Where To Begin
I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to share first this year. Every year I worry about it much more than I should. So I finally decided that the first thing I would share would be the first thing I recorded for you back in August, right after the end of Christmas In July. (What?!? You don't know about Christmas in July? Then by all means, go look at some of the posts from July!) Anyhow, where was I? Oh, the first share. This is my first share. The only reason I grabbed it first back then was because it was something I had never seen before, it bragged about having 36 songs on it, and it was not recorded at 33.3RPM. Yep, that's right, this is a very elusive 16.6 RPM record! Never seen one before? Well, they exist, but mostly as kiddie records or spoken word things, rarely as regular music. And with a name like Stereo Christmasland, how could I really go wrong? So I set things up and played it at my regular 33 and a third setting, then using the magic of science, I was able to slow it down to the right speed, chop it into all 36 full-length tracks (no medleys here!) and share it with you. It's not the best music I'll share with you this season, but it's far from the worst. This is Will Kennedy's Stereo Orchestra-Stereo Christmasland (Dancetime 12" 16-2/3 RPM LP WK-5000-S, Stereo). I never did find a year on this one, anybody care to try and pin it down?
1. Rudolph, The Red Nose (sic) Reindeer
2. Greensleeves
3. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
4. I Saw Three Ships
5. O Tannenbaum
6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
7. Silent Night
8. Over The River And Through The Woods
9. Adeste Fidelis
10. Joseph O Joseph
11. Deck The Halls
12. By The Christmas Tree
13. Unto Us Is Born A Son
14. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
15. Good King Wenceslas
16. Come, All Ye Shepherds
17. Jolly Old St. Nicholas
18. Joy To The World
19. Winter Wonderland
20. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
21. The Christmas Song
22. Angels We Have Heard On High
23. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
24. Wassail Song
25. The First Noel
26. Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep
27. White Christmas
28. O Sanctissima
29. Away In A Manger
30. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
31. Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming
32. We Three Kings
33. O Holy Night
34. O Come, Little Children
35. The Holly And The Ivy
36. Jingle Bells
MediaFire
Torrent
(For those of you who don't know about torrents, ask your local computer expert. I really can't explain it, and it's sorta scary... I'm going to try them for a while and see how they go. If bandwidth becomes an issue, or I get a call from Comcast, they're going away quickly!))
Ernie:
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I am looking forward to a great Christmas with your shared music treasures. Best wishes to you and your family. Happy thanksgiving.
Ronnie
Leave it to you to find a 16-2/3 RPM Christmas record! You know, I have had more record players that have that speed than records made to play at that speed.
ReplyDeleteHappy holiday sharing, Ernie!
This is an excellent find! And just who is the mystery woman on the cover?
ReplyDeleteErnie, you've saved me from having to record this! Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI know this has a retail price on the back cover, but maybe it was pitched to businesses for those automatic players.
ReplyDeleteA lot of places had those ugly automatic record players for muzak-style music (cheaper than Muzak).
Some (like Seeburg Commercial players) had odd looking 7" singles that were microgroove and played at a slower speed. Others were 12" vinyl disks @ 16rpm.
This LP would be something a retail store or an office lobby would play during the holiday season.
However, the LP sounds like it's in great shape, though, and it would be pretty worn out if it were used at a commercial business.
I've got a stack of those 16-2/3 RPM Seeburg discs somewhere. They've got a big hole in the middle that I had to make a custom adapter for. I found mention on the internet that this record was made for Motorola to give away with they're big console players, which IIRC, featured a 16 RPM setting. There's another record by the same guy at the same speed that features the same sort of music, just not Christmas. Well, maybe it was Magnavox, not Motorola, I don't remember...
ReplyDeleteGood Info.
ReplyDeleteI knew it had to be something other than an LP to sell in regular record shops.
Thank you.
I have a non-Christmas 16 rpm LP by Will Kennedy on Dancetime Records, in "Ultra-Astro-Sonic Sound," titled "Enjoy An Hour In Stereoland." It has a $6.98 price on the jacket, but is also marked "Produced Exclusively For Magnavox Dealers," so may have been a promotional give-away with Magnavox players. Lacking the 16 rpm speed, I played it at 33 1/3; the effect was exactly like what Benny Hill did back in the 1970's by playing nondescript dance band records at double speed behind his comedy sketches!
ReplyDelete