Sheet Music:
Vincent Youmans/Gus Kahnfrom FLYING DOWN TO RIO, RKO (1933)
One of the first vintage sheet music classics in my collection, a beautiful example of '30s deco movie art.
Found in a bargain bin in the sheet music department of the J. H. Troup music store on Market Square in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The price - $.60! - tells us this is a later reissue edition but the cover art is the same.
I initially had the bad habit of writing my name on some sheet music covers, as many people UNfortunately also did in those days. (See bottom right). I eventually got over this dastardly trait as the compulsive collecting bug kicked in.
FLYING DOWN TO RIO is one of the great musicals and scores of the 1930s and a landmark for the musical genre. There are only four songs (all listed) but they are all excellent. Two, this and "Carioca," became popular standards, and the title song was still being recorded (by artists like Martin Denny and Xavier Cugat) in the 1950s.
Ken Russell parodied the aerial finale with a bevy of chorus girls on the wings of in-flight biplanes in his musical, THE BOYFRIEND. (1971)
The songwriter, Bobby Troup ("Route 66") was related to the Harrisburg Troups.
There was also a Troup store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The buildings which housed both stores are still standing (as far as I know. I'm now in California).
The Harrisburg store was also my first exposure to a great record department. There were actually TWO, a classical section on the main floor across from the sheet music counter, and a larger pop department in the basement.
Both record departments had listening booths where you could preview your perspective purchases. (There is a key unforgettable scene in a similar record store listening booth in Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN).
There were also piano booths where buyers could play over sheet music.
Imagine either of those today!
I also took my first piano lessons here in the second floor piano studios. The studio where I studied was in the front of the building with windows overlooking the south end of Market Square.
