From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad
Hello,
Scott D. Smith kept the pot boiling, so I'll throw some more in; in other
words, back to the minutiae of Seeburg--trivia to others. I have a battered,
sleeveless copy of a Seeburg 12 inch stereo LP. Even though I would not
particularly like to subject my stylii to the record surface, even freshly
washed, we still get quite a lot of information just by means of the dark
pink label. It reads:
"Seeburg [the S five times as wide as it is tall!]
Multi Track Master Recording
DISCOTEK PROGRAMMING
for listening or dancing
"Specially recorded for you by Seeburg"
VDS # 3 Side 1
STEREO 33 1/3 RPM"
In the lacquer: VDS 3 A, so no news here.
There are 6 tunes on each side. There are no obvious signs of the change from
one tune to the next. Only listening can tell if this is in medley style.
To me this does not look like Muzak or Seeburg background music--it was also
meant for dancing. The artificial word "DISCOTEK" does not have a TM or R.
Who would like to have a contraption change such records?
Billboard (Google!) from 22 May 1965 (pp. 45 & 48) explains the business
model that Seeburg wished to follow: obtaining copyright to much music,
distribute it in compilations to be exclusively used on leased machines. No
broadcasting, no private sales.
It seems Seeburg obtained exclusive rights to some performances, i.a. by
Dinah Washington. Please tell me if this is an extreme rarity searched for by
real afficionados.
Kind regards,
George
.
> Hmm, funny this should come up. I just happened to drive by the location
> of the old plant here on Dayton St. and North Ave. in Chicago this
> morning.
>
> A _huge_ operation back in the day, spanning almost 3 city blocks. A
> shopping mall now, of course...
>
> The company was still around when I moved to Chicago in the
> mid-seventies, but after going through a series of acquisitions, was
> finally demolished. Wish I had taken photos...
>
> Scott D. Smith
> *Chicago Audio Works, Inc.*
>
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