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This label
was produced by a German company with probably one of the longest names
in the history of recordings: Schallplattenindustriegesellschaft m.b.H.,
based in Halle near Leipzig. The name and antique-inspired design of the
label was registered by the German patent office in October 1911 and
record production started soon after this. Relying on matrix numbers, there seems
to have been around 2000 (!) Applaudando records produced during the
first years of the label’s existence. Most of these were probably by
the company’s own ”house” orchestra, but there was probably also
some matrix swapping with other small German record companies as well as
with Beka. Applaudando
soon reached markets outside of Germany as well. The Danish mail order
firm of Jacob Skaarup in Copenhagen started importing and selling the
label in 1912, but also soon began making his own local recordings for
the label. These were made in his own office and stock rooms. Some
rather well known Danish artists were recorded though some of them
anonymously – probably since they were already under contract with
Gramophone! In 1913 at
the latest the producers of Applaudando had set up a Danish subsidiary
company, Skandinavisk Applaudando A/S, probably with Skaarup as a
shareholders. As a next step the label was registered not only at the
Danish but also at the Swedish patent office (November 1913 and June
1914 respectively). At the same time Skaarup also began recording Swedish
artists for that market, and the label even had a special catalogue
series (1600) for vocal recordings in Swedish. Among these recordings
are some of the earliest by Ernst Rolf, who would become Sweden’s
leading entertainer during the 1920s. Other Applaudando records aimed at
the Swedish market usually had the titles translated on the labels and
the letter ”s” added after original catalogue numbers. However the
distribution to the Swedish market seems to have been limited to a few
mail order firms. The great war
of 1914-18 seems to have put an end to Applaudando in Scandinavia as
well as Germany, although the name pops up again briefly in 1924 when
ISI-Werke in Leipzig declared it as one of its trademarks. Naturally
there is no jazz or ”hot dance” music on Applaudando, but there has
been found at least one ragtime record among the Swedish issues (”The
Gaby Glide” on Applaudando 1150s). |
