THE SOUND OF TAP
Tap Dancing on Record

a tap dance history project by Uwe Meusel
(please see Content)

We are now collecting pre-orders for
VOLUME 1:
The Swing Years
1926 – 1945

Hardcover (300 pages) in 10″ format
and 235 wav-tracks (=9 CDs) on one USB stick.

For pre-orders before the start of the subscription please contact:
u.meusel@tap-dancing-on-record.com

The publication by KAMPRAD is scheduled for February 2024.
For getting started 200 subscriptions are needed.
The subscription period will start on September 18, 2023.
The subscription price is 198,- € (per copy) incl. taxes plus shipping.
The subscription period will end on October 31, 2023.
If 200 subscriptions are reached the bills will be sent out.
As soon as they are paid, the production can start.
Orders from outside the EU only pay the net price plus shipping.
From November 2023 the regular price will be 248,- € (per copy) plus shipping. 

Please support us by sharing the information through your tap dance network.

The Sound of Tap – Flyer 2023 English (PDF) for download

The Sound of Tap – Flyer 2023 Deutsch (PDF) zum herunterladen

„The Sound of Tap“ presents the first 40 years of recorded tap dancing worldwide. This great American artform developed along with Jazz music from Swing to Bebop and Bigband, but also touches other genres like Blues, Cabaret, Musical Show and even classical music. At the same time the change of recording techniques from cylinder and 78rpm records to Singles (7”) and LPs in stereo sound can be traced during this period. The Sound of Tap presents an audible history of tap dance that has rarely been accessible and therefore received little attention. You can hear the pioneers of tap dance as well as lesser known exponents on rare and sometimes unique recordings.

Volume 1: The Swing Years (1926 – 1945) covers the first 20 years. An entire CD is devoted to Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, the father of tap dancing, including unpublished radio and private recordings. Fred Astaire’s tap recordings are presented here in their entirety for the first time and include six alternate takes. Newly researched and detailed biographies are provided for a total of 43 performers, and for the first time one gets an insight into the largely unknown history of tap dancing in Europe. Part 3 with recordings of textbooks is dedicated to the pedagogical aspect of tap dance and the topics: Rhythm representation, notation and terminology. Here Uwe Meusel uses historical documents to present his system of tap dance notation, which solves a number of problems of previous notation systems.

Volume 1 contains 235 music titles (9 CDs) on one USB stick. Restored from Shellac originals, more than half of these titles have not been published digitally before. The hardcover in 25 x 25 cm record format has liner notes and descriptions for each track. 205 label illustrations and 400 photos make what you hear vivid. This multi-media documentary offers an insight into the development of swing music on the show and vaudeville stage as well as in the international musical film of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. A historical collection of material that every tap lover and shellac fan should own.