Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for February 26, 2020
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
February 26, 2020: On February 26, 1917—103 years ago today—the Original Dixieland Jass Band entered the studio to record a pair of tunes for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Just a couple of weeks later, the "Dixie Jazz Band One Step" and "Livery Stable Blues" were released as flip sides on a 78 RPM record.[1]
The five-piece band “had just taken up residence at Reisenweber’s Café, a swanky eatery on 8th Avenue, near Columbus Circle—coincidentally, now the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center” in New York, New York.[2] Later that year, they changed the spelling in the name from “Jass” to “Jazz.” You can hear Livery Stable Blues on YouTube.
While the band is little remembered, the Camden, New Jersey-based Victor Talking Machine Company would go on to have a huge impact on the recording industry. HistoricCamdenCounty.com states that in 1896, "29-year-old machinist Eldridge Johnson invented the spring mechanism that made recorded music a commercially viable possibility. By 1900 he was manufacturing recorded music on the flat disks we would come to know as ‘records.’"[3]
The company quickly became an industry leader but faced challenges when another new technology emerged: radio. Some thought with music on the radio there would be no need for people to buy records. In 1929, Johnson sold the company to the radio industry giant RCA (Radio Corporation of America). One key innovation resulting from the merger was that RCA began marketing radios and phonographs in the same unit. You could then hear a song on the radio, buy the record, and play it when you wanted.[4]
The new firm eventually created the RCA Victor record label.[4]
Today, you can buy original Victor Talking Machine Company phonographs on e-Bay.[5]
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- February 25, 2020 –3.5 billion dollars lost to internet crime
- February 24, 2020 –20 stories in NYC skyscraper may need to be removed
- February 21, 2020 –10 Super Tuesday states have already started voting
- February 20, 2020 –58 years ago today John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth
- February 19, 2020 –61 percent of Americans say they are better off than three years ago
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ On This Day, "Events in Music in 1917," accessed February 25, 2020
- ↑ Smithsonian Magazine, "The First Jazz Recording Was Made by a Group of White Guys?" February 24, 2017
- ↑ HistoricCamdenCounty.com, "A Photo History of RCA's Golden Years in Camden," accessed February 25, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Engineering and Technology History Wiki, "Victor Talking Machine Company," accessed February 25, 2020
- ↑ Ebay, "Victor Talking Machine," accessed February 25, 2020
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