[78-L] Blue label Monkey Ward/Varsity Royale catalogue

[Michael Biel]

I definately agree with Lennick's description of Royale LPs, but want to
add something about Varsity LPs.  I've called these labels "Grocery
Store" labels because they were generally available on rotatable wire
racks in non-record stores.  I remember my father buying the Jan Peerce
Varsity at Food Fair.  I've heard various descriptions of the contents
of the dull-surfaced NOISY plastic these were pressed on, and it has
been hinted that Eli the O might have used shellac as an extender to
vinyl.  Since my experience with Varsity had been with these noisy LPs,
I noted with surprise on the list a couple of years ago when I found
some of my first Varsity 78 and that they were good laminated pressings.
 Astonishing that the 78s were pressed on such good stuff and the LPs on
such crap!

Oh, and by the way (since I started this thread) the catalog I discussed
does not have the label pictures on the cover in blue, as I think David
Diehl seemed to indicate.  They are in the same black ink as the rest of
the cover and catalog.  And I have never known that there also were
Monkey Ward records with red labels as Steve Barr discussed.  Nifty.  

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 


-------- Original Message --------
From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>


Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
> At 02:03 PM 11/4/2009, you wrote:
>> Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>> Are they (the Royale/MW dubs) good performances & how is the 
>> sound quality since they are dubs?
>>
>> I'm thinking variable..there's a Royale issue (564) of the Kleiber 
>> "Iphigenie"
>> Overture that practically runs onto the label and is missing the 
>> final notes on
>> side one. "Badly mastered from original with noisy surfaces", it says on my
>> tape copy.
>>
>> dl
> 
> I've found Royale classical records to be less than spectacular in 
> both performance & sound quality. In other words, good but I've heard 
> better. What I wonder is which pressing plant pressed Royale as the 
> vinyl used is not great quality either...... 
> 
> __________________________

If you're talking about vinyl, do you mean Royale LPs? Man, those were
awful! 
They were also ridiculously cheap, and my dad (raised in the Depression)
knew a 
wholesaler, so he bought a lot of the things. The ones that were
relabelled 
"Allegro Elite" were much quieter..bordering on styrene in the US, well
pressed 
for a time by Sparton in Canada. At the same time, their 45s were very
quiet.

dl