National Recording Registry, America's Way Of Appreciating Historical And Aesthetic Music

Kermit the Frog (video screenshot)

JAKARTA - The way the United States appreciates entertainment is not only marked by the National Film Registry. However, there is also a National Recording Registry which uses the same concept.

On Wednesday, March 24, the National Recording Registry announced the 25 songs on this list. According to Carla Hayden as a member of the Library of Congress, the selected songs are a cultural heritage.

"The National Recording Registry will preserve our history through music and sound that has reflected life and shaped our culture over the past 143 years," said Hayden.

All of the selected sound works are considered to have significant history, culture and aesthetics and are timeless.

25 Selected Songs

There are 25 selected songs that entered the National Recording Registry 2020 including The Rainbow Connection from Kermit The Frog, Nikolina from Hjalmar Peterson, Celebration from Kool & The Gang.

Apart from the songs, there are several albums that are also listed, namely Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson and Illmatic by Nas which just won her first Grammy award this year.

The voting works are the result of selection from 900 public nominations sent to the National Recording Registry. There is no limit to the release of music like the film version but a work becomes a breakthrough for a change and history.

One of the topics of conversation was the song The Rainbow Connection, which was sung by Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog in 1979. The song performed for The Muppets tells the story of the great power of faith.

In the 1979 film The Muppets Movie, Kermit appears with his banjo singing this song. “It's great to be part of the history of our country. What a great honor and I am delighted to be the first frog on the list! " said Kermit of the National Recording Registry.

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation album is an album that contains their voice on racism, police brutality, and social injustice.

All songs included in the list were releases from 1878 to 2008 with various genres ranging from Latin, jazz, blues, pop, to children's music. Then there is the radio drama content, This American Life which is the first radio content to be registered in the National Recording Registry.

Part of History

Music is part of a cultural development that extends in many ways. Bringing back songs, sampling, or selecting songs to be played in films, series, to celebratory events are one of the ways to develop popular culture.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World are Israeli Kamakawiwo'ole songs that are often performed by many musicians and played in films. Somewhere Over the Rainbow has been heard in the film The Wizard of Oz, brought back by Eva Cassidy and Ariana Grande.

Music also inspires change. In 1972, singer Marlo Thomas said she only found a story book that only contained dreams of someone marrying a prince.

"I said, 'You know, let's change the world of a 5 year old boy then," said Marlo Thomas.

That's why Thomas created a song in which all children can dream the way they want without gender barriers or restrictions. The result was Free to Be… You and Me and the album went platinum.

Currently, there are 575 songs / albums included in the list, which represents the national library's sound collection of four million.

Here are 25 songs that make it to the National Recording Registry:

"Edison's" St. Louis tinfoil "recording (1878)

"Nikolina" - Hjalmar Peterson (1917) (single)

"Smyrneikos Balos" - Marika Papagika (1928) (single)

"When the Saints Go Marching In" - Louis Armstrong & his Orchestra (1938) (single)

Christmas Eve Broadcast - Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (December 24, 1941)

"The Guiding Light" - Nov. 22, 1945

"Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues" - Odetta (1957) (album)

"Lord, Keep Me Day by Day" - Albertina Walker and the Caravans (1959) (single)

Roger Maris hits his 61st homerun (October 1, 1961)

"Aida" - Leontyne Price, et.al. (1962) (album)

"Once a Day" - Connie Smith (1964) (single)

"Born Under a Bad Sign" - Albert King (1967) (album)

“Free to Be… You & Me” - Marlo Thomas and Friends (1972) (album)

"The Harder They Come" - Jimmy Cliff (1972) (album)

"Lady Marmalade" - Labelle (1974) (single)

"Late for the Sky" - Jackson Browne (1974) (album)

"Bright Size Life" - Pat Metheny (1976) (album)

"The Rainbow Connection" - Kermit the Frog (1979) (single)

"Celebration" - Kool & the Gang (1980) (single)

"Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs" - Jessye Norman (1983) (album)

"Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814" - Janet Jackson (1989) (album)

"Partners" - Flaco Jiménez (1992) (album)

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" / "What A Wonderful World" - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (1993) (single)

"Illmatic" - Nas (1994) (album)

“This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money” (May 9, 2008)