Scans of British 78 rpm record labels.
J - Z, plus the Piccadilly -
Synchrophone family.
John Bull 40093 Gramophone Boom.
John Bull B62 Gramophone Boom.
Jumbo A25033 Gramophone Boom.
Jumbo A59406 Gramophone Boom.
Jumbo Packet This
plain, rather cheap packet was much more the usual sort in the early years,
rather than the elaborate
Keith
Prowse K-103
Kinemusic KB-014 An early British ‘library music’ label I
presume. A product of
Klingsor 8639 Gramophone Boom.
Leader 5367 Gramophone
Boom. Or ‘serial 32’, just as you prefer…?!
Levaphone L102 There
are a few – a very few – esoteric British labels that will take your breath
away when – if ever – you see them! Oriole and Keith Prowse come to mind. So
does Levaphone! Pressed by British Pathe, and drawing from their American
affiliate, issued at the behest of Levy’s shop in Whitechapel,
Levaphone A-102 Here
comes another hyper-rarity from Levy’s of Whitechapel. They only issued 3 in
this series, AFAIK. A-101 was ‘Jambled Blues’ & ‘Bogaloosa Blues’ by Sonny
Clay’s Plantation Orch. This A-102 is Vic Meyers and his Orch., the other side
being ‘Nay Dearie Nay’. A-103 has ‘I Had A Sweet Mama’ by the Tennessee
Tooters, but I don’t know what the other side of that one is. Can anyone help,
please? By courtesy of
Ludgate 6087 Little
is known about this label. Apart from the fact that I think these sides are
from American Vocalion, I know even less! Circa 1923.
Lutetia L509 Thanks
to a learned discussion on the 78-list, we learned that this label was French,
or rather, was a name used in
Lyceum
0107 Gramophone
Boom.
Lyric 201 Gramophone
Boom. Some stencil discs have holes
punched in the labels like this one. What it means, I don’t know.
Lyric 702 Gramophone
Boom. We already had one of these nearby, but in very poor condition. Here I
gratefully pay another tribute to Dr. Rainer Lotz. As one of the most eminent
Discographers in the world, it is indeed a tribute to his thoroughness and
painstaking enthusiasm, that in spite of all his other commitments, he can
still find the time to scan and send a better example of a label that already
appears on this modest web-page; and which is, after all, but one of scores of
such pages to be found on the web! Rainer’s scan clearly shows the punched-out
shapes in the label, which must be a code for something, besides the brackets
and stroke which appear next to the legend: ‘Made In Germany’. The tune dates
this to 1912 fairly securely. By courtesy of Dr. Rainer Lotz. On 9th August,
William Dean-Myatt kindly commented: This seems to have an association with
Philharmonic as they both have the same symbols on the label. Years ago someone, it may have been Frank
Andrews, gave me what he claimed was the key to these - based on what he told
me the symbols on this issue translate as '6710'. I think the one illustrated comes from
Favorite 531 (matrix 13932o, face number 1-67340) by HarryCove & Gene
Summers, issued December 1912. Needless
to say, this information on the issue comes from the files of Frank Andrews.
Lyricphone L-505 Gramophone Boom. I had never seen – or
heard – of this mysterious label, until it was kindly sent. By courtesy of
Dr. Rainer Lotz.
Marathon 139 This
is an interesting if short-lived vertical cut, quite finely-grooved label. A 12” example I have plays for around 7
minutes. It is said that the system employed by this company was ‘exported’ or bought
up by Vocalion for use in the
Marathon Packet The
packets in which these records came ‘went on’ a great deal about the virtues of
the system, as you can see! Also, it’s an early example of a packet where the
disc went in sideways, like LPs were to do 40 years later!
May-Fair This
label is dealt with as part of an inter-related ‘family’ of labels; all ten
appear grouped together at the bottom of the J - Z label page.
Melba This
label is dealt with as part of an inter-related ‘family’ of labels; all ten
appear grouped together at the bottom of the J - Z label page.
Melograph 30 Gramophone Boom.
Meloto S1149 Meloto
is one of those inconvenient labels that serve to disquieten us collectors. If
the various Meloto catalogue numbers one sees are anything to go by, why then,
they must have issued many hundreds of discs. Why? You never see them:
how much profit did they make when they put out a disc? Two or three pounds?
Well, I suppose then in that case, the more issues you put out, the more money
you make! But it’s hardly fair on us record collectors, is it? This one
probably dates from 1922/3, and is interesting in that instead of the whole
special set of pseudonyms normally associated with these Vocalion-cloned
labels, it states quite baldy: Bennie Kreuger’s Orchestra! Amazing! Whatever
happened to the Erco Novelty Orchestra??? Ooops: sorry; that was a pseudonym
used on Citizen records, an even rarer Vocalion clone, which also seems
to have made far more issues than one would expect.
Metropole This
label is dealt with as part of an inter-related ‘family’ of labels; all ten
appear grouped together at the bottom of the J - Z label page.
Millophone 26 Gramophone Boom.
Millophone 1004 The Gramophone Boom. Another
hand-written label. By courtesy of Mike Jones & Son.
Mill-o-Phone 252 Gramophone Boom. There are already two
other Mill-o-Phone labels on this page, but all three are quite different! This
is what we get all the time in this baffling 1910-1914 period. The most likely
explanation is, I suggest, that whoever this label belonged to – Miller
something or other, I suppose – had a batch of records made, which sold well.
When they went back for some more, either the people they got them from had
folded, or wanted more money? Or maybe a rep. from a rival concern called in at
Miller’s and offered to beat the last price? We’ll probably never know; but in
any case, if a punter went into our hypothetical Miller’s and said: ‘I see you
sell gramophone records!” they would have said ‘Yes sir! Look: here they are!
Shall we play some for you? Do you want a song, or a band selection?’ &c.
And when you get down to it, that punter didn’t go into the shop to study
pre-Great War record label design! They just went in to (possibly) buy a record.
Whether the label was green and gold and large (like this one); or red and
gold; or green and gold and small and with the title written in by hand in ink
(like the other two); this simply didn’t matter to the potential purchaser in
1910, however much it vexes us today! By courtesy of Dr. Rainer Lotz.
National 423 Gramophone
Boom. This label was produced by Edison Bell for an unknown client. We know it’s
before 1912, because it’s the slightly larger diameter (10.25” 26cm)) they used
for their own Bell-Disc issues (shown on this web poage). When they started the
Winner label that year, the size was reduced to a nominal 10” (25cm). Mind you,
it caused a little trouble when they wanted to use Bell Disc masters on Winner,
as there wasn’t much room for a leading space!
National 535 The Gramophone Boom. Nice
choice of colours, blue, white and gold! By courtesy of Mike Jones &
Son.
Neptune 209 Gramophone
Boom. Sorry about the appalling condition of this label! It really is the most
pathetic sight!
Nicole 7752 Pre-Gramophone
Boom; see the notes nearby on another Nicole. By courtesy of Mike Thomas.
Nicole 5763 This
is an important early label which appeared around 1905, so it is not part of
the ‘Boom’, but is in fact a very early entry into the marketplace when there
were only a handful of disc labels available. They came in 7” and 10” sizes,
pressed into a brown fibrous (noisy!) compound. Earlier issues are single sided
and the ‘label’ is printed directly on the disc. Later issues are double sided
and have red paper labels. There is an allied label called Empire: these are on
black material with dark green labels. Nicoles are scarce; Empires extremely
so.
Norwegian “Apart
from the fact that this must date from circa 1940-42 and was produced by Star
Sound Studio in
Octacros This
label is dealt with as part of an inter-related ‘family’ of labels; all ten
appear grouped together at the bottom of the J - Z label page.
Odeon RA-222016 ‘Made
in
Odeon OT-145 These
British-made Odeons of obviously authentic Tangos recorded in
Olympic 270 A
very rare label from the early 1920s. It might even have been made for export? By
courtesy of Mike Jones & Son. On
Operaphone 173 Gramophone Boom.
Oriole 1007 About
1923/4, Levy’s record shop of Whitechapel, London, produced Levaphone
records, which are illustrated elsewhere. A couple of years later they produced
a series of Jazz issues on their Oriole label, including these Jelly-Roll
Morton piano solos. I don’t know where they got the name from. In America, the
Oriole is a bird with an attractive song… do we have Oriole birds on this side
of the Atlantic? I don’t think so. And we have precious few of these excellent
discs either; they are very rare. By courtesy of Arthur Badrock.
Oriole P-104 Later still, Levy’s opened a
recording studio in central London and also produced commercial issues, such as
this risqué song ‘Pussy’ by Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys. Silver and
black label, hard to scan! By courtesy of Arthur Badrock.
Oriole P-114 Early
Oriole discs – apart from all being very rare! – are idiosyncratic in other
ways too. The 10” (25cm) P-100 series contains e.g. Harry Roy’s Bat Club Boys,
Stanley Black’s Oriole Modernists, Edgar Jackson’s Gargoyle Five, Nan
Blakstone, Adelaide Hall. This would tend to create the impression that it
specialised in hot music and sophisticated cabaret artists. Well, yes it did;
but here on P-114 are two ‘serious’ clarinet solos by the noted West Indian
musician Rudolph Dunbar. The other side is ‘Rhapsody’ a very nice quite
advanced work composed by Mary Lucas, the pianiste here. Oh, and by the way:
it’s a 12” (30cm) disc, just for good measure! By courtesy of Malcolm
MacMillan.
Oriole
Special Record Here
is the elusive 1933 Duke Ellington Souvenir record, made when he first visited
this country. There are actually two takes of it. The resplendent gold and
orange label is extremely difficult to scan. The Duke has autographed the wax
master. On it, he is interviewed by P. Mathieson Brooks, the editor of the
‘Melody Maker’ magazine. Note that the disc was made for ‘Levy’s – the Home of
Music’, the justly famed specialist record shop in Whitechapel, London. (They
figure in no less than 3 of this batch of label uploads!) To get the disc, you
had to buy – in one go – ten (I think) Ellington records from Levy’s. Then they
gave you this souvenir disc free. I once actually saw the list of records
Levy’s printed & from which you had to choose. This was many years ago and I cannot remember
anything about it, except that HMV issues predominated. By courtesy of John
Capes.
Parlophone F-678 The reason this appears here is simple.
The Parlophone F- series appeared in 1935 as a ‘cheap’ label, starting at F-100
or F-101. But, the series, which ran for many years, always had the small label.
But this issue has a large label for some reason, and is the only
example of this I have ever seen. Probably some content in the label copy
instructions from Germany caused this?
Parlophone R-451 A perfectly ordinary Parlophone label
of late 1929 – early 1930. The interest in this one is that – apart from being
a rare disc – is it the only side originally issued in this country as ‘Bix
Beiderbeck And His Gang’. Several other sides had been issued here – ‘Jazz Me
Blues’, ‘Sorry’, ‘Since My Best Girl Turned Me Down’, ‘Goose Pimples’, ‘At The
Jazz Band Ball’ &c., before this, but all were titled: ‘Bix Beidebeck
Presents His Orchestra’. By courtesy of Mike Thomas.
Parlophone R-856 Another
‘regular’ Parlophone, slightly later, say late 1930, early 31. It’s smaller
(though Parlophone used small and large labels as appropriate, until even after
WW2!) and the attribution to Sam Lanin is a pseudonym: this great record is
actually under the leadership of Fred Rich.
Parlophone
R-1311 This
appears here because on the day I scanned it, the wind was blowing from the
south, the barometer was falling, and certain odd malicious sprites must have
been having the morning off. Anyhow, it turned out the be the best scan of this
earliest & most beautiful sort of Parlophone Second New Rhythm Style label
I have even managed to make & so insist on sharing it with you!
Parlophone
R-3352 These
are the sort of ‘Purple Parlophones’ you should acquire! Note the small
diameter, unobtrusive ring round the centre-hole? This is a fairly reliable
diagnostic feature that tells you that you have an original 1926-7 Parlophone
pressing. They usually play very well. In 1927, Parlophone was taken over by
Columbia, and henceforth, Columbia-pressed Parlophones have a much larger &
distinct double ring about 1” (2.5cm) around the centre hole. Generally
speaking, fresh issues from OKeh on this style of label are fine; but re-pressings
of previous OKeh stuff on the ‘Columbia Parlophone’ are very unreliable, often
being ‘fuzzy’ & distorted. Not all of them; but enough of ’em to make you
wonder whether you’re “coming or you’re going”!
Parlophone
R-3489 This
is a very elusive record. I had one copy of it that was so ‘beat’ I threw it away.
And then somehow survived for 25 years until another – equally beat – copy
surfaced, which I gladly bought! Bix may be on it of course; who knows? More
ink has been spilt, I think, on this ‘Bix: or Not To Bix?’ question than on any
of the many other contentious sessions that surround this legendary musician.
Pathe Packet #1 We’ve
arrived at Pathé, so let’s cover the old pre Great War etched label
vertical-cut centre-start discs, starting with their packets. Here’s a stitched
cardboard packet of the commonest design. There are many variants on this
design, of course. Indeed, frequently the recommended speed for these Pathés is
given as ‘from 90 to 100 revolutions per minute’, which would result in a
variation of very nearly a whole tone in musical terms. That is, if the
selection had been recorded at 90 rpm in the key of C, but the enthusiastic
listener decided to play it at 100 rpm, the performance would escalate
practically to the key of D (and also, of course, be proportionally shorter in
duration!) Since at this time (prior to the Great War) the French standard
pitch (diapaison normale) was very low at A=435 Hz, this would not be as
catastrophic a distortion as it would today, although the distortion of the tempo
would remain equally serious! In any event, this particular packet specifies
just 90 rpm, so at least one parameter was in the process of being regularised.
Pathé Packet #2 For
the sake of the old ‘Entente Cordiale’, we also show a French packet of similar
vintage. Note that this bears the older speed range of 90-100 rpm. (Some of the
giant 20” (50cm) Pathés, now extremely rare and desirable, required a speed of
120 rpm. Note that the production of these very large, fast rotating discs was
nothing to do with getting records to play for a longer time: they were simply
a means of making a record LOUDER, for a recital in a public hall, or out of
doors!)
Pathé 166 As
to the discs to be found in these packets, in Britain at least, they looked
like this. This ‘Jefferson Guards March’, note, is an original composition by
the conductor of the Grenadier Guards band, Dr. A. Williams, MVO. The details
were engraved into the ‘wax’ and in-filled with pigment. Disc is nominally 12”
(30cm).
Pathé 5686 Just
to prove the above statement wrong (which is sort of thing that you have to get
used to when studying Pathé records), here is a centre-start disc with a paper
label. I’ve had 2 copies of this record over the years and both had paper
labels. No, I’m not going to soak it off to see if there’s anything underneath!
(~12”, 30cm).
Pathé 5617 Though
it has a lower number than the above, this is a later disc, dubbed in 1921.
However, the master cylinder… (But stay! Did we omit to tell you that ALL Pathé
records until 1927 were first recorded onto a large cylinder, and then
mechanically transferred (by means of a pantograph) onto the disc? No? Oh,
sorry! But then you see, we didn’t want to confuse you too much all at once!)
Anyhow, the master cylinder of this banjo duet by Joe Morley and Olly Oakley
was recorded in August 1914.
Pelican P67 Gramophone
Boom. This should be violet.
Phoenix 075 Some
Phoenix discs were pressed in the U.S.A. by Columbia, and say so on the label,
as in this case. Some were, indeed, also recorded there, but not this one. It
was recorded in London, and the lyric contains fascinating topical
references.
Perfect P-412 Pathé’s
‘Perfect’ label had long been in use in the U.S.A.: it was introduced into
Britain, beginning at P-300 in December 1927 as a cheap label and lasted just
one year until December 1928, when it went, along with its distinguished elder
sister, Actuelle. Arthur Badrock compiled a 32-page listing of this label,
published under the auspices of EMI in 1983: it is still available, and details
can be found on this
page of this website.
A little-known fact is that some very late pressings of whatever was
left in the Perfect catalogue were pressed by Columbia; I don’t know the
details, but Columbia sort of took over something or other, and briefly pressed
outstanding orders for Perfect records. They are very easy to identify (if
you’re ever lucky enough to see one!) because they have a typical Columbia
‘ring’ round the centre hole… and, of course, are laminated pressings! (Not
that there was all that much wrong with Pathé pressings at the time; they do
‘hiss’ a little, but are generally good by the standards of the day.) By
courtesy of Dave Parsons.
Perfect P-424 Columbia
took over the Pathé pressing plant in 1928 I think. British Pathé were running
their Perfect label over here at the time, though Pathé had decided to get out
of the record market. It seems likely that Columbia either decided to keep the
Perfect label going & then changed their mind; or else, they honoured some
outstanding orders for Perfects. Whichever, it resulted in some high-number
Perfects being pressed by Columbia & hence are laminated & have the
distinctive ‘Columbia Ring’ around the centre hole. This is one of them. These
also have a much brighter red coloured label than than before.
Phonycord First
beginning in Germany and later marketed in Britain, Phonycord records appeared
around 1930. They are much rarer that the rather similar format of Filmophone.
In any case, for much information about all such flexible and indestructible
records, visit Hans Koert’s website: http://www.people.zeelandnet.nl/koerthchkz
Piccadilly This
label is dealt with as part of an inter-related ‘family’ of labels; all ten
appear grouped together at the bottom of the J - Z label page.
Pilot 5771 Gramophone
Boom. Our previous example was way off tint, and this more accurate one was
kindly supplied by Kevin Smith.
Pioneer B39 Gramophone
Boom.
Pioneer 118 Gramophone
Boom label. 1910-1914. By courtesy of Mike Jones.
Pioneer
C-45 Gramophone
Boom label. 1910-1914. Yet again, we have a change of label colour, plus the
annoying variability of catalogue number! I can’t help noticing that certain
labels, like this one (and John Bull) sometimes have a letter and two number
combination: C-45, B-12 & so on. Surely this suggests they were produced by
the same concern… I have read that the ‘tally system’ was widely used in the
Boom. In this, you were given custody of a gramophone, on condition that you
bought so many records, 12, or 20, whatever, from the same guy, at the rate of
one a week. When you had accomplished this, the gramophone became yours, free.
The catch was, of course, that the records you bought – and John Bull was one
of these tally labels – came rather expensive for what they were. I recall a
figure of 2/6 each. That is, or rather was, two shillings and sixpence: 12½
pence, then equivalent to about 50¢ US. As the boom progressed & records
got cheaper & cheaper you could get the same type of record, often pressed
from the same master, for a lot less. That was where the money for the
gramophone – and the tallyman’s profit! – came from, besides the normal profit margin
on the disc. The gramophones were usually cheap horn machines. These ‘metalwork
outfits’ were the single-spring motor, handle, turntable, horn, horn-stay, arm
& sound box. They were brought in from Gemany and Switzerland. Boxes were
manufactured locally & very cheaply, and the metalwork installed. Lo! A
very cheap gramophone. But to be fair, if kept in good order, they sounded very
well. Besides, these German-recorded records usually had a nice deep tone,
which came over well on such a machine. By courtesy of Mike Jones.
Playwell 102673 Gramophone
Boom. This should be dark green.
Polydor B505(?) Don’t
know the full catalogue number, as it’s under the stamp, and the disc has gone.
In about 1927, Polydor records were imported here by British Brunswick, bearing
a tiny black sticker attesting to that fact. I have never found one! Did they
always have bilingual labels? On 21st April 2005, Ross Laird kindly
commented: Norman says the B505? catalogue number is partially obscured... but
in fact this is NOT the catalogue number despite being so described on the
label. Polydor labels of 1920s vintage (and even into the 1930s) routinely give
two numbers. The one (in this case B505?) described as the "cat. no."
is actually the equivalent to the "face number" shown on HMV &
Zonophone records during the early 1920s (and before)... The real
catalogue number is the one shown on the label as the "order no." (in
this case 21825)! One clue to the true state of affairs is that the face number
which is described at the "cat. no." is a different number on each
side, while the "order no." is the same on both sides... Finally, these
Polydor labels are multi-lingual because before 1945 Polydor was an export
label and was not sold in Germany despite being manufactured there! The same
couplings (without the multi-lingual labelling) were sold in Germany on the
Grammophon label with the same catalogue number (and face numbers).
Polyphon
8970 Gramophone
Boom. This should be dark green.
Popular
P624 A
British label, one of the few to survive through the great War, 1914-18.
Popular 979a Back to the post-war paper
shortage that plagued one particular record factory: that of The Sound
Recording Company, I think. They pressed Guardsman and Popular records, and
perforce employed these ‘emergency’ labels in 1919. Oddly, we have two examples
of this one. The size difference is accidental: they should be the same. The
first from my collection, the second by courtesy of Arthur Badrock.
Popular P1127 Popular
must have begun around 1912, and seems to have had a more or less continuous
existence right through the Great War. By the title, this issue would date from
1921, but as the label hasn’t changed much, it has a kind of strange,
‘anachronistic’ look about it. I believe they finally went about 1922/3. By courtesy of Dave Parsons.
Popular Ballot LK-2112 The reason for the
production of this unusual c.1925 record is unknown. Who were L.E. Kent? If
this was an LK-2000 series, can it possibly be that 112 different issues were
made? Where have they all gone to?? On the other hand, the company that
manufactured them proclaims its identity in a number of ways (a) it’s location
at Hayes, Middlesex. At this time, Hayes was becoming a centre of industries
outside London. HMV were the major record concern there, but here we have a
product of the Vocalion Company; (b) the C-6000 master series confirms this,
and (c) the unmistakable type faces for the titling underline it. They are also
to be found on Beltona, Coliseum, Scala, Guardsman and other records produced
by Vocalion for various clients at that time.
Portland 9005 Back
to Curry’s cycle stores. At this time, Edison Bell Winner were producing
records for Curry’s. Or rather evidently, selling off surplus stock, and
Curry’s were sticking their own labels on top of the Winner ones, as in this
case here. Observe that the label states: ‘Curry’s 1927 Ltd.’, while the
repertoire dates from 1924! However, they had their own catalogue series: the
Winner number of this disc was 3923.
Regal G7117 Regal
G7117 would originally have been issued, I dunno: maybe around 1914? Just a guess.
But the Casey monologues had a very long life, and anything that remained in
catalogue for many years will of course be re-pressed with later styles of
label. (There are several instances of this on this page). I estimate this
label style is well toward the end of the life of Regal: that was in 1931, when
EMI was formed. I say this because the catalogue number is at the right of the
centre hole, rather at the bottom right of the label, where it had been for
many years previously, and as can be seen on the scan of G7988 below. Let’s
just say about 1930.
Regal G7998 This
issue would be earlyish 1923. As you can see if you compare it with the disc
above, the label of Regal remained pretty constant throughout the 1920s. Of
course this might be a later pressing. Changes in label wording of Patents
etc., will help date a label more closely, but I for one haven’t become this
advanced yet!
Regal MR-289 The reason for including this
normal Regal label of c1930 is that it is a dual track disc. Two concentric
helical grooves play the same tune but in two different versions, depending on
which groove the needle enters. The letters ‘A’ & ‘B’ are engraved at
opposite points in the run in area, so you can actually select which track you
play. Although it must have been fairly tricky to set up the cutting lathe to
make 2 separate grooves, this was not a new thing… I believe the first double
track disc appeared way back around 1904! On 21st April 2005, Ross Laird
kindly commented: In reference to this interesting double-track recording
Norman states that there were similar recordings made "way back in
1904"... I have a 7" British Berliner Puzzle Plate which I think
dates from 1900 or 1901... so similar recordings were certainly made before
1904.
Regal MR458 This
is a genuine late Regal, from American Columbia of course. It must date from
1930 or 31, the last year in which Regal had a separate existence. It was
combined with Zonophone into Regal-Zonophone after the formation of EMI in that
year. However, Regal –Zonophone continued to use the MR prefix.
Regal-Zonophone MF-234 This is the series produced for the Salvation Army. I
don’t know what number it began at. The master of this issue, CAR-2587, would
have been made in early 1934. Yet the ‘DT’ (Double Tax) flanking the centre hole,
indicates that this copy was pressed much later. Before World War II (1939-1945), there was no
tax on gramophone records. Presumably they were not regarded as ‘luxury goods’,
but rather a culturally beneficient commodity. Hear, hear! However, on October
21st 1940, a Purchase Tax of 33.3% was imposed on the wholesale (factor, or
jobber) price of a record. This was initially called ‘Tax’, and as the Tax was specifically
attached to that disc, these needed to be marked as such. Hence, discs can
be seen which carry the word ‘Tax’ on the label. On April 15th 1942, the tax
was increased to 66.6%. This was known as ‘Double Tax’, or, ‘DT’ for short.
Accordingly, DT may be seen on discs; sometimes as an adhesive stamp, sometimes
pressed in, as here. A year later, on April 13th 1943 the tax was increased to
100% - & yes, you guessed: it gave rise to ‘Triple Tax’, ‘TT’! This onerous
tax remained in place until April 10th 1946, when it was reduced to 33.3%. Mind
you, 100% tax didn’t stop people buying records, to judge from the numbers of
78s we still find with the dreaded ‘TT’ endorsement. However, now the 33.3% tax
was defined as ‘Single Tax’ – ‘ST’, which I presume it couldn’t have been when
it first existed in 1940-42? So 78s that say ‘ST’ should have been pressed
after April 1946. Unfortunately, all was not well with the British economy, for
even though we had been on the winning side of WW2, there simply wasn’t enough
money coming in. (Actually, there was quite a bit of money coming in,
but a good deal of it was being spent on our commendable ‘Welfare State’; but I
don’t want to get into politics!) Anyhow, the tax went up again on November
11th 1947 to 50%, and only 6 months later, on April 9th 1948 to 66.6%, where it
remained until at least late 1951! By the way, m source for these figures is a
pamphlet on the Record Industry published at that time by a group called
‘Political and Economic Planning’ – whoever they were. Actually, an entry for a
Salvation Army Regal-Zonophone is hardly the place for what is turning into a
mini-essay, so I will probably create a small separate web page to cover this
subject. By courtesy of Dr. Rainer Lotz.
Regal Zonophone MR-766 This is the first type of the label. Large diameter,
and preserving the bright green of the last Zonophone records. (‘Zono green’
gradually got lighter and lighter through the 1920s). The Regal component
colour was a dark red, which was evidently deemed unsuitable, as a very bright
red was used instead, besides gold and white. All in all a very handsome label
for a ‘sorta-budget’ record.
Regal Zonophone MR-1022 The label soon became the smaller standard size. The
green was toned down to a dull hue, very hard to scan. This record is by Ben
Selvin; the other side, under the same pseudonynm, is a British recording by
Billy Cotton.
Regal-Zonophone MR1171 Sorry, this scan doesn’t really ‘catch’ the lovely green
colour either, and will have to be replaced with something better, to do
justice to it! This side was recorded December 1933.
Regal-Zonophone T5380 Jimmie Rodgers discs seemed to sell fairly well on
Zonophone, and several were retained in catalogue for some years after the
formation of Re-Zo. Here is one, after the expensive early Re-Zo label had been
abandoned. Notice that the original Zonophone catalogue number is retained, but
prefixed ‘T’. So this pressing dates from around 1935 to 1940.
Regal-Zonophone T5380 This is an even later pressing of this disc. You’ll
notice that the catalogue number is now in a ‘rational’ type face instead of
the rounded, more vintage style that had been used for many years. This change
was applied to Columbia, Parlophone and Regal-Zono. Records sometime towards
the end of WW2. Let’s guess 1944 for the moment. Also notice the lengthier
copyright notice. And the affixed stamp almost certainly is concerned with the
Purchase Tax applied to records in the early years of WW2. (They weren’t taxed
before WW2). Normally these stamps had legends like S-T, D-T, T-T and so on
(Standing for single, double and triple tax). There were other rates too. Also,
the lettering often either appeared on the label or in the wax. I don’t know
what ‘AT’ means though.
Russell A260 Gramophone Boom.
Savana 1607 Produced
by Imperial and dating from about 1926, I know little about this scarce label.
Even whether it bears the same catalogue number as the Imperial… though this
seems likely. This is an American master, probably from the Banner group. Need
to check.
Scala
628 Gramophone
Boom. This should be green.
Scala 664 Another
of the large group of inter-related labels operating in the mid-1920s and
issuing all sorts of interesting American dance, vocal and even Jazz records.
Beltona, Coliseum, Guardsman, ACO, Homochord, &c., including some very rare
and short-lived ones such as Adelphi, or Citizen. Many of these labels had
existed for quite a long time, some since the Gramophone Boom of 1910-14, but
had changed hands &c., and gradually become more or less loosely
associated. This is a British recording by Victor Vorzanger’s band.
Selecta GAB-100 The
Selecta company eventually became the distributor of Decca records for many
years. This obscure item is believed to originate about 1927; believed
to have been recorded –and presumably pressed – by Parlophone, and Walter Greenhalgh is believed
to have been a Yorkshire dialect comedian. By courtesy of Dr. Rainer Lotz.
On 9th August 2006, William Dean-Myatt kindly commented: I date these from
about ca April 1927. The EMI Archive don't
hold any original Parlophone files for this period, so all dates have to be
estimated. (This diagnosis was also independently supported by Mike Thomas.
NF.)
Senaphone
FAO-1312 Does
anybody know anything about this British-manufactured record at all, please? I
don’t! By courtesy of Dr. Rainer Lotz. On 8th August 2006, William
Dean-Myatt kindly commented: Norman, here's the trade mark registration details
for Senafone, this may help date the item; SENAFONE - Registration number 708294 - 26 Nov 1952 -
page 3887 - 75, Whitworth Street.,
Manchester. No company name shown. I
photocopied the original page but, needless to say, have put it so safely away
that I can't find it.
Silvertone 511 A
British ‘Gramophone Boom’ label, circa 1910-14. It’s very uncommon.
Possibly made for one retail outlet, or one wholesaler (jobber). This example
was rescued from oblivion, along with several others, by the late Chris.
Williams. Back in the 1960s, he went to attend a local Jumble Sale put on by
the Boy Scouts. He mistook the time, arriving after it was over. To his alarm
and dismay, the Scouts had made a large bonfire of unsold material, books, furniture
&c., and were actually engaged in feeding in 78 rpm records to it! They
don’t usually burn very well, but are most efficiently destroyed by fire. He
retrieved what few were left: ‘just’ several of these Silvertones.
Simcha This
label is dealt with as part of an inter-related ‘family’ of labels; all ten
appear grouped together at the bottom of the J - Z label page.
Standard 1215 Gramophone Boom.
The Stars 61 Gramophone
Boom. This carries the impressive ‘master number’ P2518421! There surely must
be a date in there somewhere!
Sterno S112 From
late 1928, the main Sterno label appeared, and was around for quite a few years
and is often seen today. On the other hand, this first manifestation of the
label, pressed by Zonophone, and dating from 1926 (the side was recorded by
Bert Firman’s band on February 9th. That year) is impossibly scarce. I have
never found one. Again, Sandy Forbes never knew about this one (which only goes
to show how rare it is!), and you can add it to BDB on page 218, where you will
notice it also appeared under the same pseudonym on Homochord D-953.
Sterno 109 This
is the best-known incarnation of the Sterno label, beginning in 1929. There was
an earlier, short-lived and very rare one shown nearby. The name came from the
proprietor of the company, Sternberg, who had been active in the gramophone
trade for many years. They began at 100 or 101, so this 109 must be from the
first release. First releases are – or were – customarily made large, to create
the impression of a large, flourishing concern with and impressive catalogue
‘waiting in the wings.’ This is was actually the case with British Homophone,
who made these records, because they indeed had many & various masters
available to them without having to record new ones. The only trouble was, of
course, that these were mostly old ones! I used this actual disc, which
was badly affected by dried mould, in a video demonstration of my simple way of
cleaning 78s. It can be seen elsewhere on this website at: www.normanfield.com/cleaning.wmv
. I included audio samples of what it sounded like before & after cleaning,
and remarked that the masters were well before 1929. We are greatly indebted to
Doug Caldwell, who heard these extracts while browsing the web, and identified
it as a Palace Trio item, early 1920, on Vocalion 14053. The other side had an
accordion solo called ‘Union Reel’, which Doug also identified as coming from
Vocalion 14492 (mx 10315). Patrolman Frank Quinn on accordion, recorded circa
Dec. 1922. So Sterno was making use of quite old material it had.
Sterno 260 I
have never seen a Sterno listing; is there one? They were a cheap label and
sold quite well. Their recording sound varied quite a lot. Some of the early
ones are very deep and woolly. About 1930-1 they become metallic and brash. The
label survived, getting rarer, until the mid 1930s. British Homophone survived
as an independent pressing company at least until the mid-1970s.
Syrena
Grand 1007 “The
only Russian produced label, I believe, to have been sold in Britain. Dates
from around 1910-11. I understand that they were pressed in Poland; they
certainly recorded in many locations, but I know almost nothing about the
company. There was a pre-1939 Polish label, Syrena Electro, but whether this
has a direct link, I don’t know.” Scan and comments by courtesy of William
Dean-Myatt.
Teledisk 1988 Strangely
recorded on a fluttery lathe, these excessively rare discs from the mid-1930s
are said to have been intended to give lesser-known, semi-professional artists
a chance to appear on record. Very Lynn apparently first recorded for Teledisk…
In case you can’t read the label, the title is: ‘What A Difference A Day Made’
by Norman Stanley & his Band, with vocal by Phyllis Read. It says ‘Red
Label Dance Series’, which implies there may have been other-coloured series.
Has anybody seen one, please? Details of any Teledisk issues are
requested: please email them to me (email address below… all letters answered!
Thanks!)
Tower 325 Wow!
What a great label design! Unfortunately, it availed them but little: a subsidiary or affiliate of Guardsman, Tower
disappeared probably within a few months of their inception around 1921. The
labelling is correct: these are indeed Gennett masters.
Triumph 20339 Gramophone
Boom. Circa 1912-3. Here is the beautiful label normally appearing as
‘Bel Canto’ (see 2 more examples above), in another guise. Who bought in and
sold the ‘Triumph’ label is unknown to us, but the number 20339 will doubtless
give a clue to those experts well-versed in the complex machinations of the
‘Gramophone Boom’ of 1910-1914! By courtesy of Dave Parsons.
Trusound 1136-b Around 1933 the Trusound company put
out these picture discs. They are exceedingly rare. Each side has a different
picture. Clearly at least 36 issues were made, although the company was only
active for a few months. They were pressed into a clear, thin celluloid-like
sheeting laminated to a stiff cardboard core and were ‘unbreakable under normal
use’. Some of their recordings are unique, rather than using masters leased
from other companies, so collectors of e.g. Dance Bands must find some of these
elusive discs if they wish to have these particular sides of Dave Frost and his
Band, never mind the interesting title ‘Get Hot Foot’ on Trusound 1134. We wish
them the very best of luck! All these by courtesy of David Parsons.
Valkyrie
E743 Gramophone
Boom. A store label from Catesby’s.
Valkyrie 456 The Gramophone Boom. The
blue variety of Catesby’s of Londons ‘store label’. By courtesy of Dr.
Rainer Lotz.
