In this blog entry I am going to give you an introduction to the Hit Of The Week Record series made by the Durium Products Corporation. As a matter of fact, this line of records debuted on the market 85 years ago this month. The records were sold on newsstands from February of 1930 until June of 1932. The Hit Of The Week records can certainly be considered Great Depression artifacts as they were issued during The Depression and because of The Depression. The records were initially sold for fifteen cents ($0.15) and were later sold for twenty cents ($0.20). The records were made of paper and resin. They are flexible when toyed with. Due to hot and humid storage conditions, specimens have
been discovered stuck together. The overheated and melting resin causes
this unfortunate phenomenon. At first, each record featured one song and then, beginning in August of 1931, each record featured two songs. The labels show some differences in part due to the extra
song and the reverse of the records are different as well. Examples
are found with photographs of the artists performing on the songs. Some records included an advertisement reminding listeners that a new record would be on sale at newsstands on the following Thursday. The records were shipped in rice paper sleeves ... the vast majority of which perished or were discarded. Copies of the Hit Of The Week Records reached a peak of 500,000 sales per week and dwindled to 60,000. This forced the company to cease production on the line. The records that you see in this blog entry were purchased at the Surround Sound Productions event at the Merchants Square Mall in Allentown, Pennsylvania in September of last year. If you are looking for 78 rpm records, I definitely recommend this convention. Finally, I wanted to point out that these records truly sound incredible given the fact that they are merely paper and resin. I will be posting a romantic one for the Valentine Season in my February 11, 2015 blog entry.
Here is my pile of records: I am going to post more photographs and a video on February 11, 2015. UPDATE (February 11, 2015): Here are the video and the new pics ...
The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryiKpgU-lxA
I am back with another "recent" song for this Valentine Season. This record is from 1933. It features Victor Young And His Orchestra with "I've Got To Pass Your House To Get To My House". It was pressed on the Brunswick label (Catalog number: 6589) and I am playing it on a Brunswick Panatrope Exponential Type 106 Gramophone/Phonograph. It was produced in the late 1920s. The record and the player - both made by the Brunswick Company and both made in the USA! As for the song, its content is that of either unrequited love or another guy simply getting the girl first.
The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUmeVj9ZWLM Here are some photos of Brunswick and Brunswick!
Here is another romantic song for you this Valentine Season and this is no doubt a recent one for me. It dates to the year 1943 ... Hal Goodman And His Orchestra with "People Will Say We're In Love". This track was pressed on the label known as The Hit Record by "Elite Record Mfgers" (Catalog number: 7059). The record was released in the United States on September 11, 1943, and eventually peaked at #17 on the charts (Source: http://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=18609).
I am spinning the record on the His Master's Voice Model 102E Portable Gramophone. The Gramophone was made in England in 1952. I even added a picture of Love Frog for the occasion.
The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_PNlLQVvVM
It is the very early morning of February 7, 2015. Next week is Valentines Day and in honor of the upcoming holiday, I have for you "Hearts And Flowers" in the form of an instrumental (violin and piano). This record was pressed on the Zon-o-phone (Zonophone) label (Catalog number: G9466). It dates somewhere between 1899 and 1903. The song is "Hearts And Flowers" credited to Fred W. Hager. The song will be played on a Victor Victrola Model #4 (VV-IV) from 1915.
I thought I would add some hearts and flowers to the video:
The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUHjJcfYlQ8 Here are some close-up photographs of the record (front and back) ...
I am continuing the Valentine theme here with an instrumental number titled "Daughter Of Love Waltz". The song was performed by the National Promenade Band in 1922, and was pressed on the Thomas Edison Diamond Disc label (Catalog number: 51009-L). It plays at a speed of 80 rpm. This is a really great tune. I am playing the record on an Edison Disc Phonograph Model C-150. The Disc machine was made between 1915 and 1919. The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNJXd5i6u4o
Keeping with the Valentine's Holiday of this month, tonight I have for you "Love's Golden Dream" - a duet by Helen Clark and Emory Randolph. Lindsay Lennox wrote the lyrics and Gordon Nevin was responsible for the musical arrangement. The song was recorded in 1914, and was pressed on the Thomas Edison Diamond Disc label (catalog number: 80167-R/matrix number: 3104). It plays at a speed of 80 rpm. I am playing the record on an Edison Disc Phonograph Model C-150. The Disc machine was made between 1915 and 1919. The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXfmlUtOyuY
Hi Friends. In honor of the upcoming Valentines Day Holiday, I have for you a very flirty record and it is an old one. It dates to the year 1909, and is titled "A Bowery Flirtation". The Thomas Edison black wax cylinder record will be played on an Edison Standard Phonograph: Model B from 1905/1906. The record was recorded by Ada Jones and Len Spencer (Catalog number: 10082). It is a Vaudeville sketch that leads into a song with Ada singing and an orchestra accompanying her. I brought some old Valentine cards out, and set them near the machine ... very special for this time of the year. The url for the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0eKaGrNncE Here are the lyrics (I transcribed them myself ... I did my best):
Len: Hello kid, what's the rush? Ada: It's 6:00, the rush hour. Len: Come ere, I want to ask u something. Ada: What? Len: Have you noticed anybody follerin' ya lately? Ada: Nobody particular. Len: Why Maggie, I'm yer shada, I follows you everywhere an' all it does is run away from me. Ada: Sure I do. Run away from a shada and it always follows you, but chase it, Timmy, haha, and it's gone fer good. Len: Well, you can't lose me kid. Tell me, did you ever love anybody? Ada: Sure I have. Len: I mean anybody but yourself? Ada: Oh, like that? So I'm stuck on meself, huh? Well, there's one thing about you, Timmy, that I have to admire. Len: And that is? Ada: Yer good taste. Len: Ho haw, gettin wise to yourserlf, ay? Why Maggie, that swell little mug o' yours is tintyped right on me heart. Ada: Hahaha, I bet there's a whole gallery of tintypes on that heart of yours. Len: You got me wrong, kid. Why, I never knew what love was 'til I fell in love with you. Ada: Ahh, haha. Don't make me laugh, me lips are chapped. Ada: Why Timmy, so many guys give me that speel that I set it to music. Len: Is that so? Ada: Yes, and it goes like this ... Ada: I never knew what love was 'til I fell in love with you. Len: Oh kid, nix. Ada: You won me heart completely with those dreamy eyes of blue. I jollied Maude and Maime ... Len: No no. Ada: ... and made eyes at Lil an' Lou ... Len: I don't know the party. Ada: ... but I never knew what love was 'til I fell in love with you. Len: Ah, kid, you's is the only one. Ada: I don't believe it. Len: See, ain't that a hit? Ada: What's a hit? Len: Ha, that's what they all say, hahahaha. Ada: Timmy ... Len: Aww, I didn't mean it kid, hahahahaha. Ada: Aw, hahahahaha. Additional information about the record can be found at this link: http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder3530
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