Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Nostalgia and Old Records By George R. Marek, Director, Artists and Repertoire, RCA Victor Record Department T JL HE experienced people in tlie record business say that an artist's records stop selling when the artist stops concertizing, when he is no longer in the limelight. In general, that is true. In particular, it is not. RCA Victor has one artist on its roster who has actually earned mure money after his death than during his lifetime. Granted, he is a unique artist; he is Enrico Caruso. Caruso's total income from record royalties amounts to about $3,000,- 000. About Sl.'^OO.OOO of this was earned after his death in 1921. Caruso is the most financially solvent memory you are ever likely to meet. His continued popularity is not only an expression of Caruso's pre-eminent position in the operatic world, his matchless quality as a singer, but also of the fact that there exists a lively interest in the recordings of a past age. Caruso is a favorite of thousands of people who have never seen him. He is known to thousands who probably have never been inside an opera house. They want to hear not only what he sounds like, but also what his companions in greatness sound like. The phonograph has given them this opportunity. Henry Ir%'ing once said that an actor is a sculptor in snow. This is true as well of the singer or the musician. Rather, it was true before the phonograph. As soon as the voice was mute, as soon as the last echo of the piano tone had died away, the singer or the musician became but a memory, often a highly inaccurate memory. In a double sense of the word, no record of his art survived. Until recordings came along! Many of the early phonograph records are still prized by connoisseurs, and some early issues bring high prices. But their general circulation is necessarily limited to the "collectors." The old recordings are no longer good technically — and panicularly unsuitable for the new speeds which, being more sensitive, show up the flaws more clearly. The untramed musician is, quite naturally, bothered by their raspy sound. Gradually they are disap- pearing from the dealers' shelves. Still, the interest in the old singers, the great pianists of the past, etc., remained alive. This interest increases as distance lends enchant- ment and as we. living in the frightening fifties, look back with fairy-tale fondness to the early part of the century. Caruso's recordings hove totalled nearly two million dollars in royalties since his death in 1921. In March 1930, RCA Victor embarked on the project of rehabilitating the masters of the old records and trans- ferring them to the new speeds. It was quite a project! In the first place, some 2,000 masters were examined. From them were chosen 300 recordings which seemed most valuable artistically. Then these old nnstcrs were subjected to the most painstaking and meticulous repair work. Ticks, pops and other extraneous noises were re- moved, as far as possible. They were then transferred to tape, first selecting a pickup that would give the highest fidelity and lowest surface noise. It was during this operation that all the devices known to the art, such as filters, compensators and transfer turntables, were brought into play in order to improve the quality of the musical content, reduce distortion, etc. In a num- ber of the recordings, excerpts from several parts were pieced together in order to assemble one side that was good overall. The acclaim which the "Treasur)- of Immortal Per- formances" received from dealers and public proved that this care was well applied. More than a quarter of a RADIO AGE 21