I’ve also begun posting a bit more material to this site — see new posts on the video-photos and blog sections. I’ll also be posting a couple more times to the Broken Pencil blog (see links in the previous news post) until I pass the reins of resident blogger to someone else in mid-July.

Lastly, another review of my novel A Fine Ending appeared in the May 7 issue of the Suburban newspaper in Montreal, although the review is not available online.

A HISTORY OF THE LONG-PLAYING RECORD, copyright 2008 by Louis Rastelli

Although the 33 RPM LP came out in June, 1948, a number of record companies had experimented with longer-playing formats during the 1920s. The first functional 33 RPM records were 20 inches in diameter and were used to provide sound in movie theatres. In 1930, RCA Victor tried to market a 16-inch version of these records for consumers, but they could only be played so many times before they wore out. This wasn’t an issue with radio stations, who rarely repeated a record on-air more than once. By 1932, three-quarters of all radio stations used these transcription discs some of the time for such things as sound effects or to record certain shows for future re-broadcasting. Some shady companies soon began using the technology to bootleg shows off the air and re-selling them to small radio stations. (These bootlegs now make up most of the existing recordings we have of early radio.)
The long-playing 33 RPM record we know today was invented by Colombia Records. The head of the Colombia team that developed it was Peter Goldmark, a noted smart guy who also invented colour television. His boss, Ed Wallerstein, had been at RCA Victor in the early 1930s when they invented the 33 RPM radio transcription disks. Wallerstein claimed that Columbia planned to develop the LP in the 30s but was interrupted by the war.
Goldmark used a “total engineering” approach that analyzed every component of the sound reproduction system, considering all possibilities and materials for everything from the needle and tone-arm to the speakers and amplifiers to the record itself. He decided to focus on where the needle sat in the groove and work outwards from that point, arranging every other part to function smoothly without causing the needle to wear out.
During the process, Goldmark’s team ended up inventing the condenser microphone to exploit the full range of the new record (although it turns out the Germans had also developed one during the war). Colombia also invented the modern speaker while they were at it, using elastically suspended cones and vented cabinets for the first time.
The LP length was fixed at about 45 minutes in order to corner the classical market; Wallerstein listened to hundreds of operas and symphonies and concluded 95% were no longer than 45 minutes.
Once the inventions were perfected, Colombia wisely gave major manufacturers all the plans they needed to start making players for the new speed. They also developed and sold (at cost) an adapter that let people play the new LPs on their old record players. Finally, Columbia completely redesigned their pressing plants so as to mass-produce the new records.
Considering the years of preparation that went into all of this, it’s surprising that when the president of Columbia met with the president of RCA Victor to tell him about the LP that the RCA president had no clue something was in the works. Remembering how earlier, heavily-patented long-player ideas by Edison never took off, Columbia decided not to patent the LP and asked RCA Victor to adopt the format. The head of RCA was reportedly outraged that “little Columbia” would even suggest that RCA Victor, the very inventors of radio and 78s, encourage its competitor’s inventions.
But Columbia wasn’t going to let RCA Victor’s rejection derail the unveiling of the LP. They officially released it on June 18, 1948 with a press conference that saw Wallerstein standing beside a 10-foot-high stack of 78s, holding a foot-high stack of LPs which he said contained just as much music. He then played a scratchy 78 followed by the same selection on LP, and the crowd applauded the vastly clearer sound. Columbia’s ads soon claimed that “the LP’s advantages will eventually make it the only way to play music in the home.”
RCA Victor began trying to prove that claim wrong the minute they found out about the LP. They started by digging through their archives for failed experiments, and came across an automatic record-changing device conceived in 1938. RCA thought they could one-up the LP by creating a record-changer fast enough to essentially allow people to create their own long-playing experiences (much as digital files or CD-ripping allow users to eliminate the songs they don’t care for on full CDs.)
The record-changer design included specifications for a new type of record, which RCA Victor also revived, knowing that they would also have to improve on the sound of 78s. The new record would be 7 inches in diameter, just like the original Victor 78s from the 1890s, and they’d have a bigger center hole so as to fall into place on the changer without wobbling on the way down. Also, the outer edge of the record and the record label were a tad thicker than the rest of the record, so that the grooves wouldn’t rub together when records were stacked on top of each other. Some claim that the speed of 45 RPM was arrived at by subtracting 33 from 78, just so RCA could spite Columbia, but in fact, the speed was a function of the groove size and record diameter. RCA hesitated at first to call their new record 45s, since Columbia had been hyping the 45-minute length of their new LPs all year. But after LPs came out, people began calling 78s 78s (they were just called “records” before that), so it seemed inevitable that 45s would get called 45s.
RCA spent $2 million in the first 6 months promoting their new format. They also spent huge amounts converting equipment at pressing plants, and setting up speedier distribution systems to take advantage of the lighter weight of the new records. They promoted the format to stores by promising the ability to ship records almost overnight in order to stock shelves within days of a record becoming a surprise hit. This meant that the 45 not only replaced the 78, but also made regional hits and novelty songs easier to turn into national hits, and increased the importance of “hit singles” in general to record company profits.
The price of 45s was first set at 65 cents but fell to 49 cents after initial sales were disappointing. By comparison, pop 78s had long cost 50 cents or less by then, and Columbia’s first LPs were priced at $1.25.
Although it was obvious the market viewed 45s as a newfangled version of the 78, RCA still contorted themselves trying to convince people they were also better than LPs and perfect for classical music and soundtracks. They sold small cardboard box-set “albums” of 45s that you could stack in a certain order on your record changer to listen to an LP’s worth of material, and touted the space savings with claims that “more than 150 singles or 18 symphonies fit on one foot of bookshelf space.” However, for most classical works and some soundtracks, the sound of the music fading out every three minutes or so and fading back in after a bunch of mechanical noises just couldn’t compare with the seamless play of LPs.
RCA didn’t take long to give up on these box-sets and start producing LPs themselves. However, they didn’t exactly lose the “battle of the speeds,” either, since Columbia began making 45s themselves by 1950. (For a brief while, they tried to compete with the 45 by issuing 7-inch records that played at 33 RPM.) But if there was a clear winner by 1950, it was actually the 78, which in that year outsold both 45s and LPs combined.
Sales of LPs by 1950 were strong enough to convince most that it was here to stay; by 1951 it seemed obvious the 45 would at least eventually replace the 78. But if it weren’t for the US market and RCA’s stubbornness, the 45 may never have lasted, because internationally it only appeared later, if at all. (The first LPs in Europe appeared in 1952 and in some places, the late 50s, with 45s taking even longer. The Soviet Union never adopted 45s at all: their 7-inch singles were all 33 RPM, unwittingly following Columbia’s 1949 motto that “one speed is all you need!”)
Manufacturers of record players helped ensure the multi-speed universe by selling models that played at 33, 45 or 78 RPM by 1950. Aside from soundtracks and operas, LPs were used as collections of hit singles aimed mainly at adults, while young people were assumed to want only 45s. The LP format helped spur the be-bop and post-bop jazz movement, allowing musicians to stretch out on long jams and solos. But listeners still seemed more comfortable with just two songs per record: in 1952, sales of 45s were more than double that of LPs.
Although it was a short transition when compared with the ongoing multiplicity of digital formats today, the format confusion of the “war of the speeds” saw most listeners wait to see who won before taking sides. Record sales dropped during both years that new formats came out, and took five years to recover to 1947 levels.
But the drop in sales was also due to the fact that most top executives at the majors were growing old and conservative in their musical tastes, refusing to try new things to attract young buyers and sticking to a “they’ll like what we tell them to like” mentality. People had a limited appetite, though, for bland pop songs, light classics and disposable novelty hits, and in 1949 only one out of every 25 songs released by the majors turned a profit at all.
By the mid-50s, all of this had changed: a huge boom in independent labels and new styles of music was underway, and a new generation of record buyers were buying millions of records in both new formats. The 78 was fading fast: 45s surpassed them in sales in 1955, and most North American companies stopped making them entirely in 1959.
By 2008, both 45s and LPs have been reduced to a small fraction of the recorded music market, but there are signs that this is beginning to change: 2007 saw double-digit growth of vinyl for the first time in nearly twenty years, and LPs are beginning to reappear in the larger music chains and even some department stores. Record players can be found in most home electronics shops, and the many billions of records manufactured in the 20th century continue to trade hands on eBay, in charity shops and in a growing number of used record stores. It’s a testament to the industrial design capabilities of Colombia and RCA that the formats they invented roughly 60 years after the birth of the record industry are still in use 60 years later. And unlike the plethora of other audio formats that have since come and gone, vinyl records are not likely to disappear anytime soon.

Here are some links to recent news articles talking about the current resurgence of vinyl:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/10/vinyl.records.ap/index.html
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/20947918/vinyl_returns_in_the_age_of_mp3
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/06/02/vinyl_goes_from_throwback_to_comeback?mode=PF
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/366103_vinyl07.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/10/sunday/main3813468.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tggLYE87Ed0&feature=related

Here is a website that links to articles about vinyl and the record industry:

http://www.musicsun.com/search.php?query=vinyl&quelle=news&language=en 

And lastly, here are links to some of the full version of the articles I’ve written about the history of the record industry:

http://www.fishpiss.com/archives/46
http://www.fishpiss.com/archives/47
http://www.fishpiss.com/archives/128
http://www.fishpiss.com/archives/187

I also DJed on CKUT earlier this week (Tuesday May 27, 2008), and you can click here to download the one-hour show. I was filling in for the Reverend Randy on the Harvey Christ Radio Hour, a bi-weekly mix of sermons, fables, hymns and music related to the Church of Harvey Christ and also satirical jabs at some of the wackier God pushers out there. I just spun records myself, mainly gospel songs done by rockin’ funk and soul artists from the 60s and 70s.

For those who want to hear more (but in a very different style), I will be DJing next Tuesday at Casa del Popolo for their weekly rock and roll night. You can check their calendar for the dates of my DJ gigs there over the next few months. Don’t hesitate to come up and say hi or make a request.

Lastly, my novel A Fine Ending will be released in the US and UK/EU on June 1, which means people there will be able to order it in bookstores or from www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk .

The envelope had stayed in the back of a drawer where I’d thrown it right after moving into my apartment ten years ago, one of those things I never looked at but never threw out. The Butthole Surfers show from 1987 ended up being one of the strangest I’ve ever seen. I’m sure most of the two hundred people or so who saw it have never forgotten it, either. I still have a couple of posters for this, and actually put up posters for this show when I was 17 and DJ-ing at CRSG, which produced it.

Apparently this bar charged an extra $2 at the door, none of which went to the bands,  unless you presented this coupon they would use as flyers for their shows. I managed to get the two bucks off and see the Devices for probably the thirtieth time by then (and for the first of probably thirty times by now, opening band Nutsak.) This was in 1995.

I was a little bit underwhelmed by this show, her first after ditching the loud rock trio that she cut her great first albums with. I still regret not catching her with that trio at Club Soda on her previous visit, but I’m happy I at least caught Jeff Buckley there around the same time. The opener for this show was Tricky, who was really weak and all shy and awkward onstage.

I was surprised at how many times I went to baseball games, judging by the ticket stubs. All I really remember now is drinking smuggled six-packs up in the empty stands with the guys.

It would have been a better show if it weren’t for Bootsy only getting onstage at about one-thirty, and after a several-hour wait. But hey, it was Bootsy!

I based a scene in my novel at this show, almost surely the only time that My Dog Popper played a show that you could buy tickets at Admission for. There was an unexpected intermission with free beer courtesy of former premier Pierre-Marc Johnson, who just wanted some quiet while finishing a speech next door.

This was actually the first-ever show at the Cabaret Music Hall. The opening band, Fearless Freep, was a duo that I jammed with regularly for a little while in the jamspace that my by-then defunct band Sex Aquarium had practiced in. George Agetees was the drummer for both bands. I have no idea if The For Carnation are still making music or not, but I never heard much of them again after that show.

This was one hell of a show, one of the best I’ve seen, the Cramps at the absolute top of their game. I remember I was very impressed by what seemed like every band member from every punk or alternative band in town being at this show. The opening act, Screaming Blue Messiahs, was a lot less impressive, though.

Fugazi played very well, I wish they’d come to town more times since then (or once, even.) I do remember being annoyed when they stopped playing music for several minutes, insisting that the mosh pit calm down because someone might get hurt. It sort of changed the atmosphere of the show. The openers were Shotmaker and Bliss (who quite possibly never played another live show after that. They broke up after their guitarist moved to the US.)

I think the Ripcordz and Slaves on Dope headlined this multi-band affair. It’s really a shame the Rialto stopped doing rock shows like that. It’s one of those places that would have been a fixture on today’s huge concert circuit if it had stuck around.

Ah, Lollapalooza, the second one. Highlights: Ministry, Porno for Pyros, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers. I think Lush might have played, also. Jesus and Mary Chain definitely competed with Ice Cube for the worst set of the day, though.

This was an amazing show, really a shame this outfit broke up so quickly.

I wish I could get a ticket for the Habs for $16.50 today.

This was an excellent show. Beck was riding the success of Loser and apparently refused to play it at shows because he resented that people were showing up not interested in hearing anything else. However, the crowd was so into his songs and crowd participation and singalongs that he did end with it. I saw him a couple years back at the Bell Centre and it was a million miles away from this first show, where there was no light show or costumes and he played most of the instruments.

We were all excited to see this show, me and my bandmates in Sex Aquarium, because bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur had lent our bassist his amp, and it made us feel special to have that amp in the band. We didn’t get to meet Courtney Love, though.

Time was not kind to Lux Interior between the two Cramps shows these ticket stubs are for. Still one of the best rock shows I’ve seen, and that time I was impressed by how what seemed like every single friend of mine in the music scene was there. Demolition Doll Rods and Guitar Wolf were also excellent opening up.

$16.50 to see U2 at the Forum. I was a big fan for awhile up til then, loved the show, sang the last encore (40) along with the crowd all the way into the metros, and never really listened to them again. By the time their next album, their biggest, came out I didn’t even notice. They didn’t have any coloured lights or lasers or screens whatsoever, and I don’t even think they dimmed the lights throughout the show, which was very impressive (and ironic given their later tours.)

In the meantime, check the blog on this website next week for the author’s reflections on the novel and the feedback from readers six months after it hit bookstore shelves.

You can also check out Broken Pencil Magazine’s website where, starting next week, Louis Rastelli will be the resident blogger for the summer.

In other news, A Fine Ending is back in print after a quick sellout of the first printing. It is once again available on www.amazon.ca, where it cracked the top 100 sellers shortly before it ran out. It will be available in the US and UK sometime next June.

The second printing will be identical to the first, except that some typos have been corrected and “rave reviews” of the novel are quoted on the back cover. If you’re the collector type, you might want to get a copy of the first printing while it can still be found!

In other news, Louis Rastelli will be reading at Capilano College in Vancouver as part of the Open Text reading series on Tuesday, March 25. He will also be reading as part of the Short Line series at the Railway Club in Vancouver that same evening (579 Dunsmuir Street, on the corner at Seymour).

Other festival appearances are planned for the spring and will be announced shortly.

“A Fine Ending reads like a middle-of-the-night yarn from a slightly stoned scribe who has set himself the task of telling everybody’s story - for a laugh or at least a smile. Yet hovering overhead is a powerful metaphysical gravitas heightened by the narrator’s innocence. Evil and death surround him, lives are ruined by drugs and drink, clouds of violence and doom are gathering. Fittingly, the story ends on the last night of the 20th century in a melancholy scene heavy with foreshadowed nostalgia: Something sweet and good is going, gone.” - Marianne Ackerman, The Globe and Mail

It is a benefit show for the non-profit project which involves former cigarette machines selling local art, music, books, comics, short films and crafts for $2.00 in various cafés and bars around Montreal. (See www.distroboto.archivemontreal.org for more info. There are also articles about the event in the Montreal Mirror here and here.)

The show costs $10 at the door and will feature performances by Think About Life, Exhaust, Gambletron, Giselle Numba One, and Random Recipe.

___________

Another review of A Fine Ending just came out, this time in the Montreal Mirror. You can read it by clicking here.

“A Fine Ending is at its best when life is at its worst. When Rastelli is fully engaged in the numb nihilism of the time, and giving detailed descriptions of the consequences of that life, the novel cooks.”

From the review:

“Louis Rastelli’s debut novel, A Fine Ending, is a captivating tale of a compelling place at a unique time that takes readers on an intimate journey through the twists and turns of la vie boheme…

“Amidst this maniacal milieu, it is only Louis’ affection for two adopted kittens that keep him rooted in the reality of the heart. In fact, the tenderness of those short passages is filled with a melancholia that is not unlike J.D. Salinger’s uber-protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Alas, more Catcher in the Rye than On the Road, Rastelli’s book is over-flowing with the sombre tone of life at the end of the millennium, when some dreams die off as others are born.

“And this is perhaps the author’s greatest accomplishment with the novel; by touching upon the lives of those who inhabit the region - a generation with nothing to gain and nothing to lose - he has successfully painted a timeless portrait of the spirit of bohemia that not only permeates the vibrant and colourful Montreal neighbourhood in which he lives and loves, but would feel equally at home in Greenwich Village, Soho or along the left bank of Paris. And, like the Plateau itself, A Fine Ending shines with both substance and style”