The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

One of the (many) reasons I think most of us collect old records is because we like listening to quality performances made by musicians long ago that we cannot hear anywhere else. Many of those recordings fall into the "usual" realm of music popular during the 78 and cylinder era (marches, opera, blues, country, hot jazz, etc.), but there of course are several that don't, whether commercially-released or recorded at home. I am certain we have all found that one record that you cannot understand WHY someone would make, so this is the place to share your finds! (No, the OKeh Laughing Record doesn't count!)

The two strangest records I have ever come across were a 1953 Wilcox-Gay home recording of a man and (presumably) woman with strong Southern accents having some bedroom fun(!), as well as an Autograph vanity record (circa 1925) of a very unmusical cellist that ended on the first side with his audible belch. I still have the Wilcox-Gay disc, but unfortunately it has gotten badly warped over the years and I fear it does not have long for this world while I sold the Autograph record on eBay a few years back to a man who collected all sorts of strange recordings and films. Now the only truly bizarre recordings I own are all on vinyl!

What's your "strange addiction"?

Not my personal copy but being something of a Bill Haley completist, I do own a copy. I am pretty sure this is the weirdest record I actually own.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9CaBrcM3HQ[/youtube]

I've got two weird ones, one, a french shellac test pressing of church bells, the purpose of which I don't fully know, and another red vinyl 78 of Ben Grauer on a radio broadcast about an award winning pressure cooker, also the edison bell laughing record, which is just weird

I think my weirdest record is an HMV puzzle record of Irish limericks... 1931 - 2 x 2 x SIX TRACK "PUZZLE" 78 WITH TWO SETS OF SIX CONCENTRIC TRACKS ON EACH SIDE! Each side has a possible 36 different limericks, so 72 total on both sides...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIPHT3R1Dsg

The Perry Bechtel Orchestra's "Rubber Dolly" is pretty weird, along will Billy Hays' "Bay Rum Song".

The laughing records are very strange to listen to. The weirdest record(s) I have in my collection is a 4 part humor series called "International Crepitation Contest" It features the likes of Lord Winismere (world champ) and Paul Boomer (with lots of err mouth sounds?).

This is the weirdest one I have.
The Radio All Star Orchestra - Mysterious Mose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exjIyfienjo

James.

PS: That Bill Haley song is way out there, I like the limerick disc, and well ... that provocative air - stinks.

A 1930's disc from the Japanese Imperial Navy used to teach signaling. It has rhythmic vocalizations followed by rhythmic musical sounds. Probably quite ordinary to a student but hypnotic to listen to.

Nothing remotely as weird as some of the things mentioned, but the weirdest one I have is a "royal blue" 'concert' Blue Amberol of "Mammy's Little Alabama Coon" sung by opera star Freida Hempel. Seriously, a 'coon song' in an operatic voice? It's very, very bizarre.

One of my weirdest must be this centre start Pathé of French hunting calls. Each call is announced in French before the horns play it. Presumably if the hunters knew the calls they could identify from a distance which animal the hunt was pursuing, so perhaps the record was intended as a learning aid.
Here we have le Loup (Wolf) le Renard (Fox) le Blaireau (Badger) and goodness knows what else. As Oscar Wilde said "The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable".

The other side is a Serenade for harp, flute and violin by Gounod. Only on Pathé......