Another set of wax-cylinder recordings from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair captured musicians from around the world performing at the fair, giving Americans their first exposure to “world music”. These are among the most endangered audio formats, because their grooves are fragile and the wax decomposes over time. The oldest are 600 wax-cylinder recordings, saved at the University of California, Santa Barbara, that were made by consumers in the 1890s, 1900s and 1910s as snapshots of their everyday lives. The Library of Congress has been seeking to preserve important sound recordings for 15 years under terms of a preservation act passed by Congress. This means the record was probably funny.” Upon hearing of his archive-worthy achievement, Martin deadpanned: “I could not be more proud of this honour. As well as the contributions from Radiohead and Mercer, among the recordings selected are The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Joan Baez’s first solo album, The Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ and Steve Martin’s A Wild and Crazy Guy comedy album, on which Martin broke new ground by swapping formulaic jokes and punchlines for less predictable humour.

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