I was so distraught this last week upon getting a new box of old records in the mail - and seeing 13 of them broken and shattered - that I had to do something to ease my now tortured soul. Normally I'd have a Guinness or a shot of Scotch, but this time I felt I could do something a little more productive. Off to the local antique store I went.
And found a treasure trove!
I had to scrounge and look deep, but ultimately found a stack of easily over 50 various shellac 78 rpm records. I may have swooned.
My preferred music for this old gramophone I have is old jazz, big band, and swing music, but I came across this gem and felt it had to be mine. Seriously, who can go wrong with Bing Crosby? His voice was built specifically for this machine and this era.
This book of records, however, is not just Bing. Oh no. One of my favourite songs in the world was in here, which was really the deciding factor. Puttin' on the Ritz! By Irving Berliln, of course, and sung by Fred Astaire.
This Book of Bing Songs (tm) has only a handful of records on it. One must recall that 78rpm records have only one song per side, so to sell multiples songs, multiple records were required, and the best way to do that was in a book. Technology certainly has improved since then (I carry all my music on my phone these days), but these old records definitely have a certain magic and charm to them.
I'm looking forward to playing this one, too, closer to time:
I was looking for more than just that, so I also picked up this book of records. This was not the only book they had - there were a couple more in various stages of disrepair, but I didn't want to exhaust my entire budget right away, so I only grabbed the one.
I've got the William Tell Overture on order, too, because The Lone Ranger will ride again in my house. I'm so pumped about that one. It should be here next week.
How do they sound? Here's a sample:
(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe
About Me
Amateur photographer. Wannabe author. Game designer. Nerd.
General all around problem-solver and creative type.
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