There are two things I especially love about this article (on Slate today) about Eva Tanguay, who was apparently a huge star in Vaudeville. Mostly it's just really interesting. Lots of info about someone I've never heard of before plus some good points about the history and development of popular music. I'm not totally buying the "first rock star" thesis but it's a good hook for the piece and there's definitely some truth in there. The other thing I love is that it's such a classic music geek powerplay. It's like "you think you're into obscure? honey, I got your obscure beat. Twice." C'mon, Tanguay has one recorded work. Ever. I was gonna say that the only thing that could beat that would be an appreciation of someone with no recordings but, on reflection, I don't think so. With no recorded legacy, the temptation exists to dismiss. Since you'll never be able to hear it, why get excited? But with the one recording, there's a record of what you're missing out on. Sure, the writer hasn't heard any more of the music than you have. But they knew about it before you did. Hand!