Category: Music

78s4FR’s on YouTube

One of my favorite YouTube genres is of turntables playing records. It must be the ex-DJ in me. One of the best examples is from a woman in England named Liz, whose channel is called 78s4FR.

http://www.youtube.com/user/78s4FR

Here’s a sample. Stan Freberg’s superb parody of Harry Belafonte’s ‘Banana Boat Song’, followed by the equally great ‘Tele-Vee-Shun’.

Note for younger readers: Because a shellac 78 could hold only a few minutes of sound, record albums used to be exactly that — multiple discs in an album book. Later, vinyl LP’s could hold up to 30 minutes in mono, yet there were still albums. In a 2-disc LP set, side 1 was backed with side 4, and sides 2 and 3 were on the same disc, so they could be played in sequence on a changer. The arm on the changer held the stack steady. When playing a single record, with the arm in the position shown in the video above, most changers repeated the record.

Not fab! Not gear! It’s smashing!

The year: 1967
The place: London

Two girlfriends from the boring north arrive in Swinging London, determined to find success and have a smashing time. This screwball comedy stars Rita Tushingham, who didn’t become well known in America, and Lynn Redgrave, who did.

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Thanks, Lía Pamina, for pointing out this quintessentially British 60’s arty-fact that I’d never heard of.