thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

RCA Thesaurus, a brand owned by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, was a supplier of

electrical transcriptions Electrical transcriptions are special phonograph recordings made exclusively for radio broadcasting,Browne, Ray B. and Browne, Pat, Eds. (2001). ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture''. The University of Wisconsin Press. . P. 263. which wer ...

. Efforts were made as early as 1936 to consolidate The RCA Victor Transcription service with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's independent transcription service within the NBC radio network. NBC's''Thesaurus'' catalog system and library of recordings was not completely merged with RCA's catalog until 1939 when the consolidation was completed in an effort to compete with rival transcription services which were available at the Mutual, Columbia and World Broadcasting Systems. During the 1950s, RCA Thesaurus produced under the musical direction of

Ben Selvin Benjamin Bernard Selvin (March 5, 1898 – July 15, 1980) was an American musician, bandleader, and record producer. He was known as the Dean of Recorded Music. Selvin was born in New York City, United States, the son of Jewish Russian immigran ...

in New York City. In 1953 RCA Thesaurus bought a library of 1600 transcriptions. In

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

John Serry Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voic ...

recorded several of his arrangements for RCA Thesaurus, with his ensemble The Bel-Cordions.''Who Is Who in Music International 1958'', Publisher: Who Is Who in Music International, Chicago, Illinois. Biographical File #B11719 for John Serry. See International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England as the current publisher. The group consisted of four accordions, string bass and guitar. It was augmented in some arrangements by vibes, drums and piano. Copies of the album and the composer's original orchestral score have been donated to the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

Sibley Music Library Sibley Music Library is the library of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. It was founded in 1904 by Hiram Watson Sibley in honor of his father Hiram Sibley and is said to be the largest university music library in the US. History The li ...

for archival purposes within the Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections Department to benefit both researchers and students.{{failed verification, date=August 2017

Classical compositions

* "''

Allegro Allegro may refer to: Common meanings * Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright * Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement Artistic works * L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton * ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...

''" –

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954) * "''

The Golden Wedding "''La Cinquantaine''" (French "the fiftieth anniversary") is a piece of music which was composed by Jean Gabriel-Marie in 1887. A swing arrangement of the work by James "Jiggs" Noble, recorded in New York City in late 1940 or early 1941 by Woody H ...

(

La Cinquantaine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...

)''" –

Jean Gabriel-Marie Jean Gabriel Prosper Marie (8 January 1852 – 29 August 1928) was a French romantic composer and conductor. Biography Gabriel-Marie was born in Paris, France on 8 January 1852. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and held a prominent posi ...

Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954) * "'' Tango of Love''" –

Arr. John Serry Sr. (Accordion Quartette 1954)

Popular compositions

* "''

Shine On, Harvest Moon "Shine On, Harvest Moon" is a popular early-1900s song credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Z ...

'' – Jack Noworth & Nora Bayes- Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

My Melancholy Baby "My Melancholy Baby" is a popular song published in 1912 and first sung publicly by William Frawley. The music was written by Ernie Burnett (1884–1959), the lyrics by George A. Norton. Background Ernie Burnett, who composed the music, was ...

''" –

Ernie Burnett Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (bor ...

George A. Norton George Addison Norton (April 18, 1880 – November 18, 1923), usually credited as George A. Norton, was an American lyricist and composer of popular songs. Biography He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His earliest credits came in 1899, with ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...

'' –

Arthur Freed Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for ''An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. ...

Nacio Herb Brown Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the scor ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "'' Nobody's Sweetheart''" –

Elmer Schoebel Elmer Schoebel (September 8, 1896 – December 14, 1970) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Early life He was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, United States. Career Schoebel played along to silent films in Champaign, Illinoi ...

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' By ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

''" –

Fred Fisher Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach, September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Biography Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenba ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "'' If You Knew Susie''" –

Buddy DeSylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Re ...

& Joseph Meyer -Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Somebody Stole My Gal "Somebody Stole My Gal" is a popular song from 1918, written by Leo Wood. In 1924, Ted Weems & his Orchestra had a five-week run at number one with his million-selling version. Its Pee Wee Hunt and his orchestra version is also known in Japan, part ...

''" –

Leo Wood Leo Wood ''(aka'' Jack Wood; ''né'' Leopold Wood Lantheaume; 2 September 1882 – 2 August 1929) was an American songwriter and lyricist. Career Leo Wood was born in San Francisco to Louis Ferdinand Lantheaume and Hannah Marcuse Wood ''(maiden) ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" is a vaudeville and music hall song. Its first known public performance was in Henry J. Sayers' 1891 revue ''Tuxedo'' in Boston, Massachusetts. The song became widely known in the version sung by Lottie Collins in London music ...

''" –

Paul Stanley (composer) Paul Stanley (né Sonnenberg) (February 8, 1848 – March 14, 1909) was a German-born American composer and vaudeville comedian who some credit (but most do not) with writing the music for the ditty Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay for Henry F. Sayers' 1891 ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Old McDonald "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" (sometimes shortened to Old MacDonald) is a traditional children's song and nursery rhyme about a farmer and the various animals he keeps. Each verse of the song changes the name of the animal and its respective nois ...

''" – Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Beer Barrel Polka "Beer Barrel Polka", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II a ...

''" –

Jaromir Vejvoda Jaromír, Jaromir, Jaroměr is a Slavic names, Slavic male given name. Origin and meaning Jaromír is a West Slavs, West Slavic given name composed of two stems ''jaro'' and ''mír''. The meaning is not definite: *Polish language, Polish ''jary'' ( ...

Eduard Ingris Eduard Ingriš () (February 11, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was a Czech-American composer, photographer, conductor and adventurer. Born in Zlonice in Bohemia (then-Austro-Hungary, now Czech Republic), Ingriš left Czechoslovakia in 1947 for So ...

Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

I Love Louisa I, or i, is the ninth Letter (alphabet), letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in Engl ...

''"

Arthur Schwartz Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 – September 3, 1984) was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz. Biography Early life Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on Novem ...

Howard Dietz Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz. Biography Dietz was born in New York City. He attended Columbia Colle ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Oh You Beautiful Doll "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" is a ragtime love song published in 1911 with words by Seymour Brown and music by Nat D. Ayer. The song was one of the first with a twelve-bar blues, twelve-bar opening. The tune has been recorded hundreds of times by ma ...

''" – Seymour Brown/

Nat D. Ayer Nathaniel Davis Ayer (August 5, 1887 – September 19, 1952) was an American composer, pianist, singer and actor. He made most of his career composing and performing in England in Edwardian musical comedy and revue. He also contributed songs to Br ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954) * "''

Chinatown, My Chinatown "Chinatown, My Chinatown" is a popular song written by William Jerome (words) and Jean Schwartz (music) in 1906 and later interpolated into the musical ''Up and Down Broadway'' (1910).Ruhlmann, ''Breaking Records''p. 31 The song has been record ...

''" -

William Jerome William Jerome Flannery, September 30, 1865 – June 25, 1932) was an American songwriter, born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York of Irish immigrant parents, Mary Donnellan and Patrick Flannery. He collaborated with numerous well-known composers a ...

Jean Schwartz Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born American songwriter. Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old. He took various music-related jobs including dem ...

– Arr. John Serry Sr. (Sextette 1954)

Artistic ensemble

The Bel-Cordions

John Serry, Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voic ...

– First Accordionist/ Conductor/Arranger * Louis Delmonte – Accordionist * Alf Nystrom – Accordionist * Ralph Vetro – Accordionist

References

Mass media companies established in 1935 Radio organizations in the United States Electrical transcription companies