Ben Selvin was a violinist, bandleader, record producer and record company executive who, in the early years of the industry, made more records and had more hits than just about any other artist.

According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Selvin recorded more musical sides (on 78-rpm discs) than any other person. Born on 5 March 1898 in New York City, he started his professional life at age 15 as a fiddle player in New York City night clubs. Six years later, as leader of his own dance band, the Novelty Orchestra, he released what was later alleged to be the biggest-selling popular song in the first quarter-century of recorded music. Dardanella allegedly sold more than six million copies and an additional million pieces of sheet music -although Selvin described the alleged record-sales total as “nonsensical”. He recorded the style of middle-of-the-road dance band music which appealed to mainstream audiences during the 1920s and early ‘30s until he gave up leading his band to move into radio and record company management.

This 92-track 4CD collection comprises most of his recordings which are listed as hits – there was simply not space to include them all. With releases on the Victor, Emerson, Vocalion, Brunswick, Banner and Columbia labels, it includes hits that he had under various names, including Selvin’s Novelty Orchestra, Selvin’s Dance Orchestra, The Cavaliers, The Knickerbockers, The Broadway Nitelites and Kensington Serenaders. It features performances by a number of different vocalists, including Smith Ballew, Franklyn Bauer, Irving Kaufman, Jack Palmer, Ruth Etting, Dick Robertson and Eubie Blake. It’s a collection which perfectly captures the style of the era.

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