[78-L] The Beatles on 78

[Kristjan Saag]

D P Ingram asked:

> Is anyone capable of producing 78rpm disks in bulk nowadays (on
> shellac)  ?
--
No.
The last known shellac-like pressing (at the Orlake pressing plant in 
Dagenham, UK) was made for Paul McCartney's private pressings of the 1958 
demo reissue of "That'll Be The Day"/ "In Spite Of All The Danger". This was 
being done in 1981.
(See article in Record Collector, December 1998 pp 30-31)
Quote:

"Paul intended to make a private pressing of the disc, faithfully 
reproducing the original replica 10'' 78 rpm single. He even wanted the 
record to be produced on shellac, and to this end sent the master tape to 
the independent Orlake pressing plant in Dagenham, Essex. Like every other 
pressing plant, Orlake had ceased production of shellac in the early 60s, 
but it did have a small batch of substitute material in stock. Copies of 
"That'll Be The Day"/ "In Spite Of All The Danger" were run until the 
material ran out - about two dozen copies were made in all, each as brittle 
as any vintage 78."

In case the "substitute material" contained shellac - this was the definite 
end of the shellac era.
Kristjan