When The Beatles couldn’t agree to visit Everest for a photo shoot for their final album which they intended to name after the mountain and instead named it after the studio in which they had recorded much of their wonderful music, they bequeathed upon Abbey Road the greatest marketing gift of all time. Abbey RoadContinue reading “Whatever happened to Decca Studios?”
Category Archives: HISTORY OF RECORDED MUSIC
Art you can dance to. How the record sleeve was turned into something beautiful.
It seems quite remarkable that it took until 1939 for the music industry to take advantage of the natural advertising real estate of the record sleeve. Until that point record sleeves were plain and drab. In 1939, Columbia Records in New York hired a young 23-year-old to become art director of the company. His nameContinue reading “Art you can dance to. How the record sleeve was turned into something beautiful.”
The Paris Match: Gaisberg and Clarke make discs and cylinders side by side in 1899
Gaisberg’s first continental recording trip with William Sinkler Darby had begun in Leipzig in May 1899, where Thomas Birnbaum the Managing Director of the German Gramophone Company, joined them to travel to Budapest, Vienna and ultimately the dazzling musical city of Milan. The trip had been a mixed bag; lots of fun, some successses butContinue reading “The Paris Match: Gaisberg and Clarke make discs and cylinders side by side in 1899”
The History of the Major Record Companies in the UK #3 Pathe Freres
This is the third extract from a wonderful book called “The Talking Machine Industry” written by Ogilvie Mitchell in 1924 covering the Pathe Freres Company. Charles Pathe Emile Pathe Charles and Emile Pathe originally ran a bistro in Paris. They moved into music retailing, first selling Edison products before beginning to record and sell theirContinue reading “The History of the Major Record Companies in the UK #3 Pathe Freres”
Victor Ludorum. The Forgotten Man of Music History: Eldridge R.Johnson
By Carey Fleiner Quick – show of hands – tell me everything you know about Eldridge R. Johnson….well, if you’re poking around this website, you probably have heard of him, but many people have not. If you’re one of the ‘nots’ — perhaps you’ve heard of his company The Victor Talking Machine Company which heContinue reading “Victor Ludorum. The Forgotten Man of Music History: Eldridge R.Johnson”
Gaisberg’s first recording trip goes Pasta Milano. 1899.
Gaisberg and Sinkler Darby arrived in Milan from Vienna in July 1899. The musical city made a great impression on Gaisberg as he later recalled. “My first visit to Milan..in 1899 was rich in experiences…I often saw Verdi (below) who would regularly take an afternoon drive in an open landau drawn by two horses. PeopleContinue reading “Gaisberg’s first recording trip goes Pasta Milano. 1899.”
The History of the Major Record Companies in the UK #2 Columbia
We’ve stumbled across a wonderful book called “The Talking Machine Industry” written by Ogilvie Mitchell in 1924. It is a bit of a hack job to be frank. Mr Mitchell’s style is frothy and he gallops across a range of subjects to do with the history of recorded music at that point (i.e. less thanContinue reading “The History of the Major Record Companies in the UK #2 Columbia”
Chocolate Records For Sale
But sadly no longer today. We have, however, just received this advert which shows the Stollwerk machine that played chocolate discs was being actively marketed “for the Christmas table” in Germany in 1904. More information about these chocolate discs (& more recent experiments in literally sweet sounds) in our earlier post, here.
The Four Major record companies in the UK (in 1924). #1
We’ve stumbled across a wonderful book called “The Talking Machine Industry” written by Ogilvie Mitchell in 1924. It is a bit of a hack job to be frank. Mr Mitchell’s style is frothy and he gallops across a range of subjects to do with the history of recorded music at that point (i.e. less thanContinue reading “The Four Major record companies in the UK (in 1924). #1”
How fabulous Capitol Records worked in 1951. Watch this brilliant film!
This has just been uploaded onto youtube by Dantanasgirl (whoever she is…and we’d love to make contact with er). Its quite brilliant. Take a 35 minute break, make a cup of tea. Treat yourself to a biscuit and watch this film that Capitol Records made in 1951 to show their executives how a record companyContinue reading “How fabulous Capitol Records worked in 1951. Watch this brilliant film!”
Sound Of The Hound 