Radio Ferrymead
Milestones
Milestones in Recording History
| 1877: | Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park, New Jersey, USA records a short nursery rhyme onto his hand-cranked, tin foil-wrapped, cylinder phonograph. |
| 1878: | Edison Patent No. 200.521 granted on 19th February. |
| 1884: | Emile Berliner makes a full recording of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ on a cylinder phonograph. |
| 1885: | Patent No. 314.214 granted to Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter for the Graphophone, using wax cylinders. Two other patents were granted jointly with future telephone inventor, Alexander Graeme Bell. |
| 1888: | Emile Berliner invents a recordable flat record, made of zinc. |
1889:| First recording, a short piano extract played by 12 year old Josef Hoffman, made at the Edison Laboratories, on an Edison cylinder phonograph. | |
| 1896: | Clockwork-driven gramophones with controlled speed (friction governor) are introduced. |
| 1897: | Eldridge R Johnson of Camden, New Jersey is granted a patent for the ‘exponential long horn’, for amplifying sound. |
| 1901: | The Victor Talking Machine Company is jointly formed by Eldridge R Johnson and Emile Berliner. |
| 1902: | Nicole Freres makes a cardboard record covered with shellac (soon to become the 78 rpm record). |
| 1903: | Enrico Caruso records the first million selling Victor record, playing 3½ minutes. |
| 1906: | Victor Talking Machine Company at Camden, New Jersey manufactures a gramophone with an enclosed horn in the cabinet, the ‘Victor Victrola’. |
| 1912: | All cylinder recordings have ceased to be manufactured. |
| 1923: | Columbia Company goes into receivership, hit by the new craze of owning a radio. |
| 1925: | Acoustic horn is replaced by the electric microphone, allowing better quality recordings of a wider variety of instruments. Record speed is standardised at 78 rpm. |
| 1927: | Victor introduces the Victor Orthophonic phonograph with an automatic record changer to take twelve 10 inch (25cm) or 12 inch (30cm) records. |
| 1931: | The great economic depression halts the record industry, but RCA Victor launches the first 331/3 rpm record and electrically powered phonographs are introduced. Crystal pickups and electronic reproduction become common. |
| 1945: | The discovery of ‘vinylite’ plastic creates an interest in manufacturing lightweight vinyl 45 rpm and 331/3 rpm records. |
| 1946: | The post-war boom on record sales shows 100% increase on 1945 figures. |
| 1947: | Columbia Records introduces the long playing microgroove record. |
| 1954: | The Rock and Roll craze triggers off huge sales and expansion to the industry. |
| 1958: | Stereophonic long-playing (LP) records introduced in the USA. |
| 1963: | Phillips Records introduces the Compact Audio Cassette. |
| 1966: | Tape cartridges launched in a big way in USA. |
| 1970: | RCA and Motorola introduce Quadrosonic, four-channel, eight track cartridges. |
| 1987: | Compact Disks (CD’s) start to become available. |
| 1988: | Vinyl 45s and LP recordings are no longer being produced. |
| 1998: | Personal computers begin to be used to download, store and play music. |
| 2004: | A resurgence of vinyl records, targeting club DJs and the jazz music industry. |
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♦ Acker Bilk ♦ The Andrews Sisters ♦ Dinah Shore ♦ Hank Locklin ♦ Johnny Tillotson ♦ Perry Como ♦ Doris Day ♦ Frank Sinatra ♦ Willie Nelson ♦ The Browns ♦ Dionne Warwick ♦ Diana Ross ♦ Judith Durham ♦ Randy Travis ♦ Suzanne Prentice ♦ Al Martino ♦ The Chordettes ♦ Don Cornell ♦ Dick Haymes ♦ Julie London ♦ Ray Charles ♦ Victor Silvester ♦ Solomon King ♦ The Drifters ♦ Don Gibson ♦ Hank Wilson ♦ Julio Iglesias ♦ Ray Colombus ♦ Bobby Vee ♦ Gracie Fields ♦ Billy T James ♦ Vaughn Monroe ♦ Faron Young ♦ Jim Lowe ♦ Margaret Whiting ♦ Sandie Shaw ♦ Charlie Rich ♦ Dean Taylor ♦ Gordon McRae ♦ Johnny Cash ♦ Howard Morrison Quartet ♦ Christopher Cross ♦ Debbie Boone ♦ Guy Lombardo ♦ Johnny Nash ♦ Percy Faith ♦ Daniel O'Donnell ♦ Billie Holiday ♦ Tony Perkins ♦ Emmylou Harris ♦ Jenny Blackadder ♦ Loretta Lynn ♦ Roy Orbison ♦ Nat King Cole ♦ Barbara Mandrell ♦ Tommy Overstreet ♦ Steve Allen ♦ James Galway ♦ Le Roy Van Dyke ♦ Roger Whittaker ♦ Elvis Presley ♦ Bette Midler ♦ Tony Martin ♦ Ella Fitzgerald ♦ Jennifer Rush ♦ Leslie Gore ♦ Rosemary Clooney ♦ The Inkspots ♦ Albert West ♦ The Everly Brothers ♦ Donny and Marie Osmond ♦ Harry Belafonte ♦ Kamahl ♦ Ray Conniff ♦ The Carpenters ♦ Carol King ♦ Dean Martin ♦ Glen Long ♦ John O'Neill ♦ Olivia Newton-John ♦ Barbra Streisand ♦ Chubby Checker ♦ Des O'Connor ♦ Guy Mitchell ♦ Johnny Ray ♦ Woody Herman ♦ Abba ♦ Andy Russell ♦ The Four Lads ♦ Dorothy Moore ♦ Harry James ♦ Karen Young ♦ Ray Martin ♦ Foster and Allen ♦ Benny Goodman ♦ Tony Bennett ♦ Edgar Winter ♦ James Last ♦ Les Paul and Mary Ford ♦ Roger Williams ♦ Slim Whitman ♦ Buck Owens ♦ Connie Boswell ♦ Frankie Laine ♦ Jimmy Rodgers ♦ Mickey Gilley ♦ Sonny James ♦ Les Baxter ♦ Aretha Franklin ♦ The Righteous Brothers ♦ Eddie Fisher ♦ Herb Alpert ♦ Kingston Trio ♦ Robert Goulet ♦ Dusty Springfield ♦ Buddy Rich ♦ Cystal Gayle ♦ Freda Payne ♦ Joan Webber ♦ Nana Mouskouri ♦ Billy Vaughn ♦ Ann-Margaret ♦ The Mills Brothers ♦ Eddie Arnold ♦ Henry Mancini ♦ Kenny Rogers ♦ Ricky Valance ♦ Boris Gardiner ♦ Arthur Askey ♦ Pat Boone ♦ Cliff Richard ♦ The Southerners ♦ Judy Garland ♦ Vic Damone ♦ Patti Page ♦ Mario Lanza ♦ Lou and Simon ♦ John Rowles ♦ Dr Hook ♦ Bing Crosby ♦ Jim Reeves ♦ Cilla Black ♦ Rolf Harris ♦ Mantovani ♦ Pat McMinn ♦ The Beatles ♦ Helen Shapiro ♦ Connie Francis ♦ Paul McCartney ♦ Glenn Miller ♦ Morecombe and Wise ♦ Tom Jones ♦ and more...
“Taking Music’s Past
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