Acetates - Let's Take A Look

[Robbk]

Here's an unissued uptempo dancer by Sandra Phillips called "Words" that I've got on an ASSOCIATED acetate:

I take it that this was recorded during her contract with Okeh Records.  It sounds about that time, musically.

[Robbk]

i sold a couple of jobete 7" acetates a few years back,i wasnt keen on them then.i only got £200 each for them,seemed a bit cheap looking back now,

patrice holloway-for the love of mike.

lonely boy-female version of the eric mercury lonely girl,i forget her name now.

Was "Lonely Boy" a Jobete Music published song?

[Chalky]

Was "Lonely Boy" a Jobete Music published song?

Yes, recorded by Brenda Hollaway, which is the track Dobber is talking about. Also recorded by Shorty Long and The Supremes according to Don't Forget The Motor City.

[Sebastian]

I take it that this was recorded during her contract with Okeh Records.  It sounds about that time, musically.

 

I have no idea actually, the Okeh 45 is from 1968 if I remember correctly so seems plausible. There's two tracks on the acetate, a deep soul ballad on the flipside.

[Cobbles]

clifford binns ........

 

 

 

 

cheers

franc

Edited May 20, 2013 by cobbles

[Roburt]

Going off tack a bit ..... but still acetate related ..........

Back in the 50's / early 60's some disc recording lathes had 16" turntables. For use on these machines, 16" diameter acetates were made and used.

These probably fell out of use just about everywhere by around 62/63.

But as some folk on here are into doo-wop, blues and early R&B, I was wondering if anyone has a cut on a 16" acetate ??

 

Many radio stations had / used disc recording lathes in the 1950’s. These were soon replaced by tape recorders but the old lathes were still used for recording commercials. Audio stuff received from advertising agencies soon changed over to magnetic pre-recorded tapes but the radio station engineers still dubbed much of the content onto 16” transcription discs for play on the air.

These transcription discs were known as 'instantaneous recording discs' (acetates). They were made from aluminium blanks that were coated with cellulose nitrate lacquer. The coating on the discs was a complicated brew of lacquer, plasticizers, dyes, lubricants, and other things but actual acetate wasn't used. They were termed 'instantaneous recording discs' at the radio stns because they would be used 'on air' immediately after the recording process had been completed.

Back in the 1950's / early 60's loads of black music was cut onto such discs using these radio station based machines and the resulting tracks hawked around by the singers in order to land a 'proper' record deal. That's why many early 60's black acts had a radio DJ as their early manager, because those DJ's had made it possible for them to make a 'first record'.

So a good few early 60's pre-soul tracks will have existed on such acetates. Anyone got one ?

........ Disc cutting lathes in use at a US radio station ..........

Been chatting with Keny Hamber. His 1st record was cut in a Baltimore radio studio (WSID) and released by a DJ from the station (on his own label).

Kenny tells me that at the time he was performing live shows with a local group (the Enchanters) and they had their own backing band. The DJ, Sparky Evans, hosted a talent show 'on air' on Saturday mornings. So, as Kenny was acting as an unpaid 'go-fer' at the radio stn back then (he was still a young teenager), he knew Sparky Evans well. So he got his group & their band together and they all went down to WSID one Saturday morning. Kenny & his guys duly performed on the show. Sparky (who didn't know that Kenny sang) was blown away.

On the spot, he told Kenny to repeat his performance in the studio & recorded the results there & then (just one take was cut of two songs). UNFORTUNATELY, Kenny was too young to get interested in how the tracks were actually cut (but they probably used record cutting lathes that the radio stn had back then). Anyway, a few weeks later a 45 of the song "Tears In My Eyes" escaped on a 45 on Sparky's Spar Record label (the quality of their performance & the actual recordings were poor due to the facilities at the radio stn). 

BUT,... Kenny recalls (when he was acting as a 'go-fer' at WSID) being asked to fetch & carry lots of 16" acetate discs. These contained recordings of the big local sports teams old match commentaries and they were played for a while on the stn after each big game. The radio stn copied the 'live commentaries' straight onto acetates as they went out live & then played them back afterwards off those acetates.

So it seems likely that Kenny & his group's first ever recordings were cut onto one of the stn's stock of 16" acetates and this then used to make the resulting Spar 45's. 

Edited May 20, 2013 by Roburt

[Andy Rix]

 

As we know Roy came out on Marton

 

The Parlettes is a George Clinton song and published by Jobete .. so I guess one he did during his association with Miss Ray and Motown in NY

 

I assume the Parlettes became The Pets (Carnival) and were Vivian 'Tamala' Lewis, Betty Jean Taylor & Linda Hayles

 

Andy