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on 9/17/05 4:29 PM, Kurt Nauck at [log in to unmask] wrote: > Have you seen the article by Sousa? > > Kurt & Diane Nauck > <snip> John Philip Sousa had a long and strange relationship with the introduction and propagation of sound recordings in not only American culture but, one could argue, the world at large. First, Sousa himself conducted only six commercially released recordings that can be currently documented. Generally he sent his assistant conductor (Herbert L. Clarke, Henry Higgins, etc) and some of his band members to play for the recording sessions. From the earliest days of commercial recording the United States Marine Corps Band, "The Presidents Own", made many records that help spread his name and fame. When he left the Marine Corps in 1892 to form his famous band they went immediately into the Columbia studios to record a series cylinders for commercial release. But even though Sousa (and by extension his band) was one of the top sellers for the Victor Talking Machine Company (and Berliner before that), it wasn't until the early 1900's when he uttered his terse one line approval, "Victor records are all right." Until that time he decried recordings as the death of music. He continued to write and speak out against recorded music going on to coin the term, "canned music". One only has to read "The Menace Of Mechanical Music", Appleton's Magazine, Vol. 8 (1906), pp. 278-284, http://phonozoic.brinkster.net/menace.htm, to get a sense of the other side of the advertising coin. You may wish to read his testimony before Congress, Arguments Before the Committees on Patents of the Senate and House of Representatives, conjointly, on Bills S. 6330 and H.R. 19853, To Amend and Consolidate the Acts Respecting Copyright, June, 6, 7, 8 and 9, 1906 (Washington, Gov. Print. Off., 1906), p. 24.25 Dan Reed