Merry Merry

A few scans of kids' records from Christmases past:

Music and Electronics

The following booklet was part of a large educational series put out by Doubleday in the late 50s through the 60s. I guess they were distributed through schools, though I'm not really sure about this. There's not much info on these on the web.



These booklets covered a wide variety of topics, but our focus here is "Music and Electronics", published in 1967. The book is full of great illustrations, starting with this terrific front cover. Man, I hope the original isn't mouldering in some landfill. I'd hang it in my living room. Anyway, the book explains the first principles of sound/hearing, sound technology, recording technology etc. On it's own merits, it's a great 'for dummies' -style overview of these concepts.



A distinguishing feature for this book series was that they came with a bunch of stickers that you'd tear out and place in designated spots in the booklet. The cool thing about this particular booklet is that the sticker set focused on the end-to-end process of record-making! The copy I found had all the stickers intact and still stapled in their original spot in the middle of the book. Unfortunately, time caused the gum on the sticker backs to fuse them all together. With the help of my photoshop-savvy son, we've managed to scan and crop these images to give you a tour of record manufacturing, Capitol records-style.

You may note that although the publishing date is 1967, this photo set seems considerably older, maybe late-50s, early 60s. You may also note that the captions that went along with these photos, which I include here, are also very much of the same era.



Above is a labeling sticker. These books came with storage cases that held four apiece. You'd put these stickers on the front of the box, and the smaller label below on the spine. Right, on with it!



"Recording the Music - The first step in the making of a record: playing the music. Robert Irving conducts a performance of The Seasons by Alexander Glazounov for Capitol Records. This photograph was taken during a recording session at Manhattan Center in New York."

I love the casualness of these photos. This one manages to instantly demythologize the music-making part of it as a simple step one. The coats flung over the chairs in the background are great.



"Preparing the Master Tape - After a musical work has been recorded and edited, it must be 'mastered', the crucial step of transferring from tape to disc. Here an audio engineer adjusts the level control before cutting an acetate disc. This process requires extreme skill since, no matter how good the master tape, a finished record can never be better than the disc."

And no tie required.



"Cutting the Acetate - Standing in front of his Scully lathe cutter, the audio engineer examines the grooves in an acetate disc he is cutting. He is looking for correct groove formation, correct depth and sufficient groove separation."



"Raw Vinyl Powder - At the record company's pressing plant, raw materials are poured into a hopper before being mixed, heated and formed into thin, black rectangular 'biscuits' of vinyl that will later be pressed and emerge as phonograph records."



"Silvering the Acetate - At the record factory the acetate disc is given a thin coating of silver. Later, this silver coating is backed up by nickel and copper and will be peeled away to become the 'master.' Only one side of an acetate is cut; therefore there are two masters for each average record."



"Nickel and Copper Plating - When the acetate disc has been silvered, it is then dipped first into a nickel tank and then into a copper tank in order to build up its thickness."



"The Plating Process - Wearing rubber gloves and apron, a technician lifts a 'mother' from its copper plating tank. When the master was separated from the original acetate disc, it was then used to make the mother, which can be played for test purposes. The master cannot be played, since it has ridges instead of grooves."



"Checking the Mother - Quality control is of utmost importance in the manufacture of a record. Here a metal mother is played to verify that is is faultless. If the girl detects a flaw, a new mother will be made from the master."

Hmmm, Metal Mothers, where have I heard that before?



"Pressing a Vinyl Biscuit With Two Samples - Pressing room foreman operates Capitol Records' newest press. Stampers, made from the mothers, are locked in place, labels are fitted, and a heated vinyl biscuit is ready to be pressed. It will emerge a twelve-inch long-playing disc."



"Checking Production Flow - One of the production nerve centers at Capitol Records' pressing plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is shown here. Master charts are kept of the work flow as well as all the current record labels."



"Testing a New Pressing - If you buy a record that has bad pops and scratches on it, you return it to the dealer. He in turn returns it to the manufacturer. This does not happen very often because of the constant testing and checking of the product. Here a girl listens to a pressing selected at random. If there is a fault, then the stamper is replaced and all records made from it since the last audio check are scrapped."

My historical dream job.



"Inspection and Anti-Static Wiping - Each new record is wiped with an antistatic cloth and inserted in its jacket. Once again every single record is examined for possible flaws. All record companies, large and small, pride themselves on their quality control. In the large majority of instances the quality of the record far surpasses the quality of the machine on which it is played."

Ouch.



"Records In Inner Sleeves Inserted In Jackets - Records which have already been placed inside protective inner sleeves are inspected once more and then placed in their eye-catching jackets."



"Sealed In Clear Plastic Film - This is the final step in the manufacture of a record at the Capitol pressing plant. The record, in its jacket, is being wrapped and sealed in clear plastic film."

Play It Correctly

From 1957, courtesy of Dover Publications. Yet another clever and optimistic vinyl packaging effort from the 1950s. This is one of fourteen language record/booklet combinations published by Dover. For a buck you get a 7-inch language lesson record and a phrasebook.

I love the die-cut sleeve, revealing the orange half-circle on the phrasebook cover.




The booklet contains 128 phrases, such as "Yes" (Da), "No" (Ne), and a favorite in any language, "Perhaps" (Mozda). Other useful phrases include "Ja sam gladan" (I am hungry), "Molim, govorite sporije" (Please speak more slowly), "Zasto?" (Why?), "Kako se kaze 'man' na srpskohrvatskom?" (How do you say 'man' in Serbo-Croatian?), "Ja necu te kolace" (I do not want this pastry), "Zadrzite ostaak" (Keep the change), and "Zalutao" (I am lost).

The record itself contains the instructions on its very austere label:

Without Records

Here's a fascinating sound installation which appeals to my geek interests. More info available at the YouTube page.

Wrinkled Old Bag

As shown. Trans-Canada records was a big player in Quebecois pop back the mid-60s through the disco era, releasing records under their own imprint, as well as distributing tons of other labels. I think they were eventually absorbed into the Quebecor group.

And to all two of my readers, it's good to be back!

Not Those Scorpions

From 1971. While I could find no evidence of controversy or best-sellerhood, this novel does attempt to rip the lid off the pop world, albeit in a kind of spottily-researched and lecherous way. Chronicling the rise of four cliches known as The Scorpions: singer Jack Millyon (master manipulator, primary trangressor/bad influence, great interviewee), drummer Jon Barry (drug psycho/lyricist) , keyboardist Vic Andover (the 'sensible' one - he's married!), and guitarist Rob Keston (who giggles, pouts and scares easily - seriously). You don't have to pay too much attention to who plays what, as the author confuses character and instrument several times throughout. Anyway, read with fevered excitement as the band formerly known as the Embryos are turned into rock idols by Brian Epsteinesque manager Philip Ogle (again, seriously). The book is a sort of amalgam of Beatles and Stones stories - the focal point of the novel is loosely based on Mick and Keef's Redlands bust (cleverly 'Rakehall" here).

I read the thing about three months ago, and damn if I didn't think to highlight the choice hilarious bits, and there were plenty. However, this may give you the idea:

Whatever his sex life - and it was the dark side of the moon, inseparable and essential - Philip Ogle was a man of considerable organizing talent and a systematic, orderly mind.

And for his part, Paul Tabori was an impressively accomplished journalist/author, check this out. And this!

Above is a scan of the British NEL version. The awesome American Belmont/Tower edition ratchets up the hyperbole:

Join The Jazz Club

This postcard was found in PAUSA Records releases in the early 1980s. Who could possibly resist such a solid pitch? I wonder what the surprises were...?



Law buffs may know that PAUSA Records defended itself against a copyright infringement lawsuit in the late 1980s, mostly based on unpaid royalties (maybe they shoulda charged dues to Jazz Club members) and the appeal determination in 1990 is often cited in subsequent cases.

Theatrorama

File this one under primitive multimedia concepts. Published in 1960, Theatrorama was a short-lived spin-off from the more successful Sonorama magazine. Where Sonorama focused on singers and celebrities, Theatrorama gave readers/listeners an entire play in book/flexidisc form.



The idea was that you could enjoy the entirety of Jean Anouilh's L'Hurluberlu from the comfort of your favorite armchair in front of the old hi-fi, getting up occasionally (say every seven or eight minutes) to flip the object over on your turntable.



Just to add to the verisimilitude, you could of course pause now and then to take in a riveting photo from the stage production.



As with Sonorama, this mag gave you six 2-sided flexis, glossy paper and semi-reliable plastic ring binding. And of course a one-page hawk for the parent publication.



As far as I can tell (ok, one Google search), Theatrorama lasted a mere two issues. Copies of this sell from between 1 and 60 euros, depending on your vendor. If anyone's interested, I'll take 60 please.

I'll leave you with a cool ad from the inside front cover:

Record Keeping

Here's a lovely item picked up at a garage sale a while back. Measuring 4*5 inches, I imagine this booklet was available in the stationery department of the local dimestore.



It's nice to know that collector geeks' obsessive need to catalogue and collate was well catered to in the days before object-oriented databases came along to erode our free time.

Note that the artist column didn't get much play here; the original owner of this decided to organize by song title.



Finally, a detail from the last page:

Dog and Pony Show

Copyright 1972. By Rochelle Reed, who doesn't get a byline on the cover or the spine.

The pet ownership history of pop stars, like the Osmonds, Jackson Five etc. At least 50 animal stories within.

I thought the guy on the cover holding the hypnokitty was Rick Springfield, but it's Michael Gray. Yeah, never heard of him either.

Mark Lindsay gets a chapter, the last. But he gets a killer opening line:

"High on a mountaintop in Hollywood, a lonely genius walks his Doberman pinschers into the sunset, the two tall, lean dogs galloping around his heels."

Readability-wise, the book is skimmable at best. The best passage by far:

"Mrs. Jackson was just about to pass the roast beef when she spotted Jermaine's fancy 'bracelet'. Leaning over the table to get a better look at this incredible decoration, she still didn't know it was a snake - until Fred began to move!"

Rock On!

So I was gonna do a post with just a scan of this incredibly hep button featuring buckskinned rockers the Stampeders, outlining their refreshingly direct two-step plan for global hegemony. The button itself is such a thing of garish crowd-parting beauty, it seemed to be a story unto itself.



However, upon removing the relic from the scanner, I noticed a faint etching on its back. Just in case you can't decipher my weak photographic skills (and the etching was faint), it reads: "June 13/73 Ontario Place Forum".



I guess the original owner thoughtfully decided to commemorate the button-purchasing moment, which happened to be the night these guys recorded their live "Backstage Pass" LP. Which you can sample at their official site. I recommend the tune "In The Shadows". Not only that, but according to the site they're still at it, 30-plus years later!

As for where I picked up the pin, god knows...

Fall and Winter 1959

Here's a cool item found in an old Elektra record.



This beautiful tri-fold 1959 catalogue illustrates the folk- and blues-oriented origins of this label.

I like the separate section for "Stereo" recordings.



I believe some of these LPs are still in print.



I kinda like the cheesy stylized seasonal graphics on these pages.



There's an excellent overview of the Jac Holzman and Elektra records story here, and an awesome discography here.

Why I Collect Records #4583

Dschinghis Khan. I haven't researched them. I don't really want to know. It's enough that this fantastic on every level picture sleeve exists. I made a pathetic audible-intake-of-breath sound when I found it. The inscription "MADE IN GERMANY" is crossed out and replaced with "MANUFACTURED IN GERMANY" in the run-off groove of the wax. And the music? Like a poor man's Boney M. That is to say: Outstanding.

Update - I caved.

Records of Achievement

New year, new resolve to update this on a regular (or semi-regular) basis.

Here are a few nice examples of recorded political swag.

John Robarts was the Premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. From the cut-away corner, I'd deduce this cardboard record was included in a pamphlet, or perhaps a magazine.

I like this next one, courtesy of John Yaremko. The flexi is held onto the backing with some sturdy eyelets, which have allowed it to survive intact for 40 years. The content of the record is a song, making this a pretty good-natured shill. And the little Canadian Centennial symbol is cool.



The last example comes courtesy of MP Bill Graham. This looks to be from the 1980s.

All told, this stuff seems to be from a more innocent, or at least less cynical, era.