BACKGROUND:
These are the "grand daddy's" of the record world, VERY LARGE 16 inch diameter discs and no matter how you try, they will never fit a standard turntable platter! Take a gander at the photograph with one of those "modern" 7" single records next to it - these 16" transcription records are massive!
To play this type of record you need what is called a transcription player, as commonly used in the broadcasting industry.
If you like this sort of thing and have some spare time ... here is a video to entertain you
I do not have a transcription turntable any longer and cannot justify modifying a "modern turntable" to suit and I suspect obtaining a 12" tonearm these days is going to be a tough call, so this disc is unplayed/untested, I cannot even place this on my current turntable platter (to check for flatness) as it simply does not fit - drat! there's a tonearm in the way.
But wait there's more! (no steak knives though ...)
This transcription record is a little different to the others that I have in that it is a lovely Cherry Red and Oh so heavy! This precursor to "modern Black" PVC vinyl was used during the 1930's ~ 1940's period because it was technically considered as an improvement over shellac and the later Black vinyl, achieving higher signal-to-noise ratios and extended high-frequency response. The vinylite in it's raw form is actually clear and Red dye was added, this makes for an improved PVC compared to Black vinyl which has Carbon Black added - an impurity which can cause enhanced clicks n pops as the record is played.
This vinyl is thick, much thicker than the other 16" transcription records that I have, these weighing around 260g whereas this monster tips the scales at 470g - almost 1/2 Kilo of vinyl here!
Oh no ... not more info!
While examining this record, I noticed the inter-track gaps do not appear to have run in's between each track - it looks as though this record was intended to be played on each track individually, if another track was to be played, lift the tonearm and reposition at the beginning of the next track, not a continuous program flow across the entire side of the record. These must have been created so that the presenter can insert advertisements between each track being played.
Without further adieu ...
NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY (NBC)
Transcription record for radio broadcasting
Made in USA
Manufacturer was RCA Victor
Thesaurus was the trade name used by NBC to describe their recorded product line for the broadcast industry
Orthacoustic was another trade name that NBC used to denote a "high fidelity" product, this is in particular regard to the comments above about the Red vinyl.
Dating this release precisely is easy, the etched maxtrix run out codes specifically state this record was created on 24th August 1947
16" diameter
Material: Vinylite (not acetate or shellac) precursor to "modern" Black vinyl
Colour: Cherry Red translucent (when held to the light you become bathed in a Red glow!)
Monaural
Plays at 33
Maximum play time (each side) is 15 minutes, Yes just 15 minutes. The records were cut with a wider groove than modern vinyl (i.e a shorter play time than modern vinyl of an equivalent size) so that the audio fidelity and signal-to-noise ratio were the best achievable. This means you would need a "fatter" styli (2.5 ~ 3 mils) to run in those grooves properly.
Volume number: 1426
Catalogue number: ND7-MM-7087
Featuring artists ... Louise Carlyle & Willard Young (performing duets)
Vinyl is in good condition. Visually inspected the vinyl on both sides and the surface is shiny and there appear to be no major scratches at all (certainly a lot better than the record the guy plays in the video I have attached) I do notice some lines (tramlines) that follow the grooves, particularly around the inter-track area ... I do not know if this is styli damage or "as it should be" and I would have loved to take a listen but am unable to play this record (way too big even for my SP10 with Rega arm)
Oh ... here is a guy playing a Red vinyl similar to this one but it is not a transcription release - just fun to watch but Oh My! look at those scratches on this vinyl ... this transcription looks nothing like that!
There is some pencil notes written on one side of the record label, in fact it looks as though the original label may have been mislabelled because the pencil writing indicates the song names are different on one side.
I just use the term "side" because the catalogue & record code numbers are identical - makes it tough to know which side is the "A" and which is the "B"
It was tough cleaning this, my VPI vacuum cleaner cannot fit such a large record so I had to clean this one by hand by rotating the record in a suitably sized container which was holding a cold water-iso alcohol & surfactant mix and slowly rotating - not an easy task when it weighs almost 500g to boot! Although very thick, I wouldn't want to be dropping these records to the floor! They must have been a nightmare for the station staff to handle so carefully all the time.
I cannot see signs of vinyl structural damage (e.g melting etc) nor bending or warping.
CONTENT: It appears that the artists performing the duets are on both sides of this record - no mention of any other performers.
Louise Carlyle & Willard Young
Apparently Louise was a Contralto singer (dark, rich, and heavy tones)
I cannot dig up much information on Willard, nothing 100% accurate - there are references to a Willard Young American performer but he would have only been 7 years old at this time - highly unlikely it was him! Perhaps an in-house performer from the NBC?
SIDE
Honey
I Get The Blues When It Rains
All Alone
Singin' In The Rain
Once In A While
OTHER SIDE
The label on this side indicates the same song sequence but someone has put a line through the names and written ...
Got Any Gum Chum
It's A Great Day For The Irish
Holiday For Strings
A American Folk (Sic)
The second to last track on this side has no indication what the song title may really be
Compared to modern songs, these are all fairly short in length ... ranging from 1:46 up to 2:53
COSMETIC CONDITION:
These transcription records were salvaged from a "near miss" tragedy! There was a fire, the arch enemy of all things vinyl! Many of these records were lost in that fire but those in the next room were not affected by heat, although some had a slight "burn look" to the outer vanilla cardboard sleeve (thick black soot).
The vinyl on this record is NOT AFFECTED by this fire
The original vanilla cardboard sleeve has been changed to a spare 16" Columbia sleeve which does have the slightest of burn marks to the edges only - nothing dramatic
Nothing smells!!! The smoke has long since cleared (this event occurred about 20 years ago) and the sleeve and/or record are odour free.
To try and reduce the collection of dust on the now relatively clean surface, I have created and fitted a sealed cellophane sleeve for the record and this is then slipped inside the outer Columbia cardboard sleeve.
In fact, this transcription record looks very nice for such an old girl, just pushing on 80 years old now ... nice historical piece of Red vinylite!
I am well equipped to send this monster of a vinyl record safely, using export grade 3 wall cardboard - it will be shipped nice and safely. Just watch when handling these as they remind me of the old 8" (but much larger) floppy discs we used a lot in the 1980's - you need to be very careful with these transcription records!
