[78-L] New acquisitions to me

[Michael Biel]

Jim Whipkey wrote:
> First, there was a loose paper  Edison Record label, with no sign of the record.  It's Show Me the Way to Go Home 51660-R by Billy Jones and Ernest Hare #10705.
>   

Good record.  Too bad you only have the label!  Edison paper labels 
often fall off.  They were glued onto a blank paper label that would get 
scorched during the long pressing process.  The scorching is why they 
used embossed labels for so long.
> A Velvet Tone Recorded by Annette Hanshaw, Am I Blue and Daddy Won't you Please Come Home.
>   

As mentioned in the post right before yours, Daddy was used recently in 
an ad for a rather violent video game.  The monitary value of this 
record is thus higher than it used to be.


> Two  Dot records  by Gale Storm. Is This  the My Little Margie Gale Storm? They're Never Leave Me and I Hear You Knocking and Why Do Fools Fall in Love and I Walk Alone
>
>   

Same gal.  Knocking was a BIG hit for her, covering the original for 
radio stations which wouldn't play Black performers.  Why Do Fools was 
also a cover for a similar purpose but since Frankie Lyman was such a 
cute boy the stations did play his record, so Gale's wasn't a big hit.  
It is much rarer than Knocking which is very common.  Lyman's original 
on Gee is very common on both 78 and 45.


> Also  have an old Victor record by Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra,  Whispering and The Japanese Sandman.
>
>   

Whispering is THE record which officially started the Roaring Twenties.  
Recorded in August 1920 at Whiteman's first recording session, it was a 
HUGE MONSTER HIT!!!!  It MADE his career, and is the most important 
record of the era (followed closely by the ODJB's first record). It was 
the second track on the landmark 1959 album  "60 Years of Music America 
Loves Best" (track one was Caruso's Vesti la Guibba").

 
> These may or may not be unusual, however, they are "first" finds for me.  Most of the rest were old labels and artists whose names were known.
>
> The stereo  is  confusing to me,  a pretty large table model made by KLH , Cambridge, MA. The two speakers are about 2 feet square, has  AM/FM radio, with separate tuners, turntable  works   okay, sort of.  I can play a record, but must do it manually. It has  4 speeds, but no size adjustment,  a plastic flap on top of the automatic changer which would seem to gauge and adjust  for record size, which I can't get to work.  Excellent sound quality with the two huge speakers.  There is only one  stylus,  not  separate ones for 33/45 and  one for 78s.
>
>   

Model 20?  This was THE dorm Hi-Fi of the 60s.  EVERY  college kid had 
one.  It is an icon of the era.  The KLH speaker was magic, especially 
in the wood cabinet.  The portable in a Samsonite case is more common.  
For many years I used a wood case deck exactly like yours in my 
classroom, but I only had the portable speakers.  The tuner was an 
option, and was the basis of the very legendary KLH radio. 

The changer is a Garrard, and uses a non-removable Pickering cartridge.  
You changed the slide-in stylus unit to change between microgroove and 
78 size points.  The hold-down bar that goes on top of the records does 
not gague size, it tells the changer when you are playing the final 
record in the stack.  The flipper on the back right near the arm's pivot 
tells it if it is a 12-inch record.  But by then, nobody was selling 
10-inch LPs.  It goes to 7-inches when set to 45, but there might be a 
finger that pops up to tell if a 10 or 12 is on the table.  I never used 
it automatically so I forget right now.  I haven't used one in a few 
years since I tried to get one to work for my daughter. 

If you are having trouble getting it to work, it needs cleaning and 
lubrication.  Put the speed in neutral, remove the spindle, remove the 
E-ring, lift the platter up and off.  Carefully remove the idler wheel 
by removing its e-ring, but don't lose it or any of the thin washers.  
The hole and the shaft must be cleaned with alcohol, and clean the 
rubber rim.  Get some light grease for the step lever for the speed 
control.  Change the speed control and you'll see what I mean.  Then put 
some sewing machine oil on the idler wheel shaft and return the wheel 
without getting ANY oil or grease on it!!!
Then clean the inside rim of the turntable platter, and keep your grubby 
fingers off of that inside rim.  Get the speed back to neutral and 
return the platter, turning it a bit to get it past the idler wheel.  
Cross your fingers, say a mantra (this was the 60s, after all) and it 
should work. 

Hopefully you have both spindles.  There should be a short plain one 
which is what I always used, but also a 4 or 5-inch long one for the 
changer mechanism.  There is a clip that would hold the one that was not 
in use.  That clip also was occasionally used as a Roach clip from what 
I was told.  This was the 60s.  On some versions there also was a hole 
that was covered by a plastic cap that was meant to hold the 45 spindle. 
Spindle and cap are often missing.  Since you didn't mention it, you 
might also be missing the plastic dust cover.

If it works, get yourself a pair of new needles, and chill out, man!  If 
you can find a Lava Lamp and a tie-dyed shirt, your trip to the 60s will 
be complete, man.  Google "KLH Phono" and you will find there is a whole 
generation of devotees.


 > Some of the other labels which are pretty rare in my collection are 
Essex,Champion, Regal and Essex.

Essex was the Phila label that Bill Haley and the Comets started on.  
Groovy.  Champion and Regal are 20s, of course.
> Pretty eclectic bunch,  including some duplicates for me, I.e.  Doris Day with Secret Love,  Clooney with This old House and Teresa Brewer singing Grizzly Bear.
>   

Just saw Calamity Jane on TV a few months ago.  Deadwood Stage should be 
the flip of Secret Love.  Mitch Miller forced Rosie to make the biggest 
hit of her career.  Don't know Bear -- probably post London, on Coral.


> If anyone can fill in any blanks for me on the above, I'd appreciate it.
> Jim Whipkey
>   

Hope this filled 'em.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com