[78-L] Sinatra and other singers and the 1942-1944 AFM ban

[david.diehl at hensteeth.com]

It seems counter-intuitive but the majors were not all that unhappy with the ban. Machinists and anyone with experience with electroplating could just about write their own tickets and these personnel problems were even more of a limiting factor than shellac shortages. Anybody with some sort of manufacturing experience could get a job with a defense contractor for pretty big money. Pressing plants were operating at maximum capacity given the high turnover in press operators. The only reason Decca caved in to the AFM was that it had the Oklahoma contract and knew it could promote the living daylights out of that one album and didn't really want anything else distracting buyers. Capitol picked up a couple of odds and ends but it had just about enough pre-ban material for the 14 month drought. Columbia at one point in 1943 announced that it was pressing NOTHING BUT Harry James records.
See Ty's site http://78discography.com/Capitol100.htm
DJD
Visit the Blue Pages: the Encyclopedic Guide to 78 RPM Party Records
http://www.hensteeth.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Rodger Holtin [mailto:rjh334578 at yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2013 05:37 PM
To: '78- L Mail List'
Subject: [78-L] Sinatra and other singers and the 1942-1944 AFM ban

Can somebody provide a list or a link that will enumeratewith numbers and dates the Frank Sinatra Columbias cut during the AFM ban? I’ve found a hodge-podge of conflicting/incomplete notes. Looking at the few I’ve been able to trace, it looks like themajors did very, very little recording during the ban. I would have thought they’d have done more ofthe a cappella stuff than they did, or at least more than I have found. Establishedol’ Bing did only four tunes; Como, trying to build a career only six; Frankieabout the same but can’t tell for sure. Same for Dick Haymes and Dinah Shore, I found only four each – were thereothers? Larger question – do we know how many of those a cappella records weremade? Anybody bothered to build a discography of them? Did Capitol bother recording at all? I've never seen an a cappella Capitol. RodgerFor Best Results use Victor Needles.._______________________________________________78-L mailing list78-L at klickitat.78online.comhttp://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l