The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello!

And happy new year !
I would like to make a kind of poll on this forum : Do some of you own 78rpm records from Asia, Africa, Middle East or South-America (I don't really like this expression, but I could say "World music records") ? I read several topics on this forum about Japanese records, which seam to be easier to find than Chinese or Korean records. I rarely read about African 78s, except on the excellent blog Excavated Shellac (http://excavatedshellac.com/), do some of you own any records from these areas ? From which country ?

Thanks,

Ceints de bakelite
http://ceintsdebakelite.wordpress.com/

A handful from Asia and South America.

No African records, can't ever recall even seeing one.

Perhaps not entirely germane, but here's a Japanese market 'blue wax' 78 I found this year. It doesn't seem to me that Japanese records are all that uncommon relative to other countries.

I've also got a few Chinese & Japanese records. Nothing I can recall from other Asian countries or the middle-east, and the only African records I have are African pressings of English songs.
I dont buy a lot of Chinese records when I see them unless they have an interesting label that I dont already have, or unless they're a fairly early acoustic recording (mainly because I dont like/appreciate the material I've found on them), but I always buy every Japanese record I come across. I like listening to many of my Japanese records because most are recorded quite well, and the songs themselves often have a nice melody or they're real toe tappers, as well as singers who can really sing
No offence meant to the Chinese, but most of my Chinese recordings sound like alley cats trapped in a garbage can lol.
Being in Australia, I'd love to find some Aboriginal recordings, but in 30 yrs I've never come across a single one. The closest I've found are Mauri recordings, which seem to have been quite popular in the 20's.
Apart from that, I've seen a few Island country recordings (like Fiji) turn up on ebay occasionally on the Columbia private "Process recording" label, but they usually sell for more than I'm willing to pay for a disc that I might only play once.

I have a good collection of Korean 78s - I'm after all, a Korean collector. Do you happen to have any decent Korean records in your collection? It's always fascinating to find someone outside Korea who has Korean 78s. I am, of course, willing to help anyone to get any infos about Korean records as well.

Mark.

I've got a few Chinese and Japanese sides. The only true African record is this one on the Chant Du Monde label from what would have been French West Africa in the 50's when I suppose this was recorded. Both sides are quite interesting.
The most unusual is a Canadian Compo record on the APEX label from the 1920's in what I think is Cantonese.
I'll see if I can find it and scan the label.

One of the noted collectors of these things is Pat Conte.

His Secret Museum Of Mankind volumes on Pearl (CD) are fascinating.

Thanks for these interesting answers !
I personnaly own a dozen of Chinese 78s I bought in China a few years ago, some of them are jazzy tracks from the late 30's - Early 40's (like the famous singer Zhou Xuan) and sound quite pleasant to my ears. I also found a few Japanese records on ebay, like the famous song "She ain't got no yoyo".
78 rpm records from Africa are indeed very difficult to find !

"She ain't got no yoyo"

The actual title is "China Night" and shows up on eBay fairly often. Unlike some oriental songs, it sounds pleasant to Western ears.

I have one Japanese 78 by the Columbia Tokyo Orchestra
one side is "Tokyo Boogie Woogie" w/vocal chorus by Shizuko Kasagi
Other side is "Gomennasa"i w/vocal chorus by Richard Bowers

VintageTechnologies wrote:"She ain't got no yoyo"

The actual title is "China Night" and shows up on eBay fairly often. Unlike some oriental songs, it sounds pleasant to Western ears.

Sounds pleasant to me aswell ! If you have interest, I posted an article about this song on my blog recently : http://ceintsdebakelite.wordpress.com/2 ... t-no-yoyo/