Info on Diamond Disc "Fox trot and song" records?

[52089]

I've come across a couple of these. They feature an instrumental arrangement and vocal arrangement of the same song on the same side. Sometimes there's a short pause between the two, sometimes one leads directly into the other.

Has anyone done any research on these, e.g., compiled a list of them, found any background, etc.? I know these were marketed as "yet another Edison innovation" at one time, but that's about it.

Here's an example. "Fox trot" starts at 1:15 and ends at about 4:09, "song" starts at about 4:14:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZJF-zN7eXw[/youtube]

Thanks in advance for any additional info.

Kevin

[larryh]

I have several of these my self. It was a fad at the time also done with piano rolls to have a sort of ballad type arrangement an then usually a jazzy fox trot type selection for the second part. I rather like the variation my self.

Larry

[FellowCollector]

Here's an example. "Fox trot" starts at 1:15 and ends at about 4:09, "song" starts at about 4:14:

That particular Edison Diamond Disc "Fox Trot And Song", "RADIO", is one of the favorite DD's from my collection. The video was fun to record for my YouTube channel and I had no idea that it would become as popular as it did.

I believe that I have most if not all of the Edison "Fox Trot and Song" Diamond Discs here in the collection. They were an interesting variation and appeared briefly in the 51000 series only as I recall.

"RADIO" is definitely my favorite of all of them. I have two mint condition new old store stock DD copies in addition to the example that I played in the video. I also have a nice copy of "RADIO" on Edison Blue Amberol. It's a very difficult title to find on Edison and obviously was not popular for contemporary customers.

In my opinion it was very odd on Edison's part to release a record entitled "RADIO" since his primary focus at this time was still phonographs and records. This, in spite of the fact that the recording pokes fun of the crude sounds produced by radios at this time!

Anyway, back to the topic, I believe there is a little background on these DD's in one of the DD books by Ron Dethlefsen. I'll see if I can find it.

Doug

[Phototone]

Of course the slightly later "Hit of the Week" records did this, or featured 2 different songs on their one sided discs.

[52089]

Here's an example. "Fox trot" starts at 1:15 and ends at about 4:09, "song" starts at about 4:14:

That particular Edison Diamond Disc "Fox Trot And Song", "RADIO", is one of the favorite DD's from my collection. The video was fun to record for my YouTube channel and I had no idea that it would become as popular as it did.

I believe that I have most if not all of the Edison "Fox Trot and Song" Diamond Discs here in the collection. They were an interesting variation and appeared briefly in the 51000 series only as I recall.

"RADIO" is definitely my favorite of all of them. I have two mint condition new old store stock DD copies in addition to the example that I played in the video. I also have a nice copy of "RADIO" on Edison Blue Amberol. It's a very difficult title to find on Edison and obviously was not popular for contemporary customers.

In my opinion it was very odd on Edison's part to release a record entitled "RADIO" since his primary focus at this time was still phonographs and records. This, in spite of the fact that the recording pokes fun of the crude sounds produced by radios at this time!

Anyway, back to the topic, I believe there is a little background on these DD's in one of the DD books by Ron Dethlefsen. I'll see if I can find it.

Doug

Doug,

Thanks for posting that video long ago. That was the first time I had heard that gem. Since then I've found a copy of it courtesy of a board member. Ken Burns used this record in his radio documentary as well. I've never seen the Blue Amberol!

What's interesting to me is that if you listen to the lyrics, it's not about commercial radio, it's about amateur radio. "It's a wireless telephone", "boys and misses... sending wireless kisses", etc. I personally don't know of any other song written about "ham" radio!

Kevin

[VintageTechnologies]

I also have "Radio" on Blue Amberol cylinder, one of my favorites. As dubbed recordings go, the fidelity for this title is quite good and my records's low surface noise (much less than the typical DD) makes it particularly enjoyable to listen to through an Opera machine.