue of Talking Machine World states, "Ben Selvin, besides being
known as one of the greatest of American orchestral leaders, has
accepted the post of Program Director of the Columbia Phonograph Hour,
sponsored by the Columbia Phonograph Co., to be presented every
Wednesday evening over the entire chain of the Columbia Broadcasting
System, starting September 28." The Columbia Broadcasting System, a
broadcasting chain controlled by the Columbia Phonograph Company, had
been formed only months earlier.
Page 128 of the November 1927
issue states, "The Columbia Phonograph Co. announces that it has secured
a three-year contract with Ben Selvin and His Orchestra, by which this
celebrated dance orchestra and its leader will record exclusively for
Columbia. The first release under the new contract is a coupling of
'Playground in the Sky' and 'Wherever You Are,' both...from the new
musical comedy success, 'Sidewalks of New York.' Ben Selvin has the
distinction of recording the famous phonograph record of 'Dardanella'
back in 1919, the record which sold more copies than any other up to the
recent phenomenal success of Columbia's 'Two Black Crows' records.
Another early great hit of Mr. Selvin's was 'Three O'Clock in the
Morning.' Ben Selvin has recorded more than 3,000 selections for various
phonograph companies in the past."
This article's claim that
"Dardanella" was the industry's best-seller prior to 1927 is probably
not true though the disc was genuinely popular.
A few records
among his thousands are "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (Victor 18603,
1919), "Yes! We Have No Bananas" (vocal by Irving Kaufman, Vocalion
14590, 1923), "Oh, How I Miss You Tonight" (Columbia 359-D, 1925),
"Manhattan" (Columbia 422, 1925), "Blue Skies" (Columbia 860-D, 1927),
"Happy Days Are Here Again" (Columbia 2116-D, 1930), and "When It's
Springtime in the Rockies" (Columbia 2206-D, 1930). In the early 1930s
he led orchestras on radio. For example, during the winter of 1933-34 he
directed The Taystee Breadwinners over New York City's WOR on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at 8:15 p.m. on a show sponsored by the Taystee
Bread Company and starring Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, who were called
"The Taystee Loafers."
Joseph Lanza reports on page 46 in Elevator
Music (St. Martin's Press, 1994), "Selvin was Muzak's chief programmer
in its early years; he supervised its first New York City transmission
in 1936 and had helped the company devise its first standardized
programming."
George T. Simon writes in The Big Bands (New York:
Schirmer Books, 1981) about Selvin's connection with James Caesar
Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians, who was
worried about musicians being put out of work by radio broadcasts as
well as jukeboxes reproducing music from records: "...[P]erturbed by the
possible adverse effects of recording on his membership, he hired Ben
Selvin, a highly respected recording executive and orchestra leader, to
conduct a thorough study of the entire recording field as it affected
musicians. Selvin's report was exhaustive. Presented at the annual
convention of the musicians' union, it received a standing ovation from
the delegates..."
Selvin argued against a ban on recording,
pointing to other ways to address the problem of large numbers of
musicians being unemployed, but Petrillo ordered that a ban go into
effect on August 1, 1942. The ban was arguably a disaster for working
musicians--for example, it contributed to the decline of big bands or
the "swing" era--but in the end the major record companies did agree to
pay the union a royalty for released records.
Around 1947 Selvin
worked for Majestic Records as chief of artists and repertory. Late in
life he worked for RCA, overseeing the popular RCA Camden reissue
series. In the early 1960s, he was forced to retire from RCA at age 65.
He became a consultant for 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing), a
company that transferred recordings to audiotape. He recommended records
to be transferred to the new tape medium. In the mid-1970s he was
reunited with former Brunswick recording director Walter Haenschen
("Carl Fenton") for a taped interview at Lincoln Center. The unpublished
interview is part of the Haenschen collection at Ithaca College in
upstate New York.
He married three times. His first wife, Alice,
bore him a son, Robert, in 1924 (he died in 1999). In 1944 he married
Gloria, and they had two children, Rick (1944) and Rene (1950).
Following Gloria's death in the 1970s, he married a woman named Dorothy.
He died July 15, 1980, while recuperating from a heart attack.
