| Broadcast
was introduced by Vocalion in July 1927, less than a year after the
company had started using Marconi's electrical recording system. It was
an 8" disc selling at 1/3 (6.2p). By reducing the groove pitch and
taking it nearer the centre of the record, Broadcast managed to play for
the same time as a standard 10" record, earning the name "the
long playing record". The recording quality was good, and the
surfaces smooth, but with a tendency to wear and the sound quality
deteriorated towards the centre of the record, generally accompanied by
an annoying whistling on one side of the groove. (This can generally be
eliminated by using a switch to allow playing of one or other of the
groove walls.) The dance music was provided by Harry Bidgood's studio
musicians, under a variety of differing pseudonyms, though, later on,
some genuine bands recorded for the label, such as Victor Vorzanger, The
Original Havana Band, Ciro's Club Orch, Bertini, Percival Mackey, and Hal Swain.
Nearly all the
matrices were English, though a few were German. The size increased to 9" in June 1931,
before being discontinued at the start of 1933. Catalogue numbers
started at 100, reaching 725 before the change in size. They didn't
quite make it to 1000; the highest I know of to date is 984 (reported to me by
Matthew Duncan).
In Australia, there was also an 8" Broadcast record, the label being identical to the British one, except with "Made in Australia" either side of the spindle-hole instead of "Made in England". The Australian issues were a mixture of the British masters and some locally-recorded items. The catalogue was also a mixture of the usual 3-digit numbers as used on British issues, and a BA- series (Broadcast Australia?). They sold for 2/-. Broadcast Junior was a 6" disc produced in 1927 (costing 6d - 2½p in decimal currency), mainly for children, using existing matrices from Vocalion's Little Marvel records. The catalogue numbers were in a J-100 series, but the series was short-lived. Broadcast 12 records were introduced in 1928 using a 5000 catalogue series. Vocalion had ceased production of 10" records earlier that year, but relaunched with this "long playing" record. Using the same rules as the 8" Broadcast, the Broadcast 12 was deemed to play as long as a 12" record (hence the name). They suffered from the same deterioration in sound towards the end of the record, however. The only dance records on this label were selections from the latest sound films, usually played by Harry Bidgood's studio band. Nearly all matrices are English, with the occasional German ones (non-dance items). They were also available in Australia for 3/6 (17½p). Broadcast 12 Super Dance were introduced in July 1929, starting at number 2501, reaching 2610 by the end of 1930 when it was withdrawn. With a similar design to the Broadcast 12 label, it was printed in striking light and dark orange colours and described again as a long playing record. With the exception of a few sides by the bands of Percival Mackey and, later on, Marius B. Winter, all records are by Harry Bidgood's band under several pseudonyms. Though well played, the fact that they can play for as long as 4 minutes can be a drawback as boredom can set in for the listener. Again, mostly English matrices were used, with the odd German one. (Note: I've seen only one which is obviously from a German source). In March 1931, the new Broadcast 12 Super was introduced to replace the "Super Dance". These were mainly (but not all) dance records. The label was of a standard size and the surfaces were very good. The recording quality was fair and the label offered some name bands to compete with Bidgood's various names. The bands of Marius B. Winter and Jack Harris may be found as well as The Blue Mountaineers which was basically Ambrose's band. Later on, some American matrices were used from the ARC/Brunswick company. This came about from Vocalion being bought by Crystallate in mid 1932. The catalogue numbers started at 3001, reaching 3374 in April 1934 when Crystallate ceased production of all Broadcast records. Broadcast Four-tune (a play on words?) was a microgrooved 78 produced by Crystallate to compete with British Homophone's 4-in-1. It offered 2 full length dance tunes on each side, always with an announcement in between the tracks, generally by the vocalist. They appeared in early 1933 at number 500, reaching about 530 towards the end of the year when they were discontinued. Broadcast
International was a short-lived label available in 1933 or 1934,
offering American and European (usually German) recordings, amongst which were a few
dance band items. The numbering started at B-101, but probably only
lasted for a dozen or so issues. |
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