Ain't she sweet? Lilian Roth sings karaoke

You might think that karaoke singing is modern social phenomena but films with sing-along subtitles has been around much longer, just cast an eye at the charming Lilian Roth singing the song "Ain't she sweet?".



Oh my, ain't that perfection! I repeat, don't you think she's kind of neat?

Note how she gives you instructions to sing along with the bouncing ball much like the karaoke machines nowadays. This video clip is just a part of a longer short film or soundie that even includes an animated cartoon part but I can't find it online anymore (do you know where the whole film is? Tell me.)

Is there someone who has any information about sing-along singing back in the 1930's and 1940's? Did people go to the theatre to sing together? Did they gather around the Panoram machine? If you know something, please tell me.

"Ain't She Sweet" was composed by Milton Ager & Jack Yellen in 1927. They also composed songs as "Hard Hearted Hanna", "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Happy Feet".

What do you think of Lilian Roth singing "Ain't she sweet?"? Tell me.

Ella Fitzgerald sings Hard Hearted Hannah

Here is a video clip with Ella Fitzgerald singing Hard Hearted Hannah from 1955.




Another great version of this song can be found on a cd called "The Great Swing Party", a concert recording made by Ulf Johansson Werre where Hard Hearted Hanna is sung by Hanna Hedlund.

Every fall Ulf Johansson Werre put together a large concert with big band which has a certain theme based on different jazz composers each time: Count Basie, Benny Goodman, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington.

On this particular occasion the theme was just "swing". The cd has a great version of It Don't Mean A Thing. At the concert there were also a lindy hop and tap performance by The Harlem Hot Shots.

What do you think of this video clip with Ella Fitzgerald singing Hard Hearted Hannah? Tell me.