ABSTRACT
A label founded in the early 1970s by enthusiasts Brad Miller and Gary Giorgi to issue audiophile quality LPs. The company specialized in licensing rock albums from major labels and then remastering them at half-speed, pressing on high-quality vinyl, and packaging them in the archival-grade materials. In 1980, Herbert Belkin, an ex-ABC Records executive, became president of the firm and the engine of its subsequent growth. In 1979, the company turned its attention to producing finer quality cassettes, and then in 1987 introduced the Ultradisc CD, also called a “gold” disc because of the use of gold in its substrate. Many of Mobile Fidelity’s reissues not only featured superior sound but bonus material discovered on the original master tapes. From 1985-1992, the company issued material from the Soviet Union’s Melodiya Records archives. In 1994, Mobile Fidelity opened its own pressing plant to make high-quality LP pressings on 200-gram vinyl, but the plant closed in 1996 due to the limited market for its products. The firm made its first DVD release in 1998, but a year later the label was forced to close due to overexpansion. Mobile Fidelity’s issues of classic rock albums, notably Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and the Who’s Tommy, are much sought after by collectors.
