Decca Presents “Songs of Hawaii” Played by Ray Kinney and His Hawaiians. (1938)

I bought this album in Honolulu. These were the only 78s I found there on a trip in December. The cover and records were dusty and water dammaged, but the records actually cleaned up nice and sound pretty good. It was missing one record of the 5 and I recently found a replacement. So here is the complete album set!

As you can see I have rather sloppily stop the cover from decomposing completely with some packing tape… I know.. not the most archival way to save something, but at least the dust and mold wont be getting all over the records anymore..

There’s been some debate on facebook forums I follow about what the best playback methods are for 78s. Some people love acoustic machines. Some swear by vintage tube amps and electric turntables. Some want the most modern hi-fi equipment and computer processing. I think all of these ways have some benefits, but I suppose it’s subjective. It depends on what you think sounds good. But in the interest in science, I have recorded the same record with several methods for you to compare. This is not fully comprehensive. I am sure if you are really into this you may have some other players with better tone.. (Victor Credenzas are probably top of the line for acoustic playback for instance. I don’t have one of those) But in any case this may give you a general idea of the difference in sound of different playback methods.

First is a good old acoustic phonograph. This was made probably in the 30s. It’s my RCA Victor suitcase phonograph. I have recorded it with a decent stage microphone (you can see it on the left in the video) pointed directly into the “speaker” (technically there is a sort of horn under there)

Here’s an mp3 of that same acoustic playback:

Next let’s hear a 1950’s Wilcox Gay Recordio tube based analog electric phonograph playing it. This particular record player can actually make records too. But here it is outfitted with a medium tone steel needle for playback:

Now this is a modern turntable (a Numark TT200):

First with a regular 33rpm stylus:

Then with a Shure M78S stylus:

Then with a special order 3.5 mil stylus (wider than the m78s to pick up less of the surface noise at the bottom of the groove):

Now let’s hear that last version again but with soundsoap cleanup (soundsoap lets you adjust the levels of noise and click removal.. it’s something that you have to fiddle with to get the best results..):

Lastly, just one little thing. Some people worry about the wear on a 78 when played with a steel needle. I won’t deny that technically there IS wear. But I think one or two playbacks won’t hurt. (The important point is that you use a NEW steel needle with EVERY play. A worn needle WILL damage a record.) Here is a short clip with 2 samples. First is the 3.5 stylus before I played it with teh steel needle on the wilcox-gay machine. and the second is after. I don’t think you can hear a difference:

here is a playlist of all those so it’s easier to compare:

Isn’t it pretty.
Sol Hoopii and His Novelty Trio Lepe Ulaula B/W Honolulu Harbor
1928 Royal Blue Columbia 1339-D (145901/145903)

Here is a complete set of the Songs Sol Ho’opi’i and His Novelty Five recorded on Decca. These were his last recordings before he started focusing on sacred music, all played on electric lap steel. These are from Australian pressings but they were released in The U.S. on Decca as well.

I found these personal records at a junk store. They appear to both be to the same woman named Doris. One is an audio letter from 3 young men to 3 young women (including Doris) expressing gratitude for a lovely past weekend with a bit of humor. This record has 2 sides. The 3rd is a single sided record that seems to have been recorded at a “Voice-o-Graph” booth in Atlantic City, in which Bob proposes to Doris. This one was recorded in 1946, so I’ll guess that the other was slightly earlier.

Here’s a couple tropical Louis Armstrong sides from 1936

Louis Armstrong with The Polynesians On A Cocoanut Island b/w To You Sweetheart Aloha Decca 914 a/B (DLA 582/DLA 581) 8/18/36

It’s Actress Dorothy Lamour Singing with Dick McIntire’s Harmony Hawaiians in a Decca album of 78s recorded on 10/20 and 10/26 of 1943!

A few latin records I picked up at the WFMU record fair this weekend. A bit of Mambo and Cha Cha Cha from Pérez Prado and Tito Puente spinning at 78:

Here’s a “Royal Blue” 78 record (a novelty Columbia introduced for a while from 1932 to 1935) of Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra. Recorded on 1/25/32

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea b/w Kickin’ the Gong Around Columbia 2600-d (152086/152087)

Later in Life Sol Ho’opi’i focused primarily on sacred Music. I found a box from his record label (on ebay) from this time with many of these records. There was a label on the box listing the available records from them and I have managed to find all of the ones listed. One of my records is autographed march of 1950, so I believe these records must have been made in 1949 or maybe a little earlier. So here is, I believe, his complete recorded songs from Eldee. Enjoy.

Here is the box the records came in:

And here is an image I found online (Courtesty of the Collection of Les Cook) of some ephemera from this period:

and a photoshop recreation of the flyer on the box based on Les’s poster and the torn fragment on mine: