The first record player we had at home was an old fashioned gramophone – not so old as to have a trumpet style loudspeaker which the dog could listen to, but old fashioned enough to have a heavy silver-coloured pick up arm with a steel needle which had to be frequently replaced. The arm also seemed to bounce up & down a lot as the record went round & round.
We had a small & very select collection of 78 rpm records – I can remember Eine Kleine, Barcarolle, Cavalleria Rusticana & the Skaters Waltz.
I think the first pop records we acquired must also have been 78s – they are certainly that size in my memory. Harry Belafonte singing Mary’s Boy Child & Perry Como Catch A Falling Star/Magic Moments.
But the record market was changing. At some point we had acquired a turntable which could manage 45, 33⅓ or 16⅔ rpm as well as 78. We also had an ingenious paper disc which could be placed over the central spindle to check that the speeds were accurate via a system of alternating black & white segments which blurred to grey at the correct number of revolutions per minute.
We had a small & very select collection of 78 rpm records – I can remember Eine Kleine, Barcarolle, Cavalleria Rusticana & the Skaters Waltz.
I think the first pop records we acquired must also have been 78s – they are certainly that size in my memory. Harry Belafonte singing Mary’s Boy Child & Perry Como Catch A Falling Star/Magic Moments.
But the record market was changing. At some point we had acquired a turntable which could manage 45, 33⅓ or 16⅔ rpm as well as 78. We also had an ingenious paper disc which could be placed over the central spindle to check that the speeds were accurate via a system of alternating black & white segments which blurred to grey at the correct number of revolutions per minute.
The first LP I bought with my own money was Swan Lake but then I veered into the world of teenage pop & for a while could listen to nothing but Adam Faith wishing that I wanted his love.
Postscript: I found the picture of something which looks remarkably like a genuine old fashioned pick up head on a fascinating website which is primarily a tribute to Byomkesh Bakshi, the Bengali detective, a kind of Sherlock Holmes, created by Saradindu Bandyopadhyay. Other pictures of an old fashioned gramophone can be seen at The Junk Drawer A What’s That Winner!
Postscript: I found the picture of something which looks remarkably like a genuine old fashioned pick up head on a fascinating website which is primarily a tribute to Byomkesh Bakshi, the Bengali detective, a kind of Sherlock Holmes, created by Saradindu Bandyopadhyay. Other pictures of an old fashioned gramophone can be seen at The Junk Drawer A What’s That Winner!
