[78-L] LYRIC Label by LYRAPHONE, Newark NJ.

[Philip Carli]

I think that's right for Marathon.  They advertised a play length of 5-6 min/side for 10 inch and 7-8 min/side for 12 inch, and that's at ca. 76-77 rpm.  I have one Marathon, a 10 inch of an Eli Hudson flute solo, but I've loaned it to a friend and haven't got it at hand.  Marathon made great claims about performing orchestral pieces uncut and in original instrumentation; their musical director was Walter Meyrowitz, who also did some piano solos for the company (including at least one complete Beethoven sonata on a 12" disc).  The company also sold their own Swiss-motored machines, including a rather lavish upright, and adapter soundboxes for other makes.  The records were available only from 1913 to 1915, and I believe the machines' availability was even shorter.  I've never seen one in the flesh.

Frank Andrews wrote a piece on Marathon (whose corporate name was The National Gramophone Co.) many years ago; somewhere I have a copy of it that I obtained from Syracuse about five years ago.  I'll dig that up too.

P Carli
________________________________________
From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com [78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Glenn Longwell [glongwell at snet.net]
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2010 12:35 PM
To: 78-L Mail List
Subject: Re: [78-L] LYRIC Label by LYRAPHONE, Newark NJ.

When Majestic advertised their records in Nov. 1916 they claimed 165 threads to the inch.  Lyric never mentioned what theirs was that I can find although I would guess it was similar.  I wonder what Marathon used.

Glenn

--- On Fri, 12/3/10, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:

From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] LYRIC Label by LYRAPHONE, Newark NJ.
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Date: Friday, December 3, 2010, 12:38 AM

From: Dan Van Landingham <danvanlandingham at yahoo.com>

> What was the "Marathon-type" cutting process?

Narrow needle-type vertical grooving, similar to Edison vertical
grooving as opposed to Pathe Sapphire Ball grooving.

> I remember a Marathon
> Records label from the late '20s. It was the first 7 inch 78 I ever
> saw save the Golden Records issues of the late '40s and beyond.
> I recall they were pressed in yellow vinyl.

Little Golden records were 6-inches in diameter, not 7, and were pressed
in a form of Styrene, not vinyl.

> I own the 7 inch Marathon in 1964.

> By the way, did Decca do any test pressings on vinyl? I say this
> because I was listening to a HEP CD of the Chick Webb band and the
> final track,which had no title,was not issued before according to
> the li-ner notes. The arranger/composer credits went to alto and
> baritone saxist Edgar Sampson. This t-rack dates from early 1940
> and was an instrumental. The CD is called:Chick Webb-Strictly Jive
> on HEP 1063.The side was cut on 20 Mar 1940.

How does this relate to whether or not Decca did test pressings on
vinyl?

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com


________________________________
From: Philip Carli <Philip_Carli at pittsford.monroe.edu>
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Thu, December 2, 2010 7:18:43 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] LYRIC Label by LYRAPHONE, Newark NJ.

My 12" Lyric of _William Tell_ gets the whole thing in, _uncut_, on 2
sides very
comfortably; good tempos and a well-recorded performance. It usually
takes 4 10"
or 12", even on the Diamond Disc version (that's 2, incidentally,
substantially
cut). That's why I think they used the Marathon-type grooving.

P Carli

>> ... in addition to the beautiful multicolor lithographed labels,
>> the recordings are sometimes extraordinary. The first one I got
>> has orchestral transcription of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in
>> C Sharp Minor and the Overture to Midsummer Night's Dream.
>> Both are wonderful recordings and run at least 5 minutes
>> each on the 10-inch sides.  Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com

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