music videos

YouTube, having become an important musical archive and research tool, easily takes us back to the earliest music videos, which sprang up fully-formed in 1927. That was the year that sound and moving pictures were first joined together, in the feature film out of Hollywood called "The Jazz Singer."

Unfortunately, the very first example of the genre, embedded in the movie, was a sleazy and disgusting combination of racism and maudlin sentimentality called "Mammy," sung and rapped by Al Jolson.

Things had improved by the following year, however, as the enormous cameras and impedimentia of sound recording were dragged into theaters where vaudeville was performed. It was in such a setting that this young lady, introduced as Grace Rogers, sang "Lila," a song made famous by Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra, featuring a stunning cornet solo by Bix Beiderbecke.



Grace Rogers was not her real name, however, and I've been unable to uncover her true identity, and don't know whether she became famous and celebrated as an adult.

Anyone who can help me out with this, please leave a comment or send an email.