Columbia had masters of good quality going back almost ten years, and this made a great deal of difference in our early technical superiority. RCA issued many of these old records with words of apology for their poor quality printed on the jackets. This gave Columbia a tremendous advantage over its competitors, who, when LP finally appeared, were forced to make copies from their old, noisy shellac records for any material predating tape.
Thinking ahead to the longer record, I insisted that our setup be built so that everything that was recorded at 78 rpm was also done at 33 rpm on 16-inch blanks.
When we were getting ready to move to Seventh Avenue, we were ponderingthe type of recording equipment to use.
Years later I was able to use this idea again with the LP. It worked beautifully, and the little attachment, which was sold at our cost, $9.95, was instrumental in revitalizing the industry. There were by this time 20 million radios in the U.S., and it seemed to me that this was our big hope in trying for a comeback of the business that had shrunk nationally to probably only $10 million. player, which could be attached to your radio. In 1933 records had fallen into disuse to such an extent that the problem was to find some way to get people to listen to them again. If you could get a new pressing of one of these records today and play it with a modern lightweight 2-mil pickup, it probably would sound pretty good. were so terrific that we were forced to withdraw the LPs. The complaints from customers all over the U.S. Most of the records were made from Victorlac, a vinyl compound developed by Jim Hunter the pickups available at that time were so heavy they just cut through the material after several plays. The idea was good and they might have sold, but there were technical problems. RCA had made them in 1932 and, as a matter of fact, when I became general manager of the Victor Division of RCA on July 1, 1933, my first act was to take them off the market. Such records were not new to the record business, of course. Nine years later this was to culminate in the LP. As soon as we had moved from the small place American Records had at Broadway and Fifty-seventh Street to 799 Seventh Avenue, there was discussion of a joint research project with CBS for the purpose of making a longer-playing record. On January 1, 1939, this purchase became final, and I found myself president of the newly acquired company. Paley, president of the Columbia BroadcastingSystem, to purchase the old American Record Corporation, which controlledColumbia Records, for the sum of $700,000. What follows is a recollection of one of the developers of the lp originally published in High Fidelity magazine, April 1976,Volume 26, Number 4. Bing Crosby was beginning his 3rd year as host of Philco Radio Time when Philco launched their advertising campaign to sell the new phonograph. Philco was the first to market a phonograph to play these new records. The long-playing record, or "LP," was introduced to the public in 1948 by CBS Records. Other records, even if a little scratched-up, will still sell, but at a lower price than in "like new" condition.Ĭlick the "SELL" link if you want read more about my buying process.Ĭall me at 31 to talk about your records.A History of the 33RPM Long-Playing Record - Bing Crosby Internet Museum The Development of the LP by Edward Wallerstein (1891-1970) Some records, even if in perfect condition, just don't sell to collectors. I pay more for rare records, but, I also reject a lot of records. I pay two dollars for these kinds of records. I pay 1/3rd my selling price for vinyl I think will sell. Record collectors are generally looking for loud, crazy, funky music with lots of screaming and drums, and not soft, soothing, peaceful easy listening records. Rock & Roll, Soul and R&B, Modern Jazz, and Blues are the most popular musical genres among record collectors. We have been at our current Torrance location since June 1, 2001. The first Record Recycler location was at 4659 Hollywood Blvd from 1995 - 1999. I started out as a clerk at Peanut Records, 1857 Pacific Coast Highway, Lomita CA, in 1989. I've been buying and selling vinyl record albums and 45 rpm singles for over thirty years and have had a vinyl record store for twenty two years!