ABSTRACT
Spoken introductions on cylinders or discs, common in the 19th and early 20th centuries. For example [from Brooks, 1978] “The following record taken for the Columbia Phonograph Company of Washington, D.C., entitled ‘The National Fencibles March,’ as played by the United States Marine Band.” Edison’s announcers included Arthur Collins and Edward Warren Meeker. Len Spencer did many announcements for Columbia. The identification function of the announcement was displaced by the arrival of disc labels and molded cylinder markings, and few are found after 1908 (on the earliest Edison Amberols). [Brooks 1978.]
In the modern era, announcements have occasionally been added as a humorous touch to recordings. For example, Moby Grape’s Wow (Columbia; 1968) included directions to change the turntable speed from 33 1/3 to 78 rpm between tracks, and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band included-at the end of side 1 of See Reverse Side for Title (Vanguard)—the following brief phrase, sung in 4-part harmony: “Now is the time to turn the record over” (it was even credited as a composition on the album’s sleeve). When CDs replaced LPs, many people missed the ritual of turning over the record. Tom Petty on his first solo album, Full Moon Fever, featured a spoken announcement on the CD only, after the 6th song, that this would be the point where the LP would need to be turned over.
