Studio 360

The Golden Age of Anonymous Music

The curious world of vintage stock-music libraries, a groundbreaking radio thriller, and America’s most prestigious movie theater—the White House.

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A tower of vinyl.

Trevor Chriss/Alamy

Listen to this episode of Studio 360 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

Some of the greatest film music of the 20th century came from ready-made stock albums recorded by virtually anonymous musicians. Author David Hollander and composer Keith Mansfield tell the story of vintage library music. Then, how Lucille Fletcher’s thrilling 1943 drama Sorry, Wrong Number shocked American radio listeners. And writer Matt Novak uncovers the surprising movies watched by American presidents inside the White House.

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