[78-L] Question 1812 Overture

Sat Apr 2 12:57:14 PDT 2011

The budget lp industry was going almost as soon as lp technology became 
available. Remington and Solitaire were among the first, and customers were 
just so happy not to have to flip records or stack them on a changer, quality 
was overlooked. Remington and Varsity/Royale relied mostly on European tapes 
liberated at the end of the war, although both companies also had lots of 78s 
to transfer from. Solitaire remains a mystery, with a lot of small 78 label 
sources, broadcast transcriptions, stolen tapes and who knows what else as 
source material.

dl

On 4/2/2011 3:47 PM, Dan Van Landingham wrote:
> I've never  owned any of those Mercury LPs save those which were in the "Living
> Presence" series which,if I'm not mistaken,were produced by a woman named
> Cozart.As for Obie and Varsity,did he
> own the Wright Record Company?I have a couple of Louis Prima 78s of his on
> Varsity.As for the
>
> quality of '40s and '50s,I had a number of Godawful classical music LPs issued
> on the Plymouth label
> as well as some on Royale,Halo and even a few Columbias that were just as
> bad.The latter must have
> been from the late '40s.Those I had were dubbed from 78s.The sound quality was
> just horrible.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Sat, April 2, 2011 9:20:29 AM
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>
> Okay, folks..comparing Varsity and Mercury LP transfers of the 1812 Overture,
> which are clearly the same recording. I've played up to the end of side 1
> (clearly audible since the last note is repeated intact on the Varsity and
> partially on the Mercury).
>
> Varsity LP 31, VLP 6050, LP 6925 (all from same stampers): I've heard much
> worse. Some scuffs and clicks audible on the original 78s. Very little wow. EQ
> not great. LP surface noise, but I didn't hear hiss from the original 78s.
>
> Mercury MG 15000: Better EQ and presence. Much wow and speed flux not
> associated with 78RPM playback. LP surface quieter but a bit gritty..hey, both
> issues are over 60 years old.
>
> Unscientific test since I sampled only the first 4'05" of each disc.
>
> dl
>
> On 4/1/2011 11:49 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>> Well I've never owned any of the Oberstein label 78's. Nothing on one yet that
>> I
>> wanted to buy, keep&   play. On the other hand my experience with  Varsity&
>> most
>> other 50's era budget LP's is that they all used lower quality vinyl&   many
>> I've
>> found have a lot of background hiss while the record is played. Oh&   what was
>> that Varsity LP like as far as sound quality? Good, fair or what? Was there
>> much
>> hiss in it that didn't come from the 78's they were dubbed from?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> Sent: Fri, April 1, 2011 9:47:32 PM
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>
>> The LP. I don't have proof that the Mengelberg 1812 Overture appeared on an
>> Oberstein 78 issue (more likely on Royale, as well as Masterpiece,
> Philharmonic
>> and other budget labels) since WERM goes to "etc." after listing the known
>> major recordings, but the LP label refers to "Parts 1-4". Actually I don't
> find
>> the surfaces so terrible on Obie's 78s in the early 40s. Certainly better than
>> Decca.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> On 4/1/2011 8:34 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>> So did you sample a Varsity 78 or a Varsity LP? Oh&   whats the shellac
> quality
>>> of Varsity 78's like? More noisy than Victor&   Columbia 78's I'm sure.....
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>> Sent: Fri, April 1, 2011 6:54:23 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>>
>>> I think I sampled it once to confirm that it was the same recording, but
>>> Varsity had more direct access to Telefunken 78s going back to the early 40s.
>>> So they wouldn't have lifted the Mercury transfer.
>>>
>>> dl
>>>
>>> On 4/1/2011 7:29 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>>> Yes I know the vinyl (on Varsity LP issues) is lousy. I just wanted to know
>> if
>>>> they used the Mercury transfer with the wow problem in it.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>>>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>>> Sent: Fri, April 1, 2011 4:53:51 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>>>
>>>> What, me listen to a Varsity issue?
>>>>
>>>> dl
>>>>
>>>> On 4/1/2011 4:57 PM, Robert M. Bratcher Jr. wrote:
>>>>> But does the wow in the recording show up in the Varsity&   related labels?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>>>>> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>>>>> Sent: Thu, March 31, 2011 5:35:34 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Question 1812 Overture
>>>>>
>>>>> Mercury Classics dubs from Czech Masters almost ALWAYS wowed. What a waste.
>>>> And
>>>>> then they'd dub THOSE to lp rather than work from the originals again.
>>>> Although
>>>>> I remember the ten inch Mercury lp of the 1812 as sounding pretty
>>> decent..they
>>>>> didn't bother to eliminate the repeated notes between sides 2&   3 though.
>>> That
>>>>> same Mengelberg set turns up on Varsity and related labels.
>>>>>
>>>>> dl
>>>
>>
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