The Record Player
Not many people own records or record players anymore, and if they do, they’re probably not 19 years old. But a few years ago, a record player was the #1 item on my Christmas list, and I was so excited to find one under the tree on Christmas morning! Maybe it’s just in my blood. My grandfather was in the radio business, and I’ve up listening to him tell stories about the music and radio industries, so when I reached out to him about the EOTO project, he was eager to tell me his recollection and opinion of how the phonograph and records changed music forever.
Before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, the only opportunity people had to hear music was if it was played live. If they didn’t live in a city, then they most likely had very limited access to things like orchestras, vaudeville acts and marching bands. Some of the earliest recordings were of military bands, comedy skits, and even “artistic whistling.” (Thompson, 2016) By the 1920s, music would become the most recorded sound, largely because of the development of radio.
When the radio was invented in 1920, broadcasts were mainly news, live sporting events like baseball games, and programs that had live performances like comedies. But the invention of the electric turntable by the Radio Corporation of America, also known as RCA, and the development of vinyl records meant that for the first time, music that wasn’t being performed live could be broadcast to many people at once. Radio stations could play records and by doing so, they could introduce so many people to different kinds of music.
At the time, not everyone was thrilled with these new technologies. A lot of people argued that records would put a lot of musicians out of work because music didn’t have to be played live anymore. I guess those were probably the same kinds of people who didn’t want to see the automobile become an important form of transportation because it would put a lot of blacksmiths out of work! Others argued that music should be a social thing, not something that was listened to alone. Since records played on phonographs allowed people to listen to music whenever they wanted, instead of at a live performance with other people, they feared that music would lose its social aspect. But anyone who has ever been to a concert will tell you that it’s much more enjoyable to go to a live performance when you know the music than when you’re hearing it for the first time.
Just think of all the places we hear music in our lives besides in our homes and in our cars. Music is played in restaurants to create a relaxing atmosphere, stores play music to remind us that Christmas is coming, and teams play music in their arenas to fire up the crowd. Sure most of the music today is not played from a record player, but more than 140 years ago, back when an Apple was still a fruit and Pandora was only known for her box, Thomas Edison used a piece of tin foil to change the way we listen to music forever.
Sources
Record Players History Victrola.com Blog https://victrola.com/blogs/articles/record-players-history
How The Phonograph Changed Music Forever, Clive Thompson, Smithsonian Magazine, January-February 2016 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/phonograph-changed-music-forever-180957677/
Hear My Voice, Albert H. Small, Smithsonian Documents Gallery, January 2015-January 2016 https://americanhistory.si.edu/documentsgallery/exhibitions/hear-my-voice/6.html
Special thanks to my grandfather, John Tenaglia, for his knowledge and insight into music and records during the early days of radio.
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