Author Archives: Nipper

It’s late summer 1902. Fred heads to Tilbury Docks to board the steamer SS Coromandel and set sail for India. His objective? “To open up new markets, establish agencies, and acquire a catalogue of native records,” as he puts it in his diary. And what a trip it is. Accompanied by an assistant called GeorgeContinue reading “Series 2, new episode: Fred heads east to India”

Fred’s back! And he’s got a plaque! The first episode of Series Two of The Sound of the Hound covers the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on the wall of Europe’s first recording studio, opened by Fred Gaisberg in Covent Garden in 1898. The unveiling of the plaque, which is part of the Westminster CouncilContinue reading “New podcast series: Fred’s back and this time, he’s got a plaque. This episode is about the great unveiling with Queen’s Roger Taylor and our own James Hall.”

We have pulled together a sampler of some of the best bits from Series 1 of our Sound Of The Hound podcast about Fred Gaisberg and the very early days of the record business, presented by long time music exec Dave Holley & author and journalist James Hall. In this sampler: Dave thinks signing &Continue reading “Sound of the Hound: Series 1 Sampler”

It’s the spring of 1902. Italian tenor Enrico Caruso is due to sing in Covent Garden later in the year, and Fred and Will are still in Milan desperate to record him. Their plan – in what predates the now-ubiquitous music industry ‘360’ marketing deal by over 100 years – is to print the masterContinue reading “Fred Gaisberg records the Great Caruso and kickstarts the modern record business – our new podcast episode out today”

This episode is a little bit different. Dave interviews co-host James about his novel on the early days of recorded sound, The Industry of Human Happiness. James tells how he chanced upon the adventures of Fred Gaisberg and William Sinkler Darby in the sleeve notes of a CD that he bought outside a concert, andContinue reading “James Hall finally tells all about his book The Industry Of Human Happiness – its the new episode of The Sound Of The Hound podcast!”