(Source of picture: Florida State Archives)

From mood music to Mickey Mouse melodies, this display tried to capture every ear.  The Jacksonville exhibit featured vinyl disks from Capitol Records.  It reveals what residents sang & danced along to in 1947,  just a couple of years after World War II. 

Every baby boomer still seems to have a stack of old vinyl records.  The old disks eventually gave way to 8-tracks, then cassette tapes, and now CDs (which may be supplanted by MP3s, computer chip-based portable devices that store music). 

Getting back to yesteryear's display:  Goofy, Mickey, & Donald hold a Disney album in the lower right-hand corner.  In the opposite corner sits a poster for "Music for Dreaming," a landmark 1944 album from Paul Weston, musical director for Capitol Records.  His recordings featured strings that were added to the customary dance band instrumentation.  "Music for Dreaming" proved to be the birth of "Mood Music." The album immediately caught the nation's ear.

GRANDPARENT POP -- Do you recognize any of the following hits & musicians from 1947?  Many stars turn into memories after a generation or two, or as Paul Simon sang in "Boy in the Bubble," "Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts."  Fifty years from now, will only senior citizens recall such WAPE stars as Eminem, Avril Lavigne, and Destiny's Child?  Here are the top ten songs of 1947, enjoyed by our grandparents:

#1 -- "Near You," from Francis Craig
#2 -- "Heartaches," from Ted Weems
#3 -- "Ballerina," from Vaughn Monroe
#4 -- "Peg O' My Heart," from Harmonicats

#5 -- "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!," from Tex Williams
#6 -- "Managua, Nicaragua," from Freddy Martin
#7 -- "Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba," from Perry Como
#8 -- "Mama," from Art Lund (also from Frank Sinatra)
#9 -- "Linda," from Ray Noble, with Buddy Clark
#10 -- "Huggin' and Chalkin'," from Hoagy Carmichael

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