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1958 Saturday
Night Dance Party 33 tr CD:
Details and documentation about Australian releases of cardboard records are scant. You might like to track down copies of the Australian Music Museum #18, #19 and Mike Sutcliffe's Australian Record and Music Review. One person who has been transferring the material originally released on cardboard records onto cd, is Geoff Orr of Lyric Cd's. An earlier release compiled many of the Kingsley company releases onto a cd he titled, Kingsley Cardboard Dance Hall (Lyric 124). Tracks included on that release were popular tunes of the day, rather than what we call pop or rock these days. This CD continues a similar format, but includes other unusual or uncommon releases on vinyl or acetate from the same period. Surprisingly given the poor quality sound originally pressed up, the sound of this cd isn't too bad. It contains Australian artists of the day singing covers of American hits. We'd call the style of music MOR today, but back then it was pop music to the young generation. One disappointing aspect of the collection is the lack of interesting or detailed liner notes. However as the compiler, Geoff Orr, points out, this is because many of the artists do not appear in books nor on the Internet! The artists would have been written up in popular magazines of the time, such as Chuckles Weekly or Everybody's but few of these magazines have survived the decades. Perhaps another one of the Collectormania experts might like to comment on collecting magazines! Thus this cd has some household names, such as Johnny Devlin, Frankie Davidson, Dennis Gibbons, Gaynor Bunning and Ernie Sigley singing tracks such as Paul Anka's Lonely Boy, Maryanne, Tiger, Midnight, Teacher's Pet, and You Are my Sunshine. To balance this there are songs by unknown singers Johnny Kellock, Nina Raye, Heather Horwood, Barry O'Dowd, Jimmy Henney and Bill Lock. Many of these artists are backed by Paul Knight & His Orchestra, Henri Bource & his All Stars, Alan Rhodes & his Orchestra, Tommy Davidsons' Group and the Max Bostock Orchestra. Perhaps the names give you a clue of the era and the type of music you might expect on this cd! Other songs readers might be more familiar with include Mack the Knife, A Teenager in Love, Jamaica Farewell and Lipstick on Your Collar. If you are at all interested in music from the '50s this cd is essential to add to your collection. Lyric Cds, Previous
columns Chris Spencer is author of the "Who's Who of Australian Rock'. He can be contacted through Moonlight Publishing. |
An unusual type of record that were produced mainly at the end of
the 1950s were cardboard records. As readers would appreciate, vinyl
records are often difficult to keep in good condition - particularly
if played often. However consider the fragility of cardboard records!
They were not very robust if bent or played more than a few times!
Cardboard records consisted of a thin shallow plastic layer (with
the grooves) glued to a piece of heavy cardboard. The plastic was
clear which enabled pictures and information to be printed onto
the cardboard. I am not aware of any of these unusual recordings
passing hands for large sums of money as they seem more of a curio
than a bona fide collectible. People who collect cardboard records
mainly pick them up at opportunity shops, and then among a bigger
collection. One man's waste is another man's treasure!
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