tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post9018648601224538147..comments2024-03-14T08:51:30.185-07:00Comments on History's Dumpster: Budget Record LabelsLarry Waldbillighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09251746085990599751noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-42643150847305939262019-10-08T15:22:18.115-07:002019-10-08T15:22:18.115-07:00I can't remember the number of cassette tapes ...I can't remember the number of cassette tapes I used to see back in the '80s of famous hits "Performed by the Countdown Singers." I can't remember the label(s), however.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06745457221821552859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-14580132095733618732016-04-14T17:50:37.566-07:002016-04-14T17:50:37.566-07:00You can find Crown and their parent label's di...You can find Crown and their parent label's discographies here:<br /><br /><br />https://www.discogs.com/label/60679-Crown-Records-2<br /><br />As far as recording techniques, it was much simpler to record the blues. Rock and pop gradually got more studio processed to nearly all studio processed today. <br /><br />What pisses me off is the fucking Loudness Wars on CDs and MP3s since 1996. Even the best preserved masters sound just awful. I played recently remastered CD of Freddie King's "Burglar" album directly from my DVD player through my Sony GX-69 ES and it just sent every light on my Teac EQA-10 graphic equalizer into the red. I can only play modern media from a Linux desktop tower I have patched into my TV. Larry Waldbillighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09251746085990599751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-73034419779308561312016-04-14T11:09:34.957-07:002016-04-14T11:09:34.957-07:00I would like to know some of the blues label recor...I would like to know some of the blues label recordings. I love the blues and have a large collection I am surprised at the quality of the recordings considering the time and attitude of people back then. Yet a lot of my old blues Lps are pure I think rock got the worst of sound recording overall even the best labels.Quiltingwolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04509662653578902693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-72127355553709804602016-02-20T03:26:25.007-08:002016-02-20T03:26:25.007-08:00It's amazing - and annoying - that you can sti...It's amazing - and annoying - that you can still get bamboozled by these budget releases now as you could back in the 1970's.<br /><br />I remember a PickWick in the 1970's that was current "hits" - but with no artist names mentioned on the album jacket. You wouldn't know until you opened and played it that they were all "soundalike" recordings. The "sorta - but not really" fake Loretta Lynn doing I Never Promised You a Rose Garden wasn't too bad, the rest of the album escapes memory.<br /><br />Now? A couple years back I bought a CD titled "Etta James Greatest Hits". Well yeah - and no. It was Etta James - but not the original recordings. It was full of the drunk and drugged up Etta James after her career tanked due to substance abuse problems, sounding like performances recorded in a Holiday Inn Golden Tiki lounge. Zero disclosure on the CD as to the source of the material. I don't know which was worse: The condition of her voice - including slurring - or the "quality" of the recordings. The CD was so bad I discarded it.<br /><br />Now as then: Caveat Emptor...rickajhohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15932856460047270591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-63386385715787898502015-07-21T09:04:33.307-07:002015-07-21T09:04:33.307-07:00Synthetic Plastics Company's biggest success w...Synthetic Plastics Company's biggest success was their kiddie record line, Peter Pan Records. They eventually changed their name to Peter Pan Industries.<br /><br />A good deal of Laserlight's easy-listening/jazz/lounge music product was licensed from Rod McKuen's Stanyan Records, and carried McKuen's name as producer/editor/compiler.<br /><br />OK, I'm going to get specific about something very trivial here. In the late 50's/early 60's, there were several LPS on budget labels of "old time-gay 90's" era songs that all contained a version of "Rings On My Fingers." On some versions it was a vocal, on others an instrumental that was very obviously just a backing track with the vocal missing.<br /><br />On the vocal version, the uncredited singer sounds exactly like Mae Questel (the voice of Betty Boop.) Anybody recognize this record and knows whether or not that's her voice?jeffm12012https://www.blogger.com/profile/17430827566250598471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-74428238429934251062015-07-19T19:19:51.794-07:002015-07-19T19:19:51.794-07:00How about Coronet? I have a Frank Sinatra on Coron...How about Coronet? I have a Frank Sinatra on Coronet CXS 186 and was surprised to find it has an identical line-up and liner notes as Spin-O-Rama S-150. Is Coronet one you've heard of and was it owned by SPC?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-42669705965650958122015-03-09T09:58:29.546-07:002015-03-09T09:58:29.546-07:00I too am a life-long collector of records and am f...I too am a life-long collector of records and am fortunate enough to live in an urban area with a thrift shop 'on every corner'. I understand your disappointment in this recording. I make it second nature to avoid '101 Strings' recordings when I find them...and they are in every thrift store I have visited since I started collecting old records as a kid. I recently came across an LP by the '1000 Strings'...no doubt a variation of the same lame garbage! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-28407690559725663602014-12-10T03:14:31.491-08:002014-12-10T03:14:31.491-08:00Alpert would eventually succumb to the sounds of f...Alpert would eventually succumb to the sounds of folding green $$ in the A&M coffers from Pickwick.While I don't think any TJB product ever made it,Sergio Mendes,the Baja Marimba Band and probably a few more abridged versions of original LPs came to market(Mendes had a twofer added to the pile).Also,Capitol used Pickwick quite frequently and may have had a monetary stake in it.Tower Reocrds was not always a "budget" Capitol thowaway.Freddie & the Dreamers,biker soundtracks and Nilsson originally came out on Tower.<br />Mention should be made of Mercury's Wing as virtually all the labels had some kind of outlet to repackage material.<br />The knock on Laserlight is kinda harsh.Hidden in their catalog were rare radio transcriptions of Nat Cole that kept to the pared down sound of Nat's trio and with great sound.Some "dirct-to disc" LPs found their way to CD via Delta/Laserlight.They might have been short timed LPs to begin with,but still had some interesting material.Jewel cases and decent pressings for under five bucks.Christmas goodies included a great Joe Pass outing. <br />Also in the CD era,don't forget Naxos,primarily a classical label that used European orchestras but had(has?)a deep catalog.Really deep.Like embarrasing the majors deep.More than a few nice reviews from foks with blind ears. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-76091310731077613852014-07-07T22:27:17.793-07:002014-07-07T22:27:17.793-07:00Curio was one of the many sub-labels of Synthetic ...Curio was one of the many sub-labels of Synthetic Plastics Co. There was also Pirouette, Ambassador and a few others I can't immediately think of. Diplomat was their main label. And often what you got with anonymous acts on SPC label product is the same album (give or take a few tracks) that appears on another anonymous SPC record on one of their other labels. <br /><br />Newark is just a subway ride from the many music colleges in the NYC area, so a marathon recording session of amateur studio musicians for a flat fee was probably how many of them could afford to eat. From what I hear on SPC albums, it sounds to me like they would, for example, do an anonymous all Hawaiian music session, get something like 20 tracks down Then mix them all up on as many as three albums. Slap different cheesecake covers on them and sell them off as three different albums to the unknowing music fan. <br /><br />Imagine being the person who unknowingly bought two of these records at the same time, expecting two different albums with completely different versions of songs - and many did! And because there wasn't anything physically defective with them, money was rarely refunded. Or hypothetically, inside a Curio jacket with a Diplomat label record - and not the one on the jacket. They were quite the scoundrels at SPC. Larry Waldbillighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09251746085990599751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-18735969880273795662014-07-07T13:39:29.246-07:002014-07-07T13:39:29.246-07:00I found another budget label that has a short list...I found another budget label that has a short list of titles > Curio Records. Mfg. by Synthetic Plastics Co., Newark, N. J. Curio 1 through Curio 12. I have curio 12 "Hawaiian Favorites-Passport to Romance" Nice Cheesecake cover. Track listing on label. No credits on label or cover. Pedal steel guitar with acoustic rhythm guitar. No idea when this was released.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09762537443812421628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-14471771536709860942014-03-27T08:50:48.142-07:002014-03-27T08:50:48.142-07:00Thank you, I have a draft on Easy Listening music ...Thank you, I have a draft on Easy Listening music I'm writing as I speak and I do cover 101 Strings as well as others in it. Look for it next month. Cheers!Larry Waldbillighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09251746085990599751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-85562030573420990742014-03-27T07:12:12.231-07:002014-03-27T07:12:12.231-07:00I would like to see an article on "101 String...I would like to see an article on "101 Strings." When Sound of Music came out, my dad bought the 101 Strings version at the supermarket. Boy was I disappointed!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09762537443812421628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-17009126064875886452014-02-27T13:29:27.620-08:002014-02-27T13:29:27.620-08:00I have a couple of the "Pipe Organ Plus"...I have a couple of the "Pipe Organ Plus" lp's from Dave Miller's AudioSpectrum label. Buddy Cole's theatre organ arrangements were some of his best ever and were done on his own Wurlitzer theatre organ at his home in LA. I understand that these were purchased by Madecy and one has been released on CD under the name of "The 101 Strings Orchestra". These are really good albums and it's too bad the rest of the series hasn't been released on CD.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-78238166447517470222013-10-13T16:47:04.452-07:002013-10-13T16:47:04.452-07:00Thanks. The "cheesecake" covers will be ...Thanks. The "cheesecake" covers will be an upcoming topic......Larry Waldbillighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09251746085990599751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-697850024946779532013-02-07T13:41:14.326-08:002013-02-07T13:41:14.326-08:00One minor goof here; Capitol's Star Line was n...One minor goof here; Capitol's Star Line was not so much a budget label as an oldies label, both on 45's and LPS. Capitol did have a budget label for a few years in the 60's; it was called Tower. Other budget lines included Mercury Records' Wing and Dot's Hamilton label. MGM had a budget label and a kiddie label; one was called Lion and the other was Leo and I never can keep those two straight... Cameo/Parkway's budget line was Wyncote; Scepter had one too for a while but darned if I remember its name. Spin-O-Rama was definitely part of Synthetic Plastics; the label you showed came from an LP with a cover photo of Jayne Mansfield that had nothing to do with the contents... That was another gimmick of the low-price labels; photos of Jayne, Julie Newmar, Irish McCalla, Bettie Page (on an opera disc of CARMEN!) and a young Mary Tyler Moore among others "dolled up" their covers. jeffm12012https://www.blogger.com/profile/17430827566250598471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-2252135415094941502012-08-07T02:09:17.434-07:002012-08-07T02:09:17.434-07:00Thank you. I've been an avid record collector ...Thank you. I've been an avid record collector and researcher virtually all of my life. Since I was a child, the artwork of the record labels fascinated me as much as the music they contained. I have a special post of the RCA Colour Subsidiary Labels of the '70s from around the world coming shortly (they used nearly every colour for every purpose and international genre imaginable.)Larry Waldbillighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09251746085990599751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-987738695581729895.post-47277857677611218622012-08-06T18:43:04.325-07:002012-08-06T18:43:04.325-07:00This article summarizes the history of budget reco...This article summarizes the history of budget records perfectly! Keep up the great work.Gilmarvinylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440526134980020867noreply@blogger.com