The Lemon Fool

UncleEbenezer wrote:

tjh290633 wrote:I have several 10" diameter circular black disks with a hole in the centre. There is a label with the words 78rpm. Is this a record?

TJH

Erm, were there 10-inch 78s? I had the impression 78s were the old 7" discs.

That was 45s.

UncleEbenezer wrote:My first ever gramophone was older than me, and offered four different speeds.

Four? 33, 45, 78 and ....?

mc2fool wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:Erm, were there 10-inch 78s? I had the impression 78s were the old 7" discs.

That was 45s.

UncleEbenezer wrote:My first ever gramophone was older than me, and offered four different speeds.

Four? 33, 45, 78 and ....?

The Garrard record deck in my parents' radiogram had four speeds. 16 2/3 rpm was the slowest, a specification that never caught on.

Edit to add: 33 rpm was (is?) actually 33 1/3 rpm back in the day.

Mike4 wrote:

mc2fool wrote:That was 45s.


Four? 33, 45, 78 and ....?

The Garrard record deck in my parents' radiogram had four speeds. 16 2/3 rpm was the slowest, a specification that never caught on.

Edit to add: 33 rpm was (is?) actually 33 1/3 rpm back in the day.

I seem to recall 16 2/3 rpm was designed for records of speech, not music.

UncleEbenezer wrote:

tjh290633 wrote:I have several 10" diameter circular black disks with a hole in the centre. There is a label with the words 78rpm. Is this a record?

TJH

Erm, were there 10-inch 78s? I had the impression 78s were the old 7" discs.

My first ever gramophone was older than me, and offered four different speeds.

78s were either 10" or 12", but I did have a little freebie that was smaller. Maybe 8". It came from Vernon's Pools of Liverpool and was introduced by Jerry Desmond.

My first gramophone was handed down from my aunt and had a handle on the side to wind it up. It came with the Vernon's record and several others.

My first record purchase was "My Hero" from "The Chocolate Soldier" by Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra. He was a Glenn Miller disciple. Probably 6/3d. It was played one morning on Housewives' Choice. I don't think it was what the announcer expected. A great record which I wore out.

TJH

mc2fool wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:My first ever gramophone was older than me, and offered four different speeds.

Four? 33, 45, 78 and ....?

Overdrive, of course.

BJ

tjh290633 wrote:78s were either 10" or 12", but I did have a little freebie that was smaller. Maybe 8". It came from Vernon's Pools of Liverpool and was introduced by Jerry Desmond.

I have a few of Private Eye's satirical discs from the 1960s, that were 7 inches in diameter but ran at 33 rpm. Sometimes on very thin transparent vinyl which skidded on the turntable, and sometimes a bit wobbly as a result.

Here's a later one from 1989: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225568752792

And here's what happened when Conservative Party Central Office tried the idea: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395235719490 . Groovy.

BJ

Nimrod103 wrote:

Mike4 wrote:
The Garrard record deck in my parents' radiogram had four speeds. 16 2/3 rpm was the slowest, a specification that never caught on.

Edit to add: 33 rpm was (is?) actually 33 1/3 rpm back in the day.

I seem to recall 16 2/3 rpm was designed for records of speech, not music.

That was indeed the fourth speed. I never encountered a record made for it, but it was there on the record player.

I never actually saw a 78, and just one or two vintage 45s - but (unlike the 16 2/3s) I knew they existed. By the time I bought myself a record deck, it was just the one speed. And stereo - which was a great advance but made the sound much more sensitive to any defects on the records.

How big were those make-your-own-recording discs - as featured in Brighton Rock?

tjh290633 wrote:
My first record purchase was "My Hero" from "The Chocolate Soldier" by Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra. He was a Glenn Miller disciple. Probably 6/3d. It was played one morning on Housewives' Choice. I don't think it was what the announcer expected. A great record which I wore out.

TJH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHocgR2s8tM

that's cracking

Bungee & UE - great stories! way better than mine

didds wrote:

tjh290633 wrote:
My first record purchase was "My Hero" from "The Chocolate Soldier" by Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra. He was a Glenn Miller disciple. Probably 6/3d. It was played one morning on Housewives' Choice. I don't think it was what the announcer expected. A great record which I wore out.

TJH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHocgR2s8tM

that's cracking

Thank you for the link. My copy didn't have the intro by Ralph Flanagan. It still sounds good.

TJH

tjh290633 wrote:I have several 10" diameter circular black disks with a hole in the centre. There is a label with the words 78rpm. Is this a record?

Yes - for an Olympic sport: discus

mc2fool wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:My first ever gramophone was older than me, and offered four different speeds.

Four? 33, 45, 78 and ....?

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