I've never been a big fan of the medley format, even if the tunes are good, as is generally the case here. Still, the Whiteman band is always impressive. My favorites are "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" and "There I Go Dreaming Again," the latter with the great Mildred Bailey's vocal. The thing that really stands out instrumentally in this medley is Mike Pingitore's banjo, particularly on "Sweet Music." Banjo had by this time largely fallen out of favour in the dance band environment, having been supplanted by the acoustic archtop guitar, whose design provided comparable volume and cutting power and arguably a more pleasing tone, but Mike proved that in the right hands the now widely replaced banjo could sound beautiful.
Unfortunately, the RCA "Program Transcrtiptions" were not a success, because most people had very little money to buy them- or the expensive Victrola radio-phonographs that could play them. They quietly phased out those early "33" discs towards the end of 1933....although the radio- phonographs would be manufactured through 1934, and the remaining stock of "Program Transcriptions" would stay in the Victor catalogs through 1939.
How were these early 33 1/3 rpm "LP-records" played back at home? What equipment had to be used? What type of needles? The sound quality is quite good, considering the old 33 1/3 rpm format.
Good questions. One of the reasons for failure of the Program Transcription format (in addition to the "biggie" - the Great Depression) was that the playback system was substandard. RCA's console record players for 1932 came equipped with a speed selector so the user could choose between 78 and 33 1/3 rpm. However the machines still used a very heavy horseshoe magnet pickup on a similarly heavy cast metal tonearm, and steel or Tungstone needles. The early Program Transcriptions were pressed in shellac similar to that used for standard records. Users complained about the surface noise of these records when played at 33 rpm, so Victor began using a brittle plastic branded as "Victrolac." The Victrolac did not stand up well against metal needles and very heavy tonearms and wore out rather quickly. Sound quality was also an issue. Victor advertised the PT as a format that would allow classical music lovers to enjoy recordings without having to turn over a record every 4 minutes. Yet their first series' of classical PT records were dubbed from recordings made as early as 1926. Later series' utilized fresh recordings made with RCA's new near-high fidelity recording system. Unfortunately the frequency response of these players was poor when compared to the quality of sound on the new recordings. Combined with the problems inherent in Victrolac, the Program Transcription format failed to catch on with the public. You might enjoy this link, a look at Victor's "Rolls Royce" console for 1932, the Model 81. www.radiolaguy.com/Showcase/Console/RCA-Victor_RE-81.htm
The playback method (in the home) already having been adeptly answered (Laprarie), I should mention that in ~1932 RCA-Victor introduced one (of eventually two) major revisions to the "original" Western Electric recording equipment (the other revision was in 1938). The venerable Model 1 cutterhead (the "rubber line"), which had been in service since 1925, was significantly modified to push the upper frequency limit from about 5kHz all the way out to about 10kHz. This particular pair of recordings is quite good, but the cutting system could perform significantly better if the groove was given more "room" than on these attempts at cramming together a "long playing" result. Many recordings made at New York Studio 1 or the Church Building from 1932-1934, and pressed as "typical" 10-inch issues, have exceptional bandwidth and clarity for their time. This level of heightened recording quality, at least for the "consumer product", was ditched in 1934 for a variety of reasons (including a somewhat amusing set of complaints from jukebox operators). Not *every* Victor recording from '32 to '34 sounds equally good, but it was at least *possible* during those years to hit a high mark that was previously beyond reach. As was pointed out, the "more elaborate, more fragile" nature of the groove geometry in these higher-fidelity pressings came with higher propensity to wear. (check out Peter Copeland's 2008 book - it has a pretty decent coverage on early 1930s Victor methods)
The 1930s sucked, and music was a way for people to cope with the harshness of it all. You were born in the right era, because now you can enjoy all this music and many other genres much easier than anyone living in this period could.
I feel like it must be Christmas or something with all these today!! Ah, you don't know how my heart needed this, man.
An up beat song..love it! Love the lady's singing and the men too!🎺 💞🎙🎵
I've never been a big fan of the medley format, even if the tunes are good, as is generally the case here. Still, the Whiteman band is always impressive. My favorites are "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" and "There I Go Dreaming Again," the latter with the great Mildred Bailey's vocal. The thing that really stands out instrumentally in this medley is Mike Pingitore's banjo, particularly on "Sweet Music." Banjo had by this time largely fallen out of favour in the dance band environment, having been supplanted by the acoustic archtop guitar, whose design provided comparable volume and cutting power and arguably a more pleasing tone, but Mike proved that in the right hands the now widely replaced banjo could sound beautiful.
Heaven.
This is wonderful. Thanks for posting.
Unfortunately, the RCA "Program Transcrtiptions" were not a success, because most people had very little money to buy them- or the expensive Victrola radio-phonographs that could play them. They quietly phased out those early "33" discs towards the end of 1933....although the radio- phonographs would be manufactured through 1934, and the remaining stock of "Program Transcriptions" would stay in the Victor catalogs through 1939.
Haha... in Soft Lights it sounds as if Henry Busse had come back.....
How were these early 33 1/3 rpm "LP-records" played back at home? What equipment had to be used? What type of needles?
The sound quality is quite good, considering the old 33 1/3 rpm format.
Good questions. One of the reasons for failure of the Program Transcription format (in addition to the "biggie" - the Great Depression) was that the playback system was substandard.
RCA's console record players for 1932 came equipped with a speed selector so the user could choose between 78 and 33 1/3 rpm. However the machines still used a very heavy horseshoe magnet pickup on a similarly heavy cast metal tonearm, and steel or Tungstone needles. The early Program Transcriptions were pressed in shellac similar to that used for standard records. Users complained about the surface noise of these records when played at 33 rpm, so Victor began using a brittle plastic branded as "Victrolac." The Victrolac did not stand up well against metal needles and very heavy tonearms and wore out rather quickly.
Sound quality was also an issue. Victor advertised the PT as a format that would allow classical music lovers to enjoy recordings without having to turn over a record every 4 minutes. Yet their first series' of classical PT records were dubbed from recordings made as early as 1926. Later series' utilized fresh recordings made with RCA's new near-high fidelity recording system. Unfortunately the frequency response of these players was poor when compared to the quality of sound on the new recordings. Combined with the problems inherent in Victrolac, the Program Transcription format failed to catch on with the public.
You might enjoy this link, a look at Victor's "Rolls Royce" console for 1932, the Model 81.
www.radiolaguy.com/Showcase/Console/RCA-Victor_RE-81.htm
The playback method (in the home) already having been adeptly answered (Laprarie), I should mention that in ~1932 RCA-Victor introduced one (of eventually two) major revisions to the "original" Western Electric recording equipment (the other revision was in 1938). The venerable Model 1 cutterhead (the "rubber line"), which had been in service since 1925, was significantly modified to push the upper frequency limit from about 5kHz all the way out to about 10kHz. This particular pair of recordings is quite good, but the cutting system could perform significantly better if the groove was given more "room" than on these attempts at cramming together a "long playing" result. Many recordings made at New York Studio 1 or the Church Building from 1932-1934, and pressed as "typical" 10-inch issues, have exceptional bandwidth and clarity for their time. This level of heightened recording quality, at least for the "consumer product", was ditched in 1934 for a variety of reasons (including a somewhat amusing set of complaints from jukebox operators).
Not *every* Victor recording from '32 to '34 sounds equally good, but it was at least *possible* during those years to hit a high mark that was previously beyond reach. As was pointed out, the "more elaborate, more fragile" nature of the groove geometry in these higher-fidelity pressings came with higher propensity to wear. (check out Peter Copeland's 2008 book - it has a pretty decent coverage on early 1930s Victor methods)
I was born in the wrong era : (
The 1930s sucked, and music was a way for people to cope with the harshness of it all. You were born in the right era, because now you can enjoy all this music and many other genres much easier than anyone living in this period could.
I call it spinach says it all. The old songs can’t be matched for lyrics. I always laugh with the music.