Broadcast & Broadcast Twelve
78rpm records
Issued by the UK division of the Vocalion Gramophone Company Ltd
Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their corporate divisions, the Vocalion Organ Company.
The Vocalion company, surprisingly, dropped the important label of that name and also the lesser Aco label in 1927 and replaced them with their 'Broadcast' range of gramophone records.
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Vocalion had reached an agreement in 1926 with the Marconi Company whose engineers had devised a disc recording system that circumnavigated the patents covering the Western Electrics system. As Broadcast records were made using the Marconi process, it is highly probably that the sound from the recording venues of the City Temple, the Stoll Picture Theatre and St Martin-in-the-Fields were relayed to the Duncan Avenue studio by telephone line.
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Vocalion made much of this new process and proclaimed it loudly in the advertising and record envelopes of their new product. Prime outlets were cycle shops and newsagents as well as gramophone shops. The competition was in shock as sales of 'Broadcast' records went from strength to strength, even though the recorded fare did not.
This caused ructions in the industry and not just on price as the big three companies (later to form EMI) had kept very quiet about electric recording so as not to prejudice sales of existing old stock made by the old process.
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Margins were very slim however, and in 1932 Vocalion went into liquidation, being bought by the Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company Ltd. who phased out the Broadcast label by 1934.
Broadcast
Vocalion introduced the 8-inch 'Broadcast' 78rpm gramophone record, selling at 1/3d in the closing months of 1927 and production ceased in 1934.
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A total of six choir records were issued on the 8-inch broadcast label between 1928 and 1930 from St Nicolas College Chislehurst, Eton College Chapel, St Mary-le-Bow and St Marie's Sheffield (now the RC cathedral)
Discover the fascinating story of James Dugan and Eton College Chapel Choir and listen to them singing Mendelssohn's 'I waited for the Lord' on the 'Broadcast' label.
Broadcast Twelve
Broadcast Twelve is a 10-inch 78rpm gramophone record which was introduced in 1928 by Vocalion.
The label was so named as its narrower grooves and smaller centre label allowed the
same playing time on the 10-inch disc as the equivalent standard 12-inch 78rpm record.
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A total of seventeen records were issued on the 10-inch Broadcast Twelve label between 1929 and 1932 from St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Mary-le-Bow and St Marie's Sheffield.