Record breaking
CONSUMING INTEREST LESLIE ADRIAN
My impression of the recording industry at one time was that it was dynamic. Latterly I am more inclined to accuse it of static. Surely by now the plastic wizards could have come up with an anti-static compound (in fact, my in- formation is that they have but it is expensive) from which to press discs. But even if the discs themselves have to be made from static- inducing material, does the charge have to be strengthened by encasing them in equally susceptible envelopes?
I have got records in my collection, some of them recent releases, which are almost im- possible to remove from their sleeves—so firmly has the static charge glued the polyethylene lining to the record surface. After much nervous tugging and tearing, the expensive circle of grooved plastic does emerge, but not, I suspect, much improved. And when it comes to putting them in again, the fight to get the disc into the recalcitrant plastic bag and then both into a tight-fitting cardboard envelope make a non- sense of the admonition on the sleeve, `Handle with great care. Avoid touching the playing surfaces.' The stupidity, of course, is that the harder you pull, the more friction is exerted and the stronger becomes the charge. At £2 a time, the makers could surely expend a penny or two more on protecting our precious micro- grooves. Or are they doing a Breakages Limited operation on us, and building in self-destruction as well as obsolescence?
Comparing notes with a trade expert (a dealer, not a maker) I established that some of the most severe electrostatic problems occur with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft and the least with those EMI discs that are packed in coated paper that does not attract a static charge.
To prove his point, he held a series of discs horizontally about a foot above an open book— the idea being to make the records lift the pages; EMI records taken from the coated en- velopes had to be dropped several inches before the page responded to their attraction. But apart from this I have always found that too many record sleeves are poorly made, weak in tex- ture, and although garishly and expensively decorated, meanly cut so that the fit is too tight. It is strange to find that some of the cheap issues, like the American Nonesuch series, are better packed than the full-priced new press- ings. Admittedly they have the irritating habit of not putting a window in the envelope so that you cannot see the number of a record in a series. It is this which has caused many people to com- plain about the otherwise excellent anti-static EMI packing, but surely that is soon put right with a pencil. And anyhow, I would not sug- gest that one should make too much of a fuss about the packing of a disc costing as little as lOs or 12s 6d where the profit margin to the manufacturer is minuscule. But what i* needed is *reasonably protective and convenient packing for the expensive records that people inetaernsd. to keep and play repeatedly for several y But the record business is a real jungle. Buying them has become a crazy and costly lottery, unless you either spend hours in the listening booths (imagine the snarl-up if every record buyer did that) or accept someone else's judgment by using an informed guide like the Penguin Guide to Bargain Records (15s) by Edward Greenfield and collaborators. They are fairly critical, sometimes too fair perhaps. As, for instance, when they say that `it would seem unreasonable to expect' stereo-mono com- patible records `to have a very long life if played regularly with a mono cartridge.' Too gentle altogether. Stereo-mono discs are a menace. The March 1967 Monthly Letter of EMG Handmade Gramophones Limited says: `We have now tested a number of these records from various sources, and as a result would strongly advise our readers not to buy them for use on mono instruments.' They found that the reproduction was distorted and that the inflexible mono cartridge, which has no verti- cal movement which the stereophonic grooving needs, damages the track.
Serious record collectors might find that the 21s subscription to EMI's newsletter is well worth while. It is the Which? of the record world and every bit as simon-pure, as it refuses to accept advertising. Month by month it catalogues the best of the new issues, bar- gains and all, lists deletions; and saves the busy music-lover a mountain of trouble and anxiety. Annually it edits and binds up twelve months of the newsletter in its Art of Record Buyine (also 21s), which is more selective than the new Penguin guide, though lacking its com- ments. It is a pity that the long and critical notes on recordings in the newsletter are not carried over into the book. However, two guineas to EMG at 6 Newman Street, Oxford Street, London, Wl, and you get both. Logi- cally one should also get one's records there, too. They sample all new recordings, which are judged on the highest aesthetic and techni- cal standards, and stock only those they approve. In fact, they are as fussy as if they were keeping them for pleasure, not profit. In most other record shops and departments I get the feeling that the idea is to get rid of both stock and customer as quickly as possible.
Whether Keats himself would have liked Keats, the new haute cuisine establishment in Hamp- stead (near Keats Grove and the abode of the celebrated nightingale), is anyone's guess. Mine is that he might not, for after 'hovering for some time between the exquisite sense of the luxurious and a love for philosophy,' he decided to 'turn all my soul to the latter.' Bad luck, Mr Richard Degageux. But never mind. imagine that your menu would have won hun over, especially saddle of lamb with potatoes and truffles in the Sarlat manner. For pros- perous gourmets contemplating a trouble-free dinner-party in Keatsian surroundings, HAN1p- stead 3544 is the number. The draughts of vintage have been suggested by Hugh Johnson. The classical French cooking that Keats lay on needs some days' preparation, but the! are willing to discuss this with you on the phone.
Previous page
