Dance ! Tonight ! with more bands you know nothing about.

The first entry about bands-you-know-nothing-about obviously called for more. Pseudonyms or anonymity were not the sole use of US companies, the questionable process was used pretty much everywhere else. Some French labels found that pretty convinient too ! You’ll find a couple of those bands below.

---

Let’s start with three sides of the Grey Gull anonymus house band, already very well represented in the first topic, delivering here more fine, peppy dance acts, in the American tradition of the 20’s.

The following side is labeled as Clover Garden Orchestra on french label Salabert. It appears to be a pseudonym for what is most probably a made-up band of a single session, where Nathan Glantz was credited as director and personnel still unknown. The “band” recorded a few sides for Plaza on may 1925, that were released as Blues Chasers on US Pathé & Perfect, and The Texas Ten on Banner and subsidiaries.
The side here is a very worthy hot version of “Charleston”, a song I never get bored of.

[06/10/2021 update] As stated in the comments below, the band is now known ! It’s the William Conrad Polla’s Clover Gardens Orchestra, wich recorded this side in October 1925.

---

Now, as a plat de résistance, we cross back the ocean: two french bands that remained unknown behind their anonymous labels, that are quite worthy to me nonetheless. You can hear the obvious American influence, they play syncopated music with skills, as well as many US bands of the times.
The Samaritaine was one of the biggest department stores in Paris during the first half of the 20th century. They had their own record label for a time, most probably an Ultraphone “client label”. It doesn’t seem that the Samaritaine venture lasted long though. Like most of the indépendant french labels, little of the discography has been documented, so I haven’t been able to find if this Samaritaine side has been released non-anonymously on Ultraphone.
Very nice side nonetheless, in the Paul Whiteman style.

The following label, Excelsior, is another small, hardly documented french label, part of a bigger independant company who owns several small, (more or less) short lived labels. It is obviously unrelated to the later US company. The sides here may appear on other labels, maybe correctly credited, but it’s hard to tell.
The first song, “Le Petit Train Départemental” is a favorite of mine. It has been recorded and made popular by other bands, such Fred Adison. This version, though, offers a shortened refrain to give more space for the intrumental parts. Delighting side.

The flip side is the main song of an operatta, here with “jazz” arrangments, making it a fun dance act. It sounds obvious that this is at least the same orchestra on both sides.