William Penn Life, 2017 (52. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2017-02-01 / 2. szám

Tibor's Take with Tibor Check, Jr.

History at 78 rpm

WHILE CONVERSING RECENTLY, my legal contemporaries and I discussed the various conveniences available to play back music for personal enjoyment. As we talked, I mentioned two older methods of recording music. Even though each of the six persons involved in our bantering were within a few years of my age, such concepts as 8-track tapes, cassettes and vinyl records (whether of the 33,45 or 78 rpm variety) were quite foreign to them. I explained how some early cylindertype records spun at a blistering 160 rpm, and that these early versions of records were similar in shape to empty paper towel rolls and were first produced of wax before converting to a slightly more durable, hardened tar-like substance which was an early form of celluloid plastic.

My peers wanted to know more about these once popular media sources, so I promised them I would bring in some samples of each type. Being that I had no real examples of these technological antiques at my D.C. residence, my colleagues would have to wait until I returned from my next visit to my parents' home in Ohio.

Once back at home, I retreated to the cellar in my quest for various types of recorded media and the tools to play them. As I discovered record after record, I was surprised by the vast amount of 78 rpm discs in my parents' collection and the many labels that were dedicated

MAGYAR

Website of Interest

http://www.refinery29.com/

what-to-do-in-budapest

In the past few months, several internet pieces highlighting Budapest have drawn the interest of millions. One fast-paced, oneminute video was released by a Windows 10 affiliate named Refinery29. A Google search unearths other cool Budapest videos, including one with a 360-degree view of the city, and another that offers a bird’s-eye perspective of the Hungarian capital as you glide over the Danube River, Buda and Pest.

to a Hungarian purchasing public.

I thought my discovery was worth sharing with a broader audience, namely the loyal readers of William Penn Life.

I know that many of you might have a keen interest in a brief discussion of the companies that recorded and distributed the music of Magyar recording artists, as well as a few photos.

The great Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the phonograph in the 1880s, but it was not until about 1910, when records were made as flat discs, that the general public could finally afford to purchase and enjoy this new entertainment technology.

Another reason why the first phonographs were found only in the homes of the rich was because household electricity was available to only small affluent areas of cities. It took almost a generation for AC current to become readily available on a large scale.

Columbia and RCA Victor led the world in the recording and production of countless musicians, vocalists and orators and developed a worldwide network of recording studios and production facilities. Many Hungarian-Americans benefitted from an abundance of Magyar recorded entertainment as the Victor Company was based in Camden, N.J.-a stone's throw away from the many Hungarian communities in both the Garden and Empire States.

Without a doubt, RCA was the largest producer of Hungarian recordings until World War II. At that time RCA and many other large record companies abandoned the recording of ethnic music due to economics and because many of those ethnic nations ending up on the losing side of the war.

As mentioned in earlier Tibor's Takes, several independent record companies surfaced, filling the huge void left by the big record companies' abandonment of nationality recording.

The forerunner to the second generation of 78 rpm recording was Cleveland-based B&F Records, located on Buckeye Road. Frank Szappanos and his wife Barbara were instrumental in establishing a world-class recording studio, record production facility and worldwide distribution network that rivaled and oftentimes exceeded what the big label companies attained in sales

6 0 February 2017 ° WILLIAM PENN LIFE