[78-L] Amazon Vitaphone DVD sales!!

Steve Williams jazzhunter at collector.org
Mon May 23 13:37:52 PDT 2011 

------------------------------
The big news IS Canadian availability, there are quite a few of us Canucks
in this forum you know... I Decided to order or reorder all these simply
because a blurb for "Vitaphone Varieties" arrived in my mailbox from
Amazon.ca.  I'd been hedging for a while since they could previously only be
had from Amamazon.com, which is overall much more expensive than Amazon.ca,
both in item price and shipping costs.  Some titles are on offer from Ebay
vendors, who of course will ship here, but with the vendor's markup plus
shipping hassles that's an expensive way to go.

And the unavailability of most of the Warner Archive titles in Canada is an
ongoing issue that really has me and fellow film buffs majorly peeved.
There are the gorgeous precode features and (until now) jazz shorts that
simply can't be HAD in Canada, either from Amazon, TCM, or Moviesunlimited.
They just won't ship here.  Christmas before last TCM had a one-day two-for
one sale on all the Archive titles.  I asked an American friend to buy 56,
yes Fifty-Six, titles, mostly precode.  He opened them and took out all the
discs and sent me a nice tidy box with just the discs and outer sleeves.
And it slipped by customs..

I do have a subscription to TCM-HD, which has pretty good quality on
upscaled NTSC masters, plus it has greater bandwidth than regular TCM.  Also
American friends will rip and post the CDs to a shared server.  But many of
my Wants just can't be filled via any existing channel.

So yah, feeding the Canadian market IS the news...

P.S.
I inherited Joe Showler's non-Teagarden video and 16mm collection..among
them is two discs from Ron Hutchinson of privately-restored shorts that
mostly do not yet appear to be on commercial DVD, unless any of them are in
"Vitaphone Varieties."

.  Steve Williams  ..

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 13:15:25 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Amazon Vitaphone DVD sales!!
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Message-ID: <4DDA962D.5070702 at mbiel.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

>I have been trying to figure out why all of a sudden these Warner sets 
>seem to be hot news when we have been talking about and announcing EACH 
>of these on the 78-L when they were each released -- and available for 
>prices LOWER on the WBShop site during sales than have been offered here 
>on Amazon.  Unless you are not in the U.S. (because unfortunately WBShop 
>only sells inside the U.S.) there is nothing new or special here that we 
>have not talked about on this list before -- except for the Canadian 
availability which IS big news but was not what started this thread.

>That being said, I repeat what I have said here many times before, you 
>have to be crazy not to buy these sets, as well as The Jazz Singer set 
>which also has lots of Vitaphone shorts and some great documentaries and 
>demo films.

>And as for Joe Salerno's complaint about the lack of info on the 
>contents, Ron Hutchinson has put together liner notes for some if not 
>all of the sets which you can download.  If you are on facebook, friend 
>Ron and also Warner Archives to get the info and the deals.  Right now 
>there is only a 10% off, but sometimes there are 30 to 50% off sales at 
>the time around holidays.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com

On 5/22/2011 2:22 PM, Steve Williams wrote:
> ------------------------------
>
> There's four of interest altogether.  I just ordered all four a couple of
> days ago though I already have the second one..(Lent it out..)  Here's
> Amazon.ca links.
>
> "Warner Bros. Big Band Jazz and Swing-Short Subject"
>   http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0039Q8HSO/ref=oss_product
>
> "Classical Music Shorts from the Dream Factory" (DVD-R)
> http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003NZ0R3O/ref=oss_product
> (This is one of only a very few Archive Collection DVD-rs offered
> on Canadian Amazon and available outside the US.)
>
> "Vitaphone Varieties" (May 27)
> http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004X63RVG/ref=oss_product
>
> Vitaphone Cavalcade of Musical Comedy Shorts"
> http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004H0M2SM/ref=oss_product
>
> .. Steve Williams  ..
>
>
> Message: 16
> Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 04:39:48 -0700 (PDT)
> From: "Robert M. Bratcher Jr."<rbratcherjr at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [78-L] Amazon Vitaphone DVD sales!!
> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Message-ID:<296821.49559.qm at web114614.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
>> Check these two out. Links below for each one.....
>> Vitaphone Varieties (1926)
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004X63RVG/ref=pe_5140_19892650_snp_dp
>> Vitaphone Cavalcade Of Musical Comedy Shorts (6 Disc) (1926)
>>
http://www.amazon.com/Vitaphone-Cavalcade-Musical-Comedy-Shorts/dp/B004H0M2
>



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 13:24:15 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Sales figures
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Message-ID: <4DDA983F.3060003 at mbiel.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 5/22/2011 8:55 PM, Rodger Holtin wrote:
> There must be some solid figures floating around somewhere. Jack Palmer
told me he knew how many "Prisoners Songs Victor really did
> sell and I think it's in his book, but I can't find it at the moment.
> I can find this: In his "Bix Beiderbecke Story" (1998) Phil Evans quotes a
number of sales figures for Goldkette and Whiteman Victors and Whiteman
Columbias.  On page 281Goldkette's "Blue River" is quoted as selling 73,487
copies; on pg 304 Whiteman's Washboard Blues sold 120,676.  He also cites a
few Okehs: "Borneo" by Trumbauer at 3,000 and "Somebody Stole My Gal" by Bix
and His Gang sold 2,400.  The last record in the book, Hoagy's "Georgia On
My Mind" sold 3,641

There sometimes are production figures on the Victor Blue Cards and on 
the Columbia slips, but the are not consistent, not complete, and do not 
show returns info.  Sometimes they only show the initial pressing order. 
In many newspaper and magazine articles around the time of the 1940 
price reductions it was often said that Columbia and Victor would not 
release sales figures except as percentages of increase in sales before 
and after the price drop.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com
> Two lessons:
> 1-the more commercial the piece, the more it sold and it dropped in the
Depression (no surprise to anyone who has dug through any 78's that show up
at flea markets, is it?)
> 2-those figures are out there somewhere.  I wish they'd post those figures
on the Victor Encyclopedia pages and the Library of Congress National
Jukebox.  The kids need to know how many coon songs and Hawaiian ditties
really did sell.
>
>
>
> Rodger
>
>
>
> For Best Results use Victor Needles.
>
>
>
> .
>
> --- On Sat, 5/21/11, David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>  wrote:
>
> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Sales figures
> To: "78-L Mail List"<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 10:34 AM
>
>
>   From Tin Foil To Stereo gives slightly more conservative figures for
> 1931.."from a high of over 100 million discs per year to about 10
million".
>
> dl
>
> On 5/21/2011 10:51 AM, Kristjan Saag wrote:
>> Mark Bardenwerper asked:
>>>      Is there any credence to the statement, "By 1932
>>> total record sales in the US hit an all-time low of 6 million,
>>> contrasting with the high of 140 million in 1927"?
>>> ---
>> Roland Gelatt has the following on p 255 in his "The Fabulous
>> Phonograph"  (1955 edition):
>>
>> "A total of six million records were sold in the United States during
>> 1932, approximately six per cent of the total record sales in
>> 1927...What had happened to the phonograph? Why had record sales dropped
>> from 104,000,000 discs in 1927 to 6,000,000 in 1932...?"
>> ---
>> Maybe the 140 million figure given by Burke was a typo.
>> Kristjan



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 20:17:54 +0200
From: Bertrand CHAUMELLE <chaumelle at orange.fr>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Cyclone Records
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Message-ID: <5a1192b2fb30e88c9cbd4bf665fe57c9 at orange.fr>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; delsp=yes; format=flowed

Thank you Kristjan,

I didn't know about Edith and Joyce.
Virginia had a solo career in France in the 'sixties, as Virginia Vee,  
or simply Virginia.

and thanks to Francesco for the clip.

BC
Le 23 mai 11, ? 11:52, Kristjan Saag a ?crit :

> Bertrand CHAUMELLE wrote:
>
> As far as I know, the Peters Sisters were Mattie, Annie and Virginia.
>> Who was Edith Peters ?
> --
> Quote from "Tom B." on the "Wild Eye" mailing list found on
> http://www.123people.com/ext/frm? 
> ti=personensuche%20telefonbuch&search_term=arlene%20peters&search_count 
> ry=US&st=suche%20nach%20personen&target_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewildeye 
> .co.uk%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D2121&section=blog&wrt_id=262
> --
>
> Spurred by Matt's post I've continued my research on Edith Peters and
> have found the following. There were 5 Peters sisters. Virginia Peters,
> Mattye Peters, Anne Peters, Edith Peters Joyce Peters. "The Peters
> Sisters" consisted of Mattye, Anne and Virginia. Edith and Joyce Peters
> sang together as a duo. Edith moved to Italy in 1958 and married  
> Italian
> Silvio Catalano who became her agent. Searching through the Social
> Security Death Index I've found the following person that may be our
> Edith [Edith A. (Arlene?) Peters born 6/24/1917, Santa Monica,
> California - died 1/24/1993, Los Angeles, California] If Silvio passed
> away before Edith it would make sense she might have moved back to her
> origins in Los Angeles. By searching for Edith under her married name
> Edith Catalano I found the following article from Ebony Magazine from
> June 1960. Here' the link
> http://books.google.com/books? 
> id=3kOsUZgXbjMC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=silvio+catalano+edith+peters&source 
> =bl&ots=mxEnB4QQXF&sig=YngDwdeq-Gg894nlud5ObKrEuyw&hl=en&ei=- 
> od6TIWyBIj0swPnzPHsCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CC0Q6 
> AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=silvio%20catalano%20edith%20peters&f=false
> <http://books.google.com/books? 
> id=3kOsUZgXbjMC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=silvio+catalano+edith+peters&source 
> =bl&ots=mxEnB4QQXF&sig=YngDwdeq-Gg894nlud5ObKrEuyw&hl=en&ei=- 
> od6TIWyBIj0swPnzPHsCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CC0Q6 
> AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=silvio%20catalano%20edith%20peters&f=false>
>
> ---
> Kristjan
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>



------------------------------

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