As part of their Omnibus series, The BBC made a documentary about the history of recording in the late 1980’s which was called Memoirs of a Musical Dog. It aired on Friday May 27, 1988. It’s very good and thanks to the power of youtube, you can see it here: Part One Early years ofContinue reading “Memoirs of a Musical Dog – Edison to The Beatles”
Author Archives: Nipper
It was 123 years ago today. The first ever UK recordings.
I think we have to mark this particular anniversary. We found this video on youtube described by the following text: “On Friday 29th June 1888, from 2pm, a performance of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt was captured on a number of wax cylinder recordings. This performance was part of the trienniel Handel Festivals mounted inContinue reading “It was 123 years ago today. The first ever UK recordings.”
Rivalry and co-operation
We’ve seen that Alfred Clark left Berliner’s employ in favour of Edison and moved to Paris to set up a rival to the Gramophone Company in Europe. This put the two old friends, Alfred Clark and Fred Gaisberg, in direct competition for new recordings in 1899. Clark, pictured above, proved to be a canny businessman.Continue reading “Rivalry and co-operation”
The first music industry format war hots up: cylinders v discs
(This blog entry is a bit of a catch up in the story of the Gramophone Company…..) In 1899, Alfred Clark left Emile Berliner’s employment and went back to working for Thomas Edison’s rival business which sold cylinders rather than discs. Clark, you may remember had set up the world’s first record (disc) shop inContinue reading “The first music industry format war hots up: cylinders v discs”
The strange origin of the UK Reggae big bass sound: John Hassell Recordings, Barnes.
Britain had developed a strong Reggae culture of its own by the mid-1970’s. Reggae, and its predecessors like Ska, naturally seeped into the UK via the communities of immigrants who had come to the country from Jamaica since the late 1940’s. Britain’s pop tendencies have often been to take music from the west (usually America)Continue reading “The strange origin of the UK Reggae big bass sound: John Hassell Recordings, Barnes.”
Art Deco loveliness: The Marconiphone
The Marconiphone was a brand of radios that were originally developed by the Marconi Company in the UK from 1923. The brand was sold to the Gramophone Company in 1929 as that company diversified into wireless technology. The Gramophone Company became EMI in 1931 and continued to make Marconiphone Radios until 1956. This blog entryContinue reading “Art Deco loveliness: The Marconiphone”
The main problem with starting new businesses…
…is getting all the ducks in a row. The early recording business proved no different. Emile Berliner decided to set up his European disc pressing factory in Germany rather than England in 1898. In doing so he created the German Gramophone Company – aka Deutsche Grammophon (DG). Berliner’s European operations were therefore split in two.Continue reading “The main problem with starting new businesses…”
How Deutsche Gramophone was born
We saw how Trevor Williams and William Barry Owen set up The Gramophone Company in England in 1897-8 to exploit Emile Berliner’s new gramophone technology by finding & recording artists and marketing and selling their records – as well as selling the gramophones to play them on. Under their deal with Berliner, Williams and OwenContinue reading “How Deutsche Gramophone was born”
Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger & who is that mystery man? Quiz.
This photograph hangs on the wall of a significant financier. We can see it’s McCartney and Jagger in a recording studio. Three questions. Who is the guy with the neckerchief biting his nails? Which studio are they in? What year is it? Over to you….. Update – Is this the same guy (the one onContinue reading “Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger & who is that mystery man? Quiz.”
“Stop Yer Tickling Jock”: The great Scottish singing swindle – Russell Hunting day #5
This is the final part of a five-day series of blog entries about Russell Hunting, a maverick who was involved at the start of the very start of the record business when its pioneers were searching to find the best business model to capitalise on the new sound-recording and playback technology. Hunting tried all sortsContinue reading ““Stop Yer Tickling Jock”: The great Scottish singing swindle – Russell Hunting day #5″
Sound Of The Hound 