The back jacket promises "full fidelity," which would normally be a good thing, but not when the label is Royale.
Royale, of course, was a member of the Record Corporation of America's stable of ultra-cheap labels, and An Hour of Star Dust is one of the least competently recorded and engineered fake-RCA releases of all--a horrifying charge, but true. It also contains some of the funnest music anywhere in the company's catalog, so there's that.
By the way, I wrote "fake-RCA" to distinguish RCA from, for instance, RCA.
Did I say incompetently engineered? Well, on top of the substandard (but full!) fidelity, we have the loud sound of a machine turning on and off between the tracks--a noise I graciously eliminated for you (am I a great guy or what?). Where these recordings came from, I can't venture to guess--radio broadcasts, maybe? I'm picturing a hand-held microphone, a tape recorder, and a radio. That would explain the extremely low fidelity here.
Have I insulted the sound sufficiently? Probably not. But, as I noted, this is highly fun stuff, and it's one heck of a cheap-label relic. Note that Hollywood Concerto is actually a male chorus singing sea songs. Possibly Royale had intended to include something by that name (Hollywood Concerto) but their clerk grabbed the wrong masters or something. Not worth puzzling over. It was just the RCA (not to be confused with RCA) way.
(This is a repost from three years ago. Apologies for the lack of label scans--I didn't start those until recently.)
DOWNLOAD: An Hour of Star Dust
(See LP front for track listing.)
Lee
12 comments:
Because when you think of Hollywood the first thing that comes it mind is Sea Shanties!
I like 'em.
(Feeling better again. Emergency tooth extraction took care of it all. Sorry to have been MIA for so long.)
No problem. Glad you enjoyed! And glad to hear your dental situation is better. I had four teeth extracted last year (!), so I'm with you on that. I now have "partial" for my upper row. After a year, I'm almost used to it....
Thanks for the nice words, and I hope the emergency visit was covered!
Well, I certainly feel entertained, but probably for all the wrong reasons! Thx agn Lee.
Sure! This is probably my favorite lo-fi LP of all. I'd love to get the story on it someday.
I can't, I just can't...
Thank you for another addition to my growing collection of Royale records Sheer joy!!! LOL Your posts like these and the wonderful Beatle fakes help make quarantine somewhat bearable.
Thanks again, Gary
Ernie,
But you must. It is your destiny....
Gary,
My pleasure! More fakes on the way. This LP was one of my first junk label favorites. It got me addicted to these things.
@ Ernie and Lee, LOL!!! C'mon Ernie, dive right in. The water's...... the water's.... well, there's water, of a kind anyway.Everybody needs a good chuckle these days. Resistance is futile!
Good Sunday morning, Lee.
Looking through your archives.... Did you ever post in full Paul Mickelson Plays for Youth? (You gave us the cover, the one with tiny teenagers, September 29, 2019. Might you post again? Hope you're doing well. Thanks. Doc
Hi, Doc. I'm doing pretty good, except for the weather's effect on my sinuses! We're cold and rainy. Way below normal for this time of year. But... let me check on the Mickelson LP. Memory tells me that the cover was fine but the record was not. But I'll look for it and see. If it's in decent shape, I'll put it up. Hope you're faring fine in this crazy period!
Hahaa. I love your sales technique for this one. I resisted the first time, and plan to do so again, sea-shanties or no. Stay safe, my long distance blogger.
I'll try. Actually, my essay doesn't emphasize the musical quality like it should. Dreadful fidelity, but some memorable tracks. I'd love to have heard what these sounded like before someone ruined them. I can't believe they started out sounding this bad!
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