Here is a selection of advertisements for the Compagnie française du Gramophone, the French branch of the Gramophone Company, between 1903 and 1913. Both the message and the iconography provide useful insights on how the gramophone and the record were marketed to gain the status of musical medium. These advertisements let us also discover the … Continue reading Advertisements for the Compagnie française du Gramophone (1903-1913)
Complete operas on records
"A revolution in the phonographic art" - 25 double-sided 35cm (14") Pathé records for Carmen! Source: La Mode du Temps : supplément au journal "Le Temps", April 15th, 1913 - Bibliothèque Forney via Gallica. http://c.bnf.fr/gtq
Some rare recordings of Auvergne folk music on Le Soleil label
I've been collecting folk music from Auvergne for several years but it's the first time I manage to find some of the early vertical-cut records on Martin Cayla's label Le Soleil. Those are much more difficult to find than the lateral-cut ones. These ones belonged to a native from Cantal who moved to Paris in … Continue reading Some rare recordings of Auvergne folk music on Le Soleil label
The Ghost Groove
A transparent flexible record on the obscure French Virginia label. Unfortunately too warped to be played, as it's often the case with flexible records.
Egyptian brown wax
Egyptian music on a beautiful brown wax needle-cut Pathé from the mid 1920's.
When blues 78s turn up in France…
Blues 78s are really hard to find in France but I had the chance to buy a small bunch of them from the family of a former French jazz musician who got them in the U.S.
Ceints de bakélite 