Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' others added to Library of Congress
WASHINGTON — The best-selling pop album on planet Earth and a disc sent hurtling into deep space are among recordings the Library of Congress will preserve for their cultural significance.
Twenty-five selections were added to the National Recording Registry today, part of the library’s attempt to save America’s aural history by archiving recordings deemed ‘‘culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.’’
(File)
The inductees range from Michael Jackson’s 1982 all-time-bestseller ‘‘Thriller’’ and jazz artist Herbie Hancock’s 1973 fusion smash ‘‘Headhunters’’ to the 1977 record of Earth sounds that flew aboard the spacecraft Voyager in the event alien life forms encountered the craft. Other recordings added to the registry include works by Roy Orbison, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Kitty Wells and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
A collection of Navajo songs, Harry Truman’s 1948 Democratic National Convention speech, radio broadcasts from Ronald Reagan before he became president, and the original cast recording of ‘‘My Fair Lady’’ also made the cut, as did broadcasts of New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reading comics to children during a 1945 newspaper delivery strike.
A recording of the first trans-Atlantic broadcast — an orchestral performance transmitted from London and relayed to the U.S. East Coast in 1925 — also was included because it represented a technological breakthrough in broadcasting.
The Library of Congress chooses 25 recordings each year to add to its registry and preserve. Nominations come from a Library of Congress preservation board and online suggestions from the public. The selections for 2007 bring the registry’s total to 250.
Here are the 25 recordings added today to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress:
1. The first trans-Atlantic broadcast (March 14, 1925)
2. ‘‘Allons a Lafayette,’’ Joseph Falcon (1928)
3. ‘‘Casta Diva,’’ from Bellini’s ‘‘Norma’’; Rosa Ponselle, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Giulio Setti. (recorded Dec. 31, 1928, and Jan. 30, 1929)
4. ‘‘If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,’’ Thomas A. Dorsey (1934)
5. ‘‘Sweet Lorraine,’’ Art Tatum (Feb. 22, 1940)
6. Fibber’s Closet Opens for the First Time, ‘‘Fibber McGee and Molly’’ radio program (March 4, 1940)
7. Wings Over Jordan, Wings Over Jordan (1941)
8. Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics (1945)
9. ‘‘Call It Stormy Monday but Tuesday Is Just as Bad,’’ T-Bone Walker (1947)
10. Harry S. Truman speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention (July 15, 1948)
11. ‘‘The Jazz Scene,’’ various artists (1949)
12. ‘‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,’’ Kitty Wells (May 30, 1952)
13. ‘‘My Fair Lady,’’ original cast recording (1956)
14. Navajo Shootingway Ceremony Field Recordings, recorded by David McAllester (1957-1958)
15. ‘‘ ‘Freight Train,’ and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes,’’ Elizabeth Cotten (1959)
16. Marine Band Concert Album to Help Benefit the National Cultural Center (1963)
17. ‘‘Oh, Pretty Woman,’’ Roy Orbison (1964)
18. ‘‘Tracks of My Tears,’’ Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (1965)
19. ‘‘You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song,’’ Ella Jenkins (1966)
20. ‘‘Music from the Morning of the World,’’ various artists; recorded by David Lewiston (1966)
21. ‘‘For the Roses,’’ Joni Mitchell (1972)
22. ‘‘Headhunters,’’ Herbie Hancock (1973)
23. Ronald Reagan Radio Broadcasts (1976-1979)
24. ‘‘The Sounds of Earth,’’ disc prepared for the Voyager spacecraft (1977)
25. ‘‘Thriller,’’ Michael Jackson (1982)
