From dfischer at usol.com  Sun Mar 18 19:52:57 2007
From: dfischer at usol.com (Duane Fischer, W8DBF)
Date: Sun Mar 18 18:54:57 2007
Subject: [Vintage-Audio] Re Mysterious Guest Bearing Gifts
Message-ID: <024b01c769c0$f1505700$dcea1240@hpdc5100mt>



Hi All,

I need to thank someone, but I know not whom!

When I answered the knock on my back door on St. Patrick's Day Saturday 
March 17th the mail delivery person handed me a package along with my mail. 
I was not expecting any package, so my curiosity was instantly aroused.

Fortunately for me, a sighted friend stopped here about the same time. I 
opened the package and inside was a sealed copy of a vinyl record album. It 
turned out to be an album by Floyd Cramer that I had never heard of 
previously.

It is entitled: "Almost Persuaded" and is dated 1971. I remember that song 
well, as David Houston had quite a hit with it.

The return address has no name, no Ham call sign, nothing to identify the 
sender. Whomever he is, he lives in, or near, the small town of White Hall, 
MI on the far west side of the state.

A Ham searched the FCC database and found only one Ham in the town of White 
Hall, MI. But it is a female and I have never talked to her!

So if this mysterious vinyl album sender is one of you, Thank You very much! 
If not, well, maybe our paths will cross on the air again.

Do any of you amazing lovers of real audio happen to know how many albums 
Floyd Cramer released over his fantastic, but all too brief, career?

Floyd was still living in Louisiana in 1953 when he released several 
singles. Do any of you know their titles or what happened with them?

The first single I know of that hit the charts was released in 1957 and was 
titled: "That Honky-Tonk Piano". Where can I find a copy of it; single or on 
an album?

The one most of us remember is from 1958 when he released "Flip, Flop And 
Bop". This is on numerous albums.

The first album he released that I am aware of was in 1960 and was entitled 
"Hello Blues". Was there an earlier one?

This was at about the same time as his self-penned classic instrumental 
"Last Date" scored very well on both the Country and Pop charts. Then the 
follow up single, Floyd's version of the Bob Wills song, "San Antonio Rose", 
scored in the top ten of both the Country and Pop charts.

Did "Last Date" score higher than "San Antonio Rose" on the charts, or the 
converse?

If you would like to see a lovely family photo of Floyd Cramer, his wife and 
two daughters, check the cover on the "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" album 
circa 1967.



Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO
dfischer@usol.com
HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International
http://www.w9wze.net
HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project
hhrp.w9wze.net

From dfischer at usol.com  Tue Mar 20 17:16:16 2007
From: dfischer at usol.com (Duane Fischer, W8DBF)
Date: Tue Mar 20 16:18:25 2007
Subject: [Vintage-Audio] When Did Super Flex Start?
Message-ID: <00cb01c76b3d$62d19d30$b2ea1240@hpdc5100mt>



Hi All,

Not the correct name, but I think any of you who played vinyl albums from 
1970-1972 know of what I speak.

Once upon a time, vinyl records were quite rigid and had almost no flex to 
them. Then about 1971 somebody had a gas bubble during a neuron synapse, 
(comparable to an old spark gap transmitter igniting the window shades on 
fire!), and thought that the recording industry could save money if they 
made the vinyl albums thinner. Well about 1971 they released vinyl albums 
that were not quite as thick and having some degree of flex to them. This 
lasted, what, a year? Then they got serious with the balance sheets in 
accounting and made the vinyl albums even more thin and more flexible. The 
result was something like "Ultrathin"? Help me with the correct anmes guys!

Whatever it was called, it was so thin that if you had good light and good 
eyes, you could hold it up to the Sun and darn near see the grooves on the 
reverse side! If you got stupid for a moment and looked through the hole in 
the center of the record where the spindle for the turntable goes, you 
looked directly at the Sun, went blind and are now reading Braille or 
listening to synthetic speech on your computer as I do! No, I did not go 
blind from staring at the Sun, I was blinded by a stranger who was very 
careless and shot me from sixty feet with a twelve gauge shotgun and #6 
shot, instead of the Pheasant.

It was only recently that I noticed the vinyl record in between the original 
ones and the super flexible ones. What was the 'real' reason for the change 
from the thicker less flexible vinyl albums to the much thinner and very 
flexible wobble wonders that we all came to hate? The ones that even 
tracking at .75 grams seemed to cause groove wear.

Then, why did they change from the one in the middle to the one I just 
mentioned with more wobble than a VW Bug with two flat tires?

Thanks!




Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO
dfischer@usol.com
HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International
http://www.w9wze.net
HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project
hhrp.w9wze.net

