Signori, musica da ballo! playlist

Ladies and gentlemen, dance music!

78 rpm records arrived in the homes of Italians mainly so that they could indulge their great shared passion: dance. The records themselves confirm this aspect, both from a visual and content point of view: as well as almost always indicating on the label the "rhythm" of the song recorded on them – which almost always corresponded to one dance or another – most of the recordings up to the late 1940s include pieces with very long introductions and equally elaborate orchestral interludes, particularly suitable for dancing. But what was dance music like between the 1930s and the Liberation, before the great explosion of rhythms from overseas? This playlist aims at helping you rediscover them and maybe, inviting you to try a few dance steps to these notes from bygone days.

We’ll listen again to tangos, mazurkas, fox-trots, waltzes and many other rhythms performed by a wide variety of dance orchestras: from Dino Olivieri’s to Maestro Cinico Angelini’s, and ensembles conducted by Cosimo Di Ceglie, Enzo Ceragioli and many others. Sometimes there’s a sung refrain, as was fashionable during the ballroom era: in this case the "refrainista", who was usually a member of the orchestra with a good voice, sings the song’s refrain with the help of a megaphone.