Grey Gull Material & Question

[GroverOverton08]

Hi Talking Machine Forum. Here as you can see i have a Grey Gull record. Sounds like garbage but they're interesting. Are these worse because of the material or the recording method? Research I've done seems to support both. Thanks and just curious.

[CarlosV]

These Grey Gull records were made with poor materials that degrade fast with each play. If you find one with little wear it will sound ok, more or less like the other acoustic records of the period, but it is not easy to get one in good playable conditions.

[Orchorsol]

I have a huge soft spot for the Grey Gull brands. Maybe an underdog thing! I agree, both.

The recording of the later electricals has a kind of overloaded 'edge' which is essentially unpleasant - although with the hot jazz and dance sides, some of which are deliciously crazy, I think it adds a certain something to the fun, in a weird way!

The material is poor also. There may well have been some other resinous ingredients as well as shellac (there were all kinds of now largely forgotten materials used as cheapeners or physical modifiers - one being factice, an oil based substance heavily crosslinked to the point of being a crumbly jelly). And, I've heard, possibly unusual solid fillers such as ground cotton waste. It's one of those brands that often has a 'burning' effect when played with thorn or fibre needles so it's best to keep to steel for playing on acoustic machines.

[Guyotsmith1]

Many years ago, at a small flea market, I saw a box full of Grey Gull and Radiex 78s, warped more severely than any 78s I've ever seen. Despite the condition, I should have purchased the whole box. Being an inexpensive product at the time these records first appeared, it seems that the original owners took no great pains to preserve and protect them - and, too, the pressings were of below-average quality.

For several decades, Grey Gull / Radiex 2527 (VanDyke 82527)(Sunrise ?) has been the number one item on my want-list, but I have never seen a copy nor have I ever known anyone who has one. Fortunately for me, two Australian enthusiasts posted a copy of the record on Bellbird on YouTube, so I have heard it - but I cannot image why the Grey Gull and related US pressings are all but impossible to locate.

I wonder, too, why Grey Gull introduced the Sunrise label so late in the game. We know that the Radiex and Grey Gull issues were retailing for a very low price by that time, and possibly it was decided to bring out Sunrise as a "premium brand" (by comparison), and thus to show a bit more profit. If memory serves me, Sunrise was a 35-cent line, and Radiex was retailing for less by then.

The excellent Grey Gull numericals published on-line some years ago appear to be frozen now, not updated for many years. It would be wonderful to see Van Dyke and Sunrise numerical lists assembled and made available, but I fear that with each passing year there are fewer people interested in undertaking such research.

Happy New Year to all.
Jonathan