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How long have you been listening to recorded music?

TLEDDY

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I have been on this forum for a while and it suddenly occurred to me that my history is almost scary!

My recorded musical journey began before solid state existed in the late 40s... It was still rewarding and fun then as well! My first records were 78s on a hand wound Victrola! The tweak then was to replace the steel needle with one made of bamboo! That would last for perhaps two sides. Anyone else on the forum with that Genesis?
 

anmpr1

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When I was out of HS, I had a reputation as a middle weight record collector, and made the local rounds. Once running into a man who was definitely a heavy weight in class. He collected 78s and also the cylinders. Bob invited me to his house where each room was stuffed with Victrolas, from small portables to large floor standing cabinets. Records stacked higher than you can imagine. Everywhere. And he knew where everything was. His wife, Marge, certainly as old as he, smiled and tolerated his hobby. He was a soft spoken gentle man, frail but active enough, who lived for the old records.

I sometimes wonder what became of his quite remarkable collection. I bought an old Thorens portable from him. It was 'for sale' but I could tell that it almost broke his heart to part with it. He probably had half a dozen of them under his bed. LOL The little Thorens folds up into a carry all package that you can take anywhere. I also bought a stack of 78s. And metal styli. Just to have them.

thorens.jpg

thorens2.jpg
 
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TLEDDY

TLEDDY

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View attachment 104505needle and membrane
View attachment 104506[/QUOTE]

Wow! I have never seen one of those! I guess the amplification was through the needle and membrane in the arm - did the sound come out the arm or the base?

What year was that?
 

Robin L

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I remember hearing Nat King Cole when I was a toddler. 1957? And ever since.

 

anmpr1

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Wow! I have never seen one of those! I guess the amplification was through the needle and membrane in the arm - did the sound come out the arm or the base?

What year was that?

Aamplification was via acoustic transfer from the needle to the membrane in the circular head. It features a screw on record clamp (how modern!) and variable speed control. You can make it through one record at about the same speed. Then it rapidly runs out of steam.

I've seen them in blue, but mine is alligator green. I don't play it anymore since I'm afraid the main spring will snap due to age. I've read they are from the 1930s.
 

anmpr1

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I remember hearing Nat King Cole when I was a toddler. 1957?

One of my early memories is the folks watching the Nat Cole television show. I remember watching the drummer using a brush, and thinking, "What's that about?"
 

RayDunzl

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Hard to say, but I was in the School Band in 3rd grade.

The school was originally a high school built in 1917, and had a nice traditional theater/auditorium with 100 or 200 seats. Not big, but looked big to us.

We were the music for the Christmas Show, and with only 3 months experience for the most part, not too shabby. All acoustic, of course, so no distortion, clipping, or compression.

This photo is about 15 years earlier, still the high school then. You walked in the front door and the theater entrance was right in front of you.

1610111879260.png
 

Thalis

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First time I ever heard recorded music was on 8-track when I was a toddler if I do not include the radio. My favourite go to was Albert Hammond's "The Free Electric Band" :)
 

watchnerd

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I have been on this forum for a while and it suddenly occurred to me that my history is almost scary!

My recorded musical journey began before solid state existed in the late 40s... It was still rewarding and fun then as well! My first records were 78s on a hand wound Victrola! The tweak then was to replace the steel needle with one made of bamboo! That would last for perhaps two sides. Anyone else on the forum with that Genesis?

Isn't this just the same as asking people how old they are?

I don't think there is anyone alive anymore with a birth date that completely pre-dates recorded music.
 
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TLEDDY

TLEDDY

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Oddly enough, that did not cross my mind. I happen to be in my 80th year and was thinking about my personal history. I sometimes (frequently) forget my age. I suppose that is either deliberate denial or senility.

I was, and am, curious about other members history and experiences. Another thread I found has some history of past purchases and current gear... that has been fun.
 

Robin L

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Sometime around 190, my Uncle Charlie--radio newscaster Charles G. Arlington---gave us our first record player. It was similar in design to this, had acoustic playback, the arm terminated in a resonator, part of a hollow arm, with a steel needle. It could play 78s and 45s.
il_570xN.392694411_2d8b.jpg
 

StefaanE

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I have been on this forum for a while and it suddenly occurred to me that my history is almost scary!

My recorded musical journey began before solid state existed in the late 40s... It was still rewarding and fun then as well! My first records were 78s on a hand wound Victrola! The tweak then was to replace the steel needle with one made of bamboo! That would last for perhaps two sides. Anyone else on the forum with that Genesis?
You beat me by at least 5 years. My Mom told me she played Mozart on their small Philips electrical record player when I was 3 months old, to keep me quiet. Apparently it worked quite well. My first memories of recorded music is me not liking the female voices from my Dad’s recording of Handel’s Messiah, Adrian Boult conducting, from a real “album” of 78s, but being mesmerised by the “Hallelujah” which he couldn’t play often enough. I was about 7 then. The record player I remember looked a lot like this one:
1D6E6151-38D3-49C6-ACC6-9FE0FB7D39EE.jpeg
 
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Robin L

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Is that CE or BCE?
OOPs!
Before the common era, of course. It's supposed to say 1960.
FWIW, Uncle Charlie lived across the street from Bob Hope.
 

sergeauckland

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You beat me by at least 5 years. My Mom told me she played Mozart on their small Philips electrical record player when I was 3 months old, to keep me quiet. Apparently it worked quite well. My first memories of recorded music is me not liking the female voices from my Dad’s recording of Handel’s Messiah, Adrian Boult conducting, from a real “album” of 78s, but being mesmerised by the “Hallelujah” which he couldn’t play often enough. I was about 7 then. The record player I remember looked a lot like this one:
View attachment 104618
That Philips record player was my 11th birthday present, and it was my entry to the audio rabbit hole I've been down ever since. Mine ate batteries at an alarming rate and if you removed the spring under the arm so the tracking weight was a couple of pounds rather than ounces, it would even play records on the school bus!

2 watts output, and a loudspeaker with an inverted cone (the magnet was in front of, in the cone) to save depth. Turnover stylus, which I also got through rapidly, coinciding with taking the arm spring off.

It lasted me right through to 18 when I built something better. So, been listening to music ever since. First record was Del Shannon, Runaway!

Happy days.
S
 
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First memory I have of listening to recorded music is Simon and Garfunkel “Sounds of Silence”. I am told I watched the Beatles on Ed Sullivan but don’t recall that....would explain a lot
 

Kal Rubinson

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I have been on this forum for a while and it suddenly occurred to me that my history is almost scary!

My recorded musical journey began before solid state existed in the late 40s... It was still rewarding and fun then as well! My first records were 78s on a hand wound Victrola! The tweak then was to replace the steel needle with one made of bamboo! That would last for perhaps two sides. Anyone else on the forum with that Genesis?
I bought a 78 pop disc or two around 1950 but, a couple of years later, became fascinated with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, both on 78s and the only two classical pieces in my home, thanks to an older brother. When he returned home from his tour with the Air Force, he told me about HiFi and, after a visit or two to Manhattan's HiFi Row along Cortland Street, I was hooked. The rest is history or, at least, my story.
 
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