In the early days of recorded sound, no one can quite figure out the purpose of gramophones. Are they serious bits of kit for replicating music or are they toys? Should gramophone discs play music or comedy or something else entirely? One man trying to work out this conundrum is an American actor called RussellContinue reading “Episode 3 of our podcast is published today – recording nineteenth comedy, pornographic and propaganda records”
Tag Archives: 1899
Recording Pioneers- Part 7, William Barry Owen
Name: William Barry Owen Born: 15 April 1860 Resident: Born in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts Occupation: Sent to London to raise investment funds for the Gramophone Company to expand into Europe Loves: Music, Musicians, Gambling, London high society parties In July 1897 William Barry Owen resignedContinue reading “Recording Pioneers- Part 7, William Barry Owen”
Nipper 1884 – 1895
Name: Nipper Born: 1884 Resident: London Occupation: Posing for paintings, attacking Gramophones, looking for His Masters Voice Loves: Being a world famous icon, treats Francis Barraud’s painting of a fox terrier to an early gramophone remains one of the oldest and best-known of trademarks and records logos. It was a brilliantly conceivedContinue reading “Nipper 1884 – 1895”
Gaisberg’s Travels
“Thursday, 21 September 1899 [Dublin] A very disappointing day from a record-making standpoint. Miss [Maud] Boyd did not appear during the day, but on going to dinner that evening I discovered the whole crowd of them in the dining room. When they arose to go, I followed them and reminded them of their promise, andContinue reading “Gaisberg’s Travels”
Syria Lamonte
The Hound would like to thank Mr Tony Locantro for sending these rare images of one of the first recording artists for the Gramophone Company, Miss Syria Lamonte. By Tony Locantro The Australian soprano Syria Lamonte was probably the first woman to be commercially recorded outside of the USA and history does her a greatContinue reading “Syria Lamonte”
Gaisberg’s Travels # 3
There’s no place like home… 114 years ago, 20th August 1899, Fred Gaisberg and fellow sound engineer William Sinkler Darby were on their way back to London from Madrid via Bordeaux. They came across many strange characters and had strong opinions about the local cuisine as this extract from Gaisberg’s show’s that even after theContinue reading “Gaisberg’s Travels # 3”
CLARA BUTT (1872–1936)
By Tony Locantro In Victorian and Edwardian times, there was a great vogue for female singers with deep, contralto voices, who drew huge audiences to concerts of arias from operas and oratorios as well as popular ballads. Clara Butt (1872–1936) was one of the most famous and was under exclusive contract to The Gramophone CompanyContinue reading “CLARA BUTT (1872–1936)”
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.”
Recording pianists, gypsies and tenors…in Leipzig, Budapest and Vienna
Fred Gaisberg and side-kick William Sinkler Darby were sent from London to the Continent to make more recordings for the Gramophone Company in 1899. The new Gramophone technology was in great demand and the company was struggling to keep up with it. The company had established a new disc manufacturing plant in Hanover that wasContinue reading “Recording pianists, gypsies and tenors…in Leipzig, Budapest and Vienna”
The Gramophone “more than takes the place of a piano, banjo, mandolin or cornet”
The Gramophone Company struggled to keep up with demand during their first Christmas rush in 1898. By Christmas 1899 many of the supply chain problems had been fixed and gramophones and discs were pouring into the market. Even the company’s advertising looks established. Here is an advert from that busy season:
Sound Of The Hound 