Shall We Shellac? [Vol. 2] Listening to Old Dance Music on SP Records

Did you know that there are cartridges that can play SP records (=Standard Play or 78 rpm records) on modern record players?

The SP record is a type of analog record that plays at a speed of 78 rpm using a gramophone that used to be fairly popular way back in the day.
These SP records were made of a natural resin called shellac which is unlike the records made of polyvinyl chloride that are still common today.

Shellac records disappeared from the market since 33 and 45 rpm vinyl records became mainstream after WWII. However, since vinyls have reemerged, people have been rediscovering 78 rpm records for their unique soothing sound quality and energetic sound.

As I wrote in the previous post, for this article, I’m going to introduce to all of you 5 uplifting tunes that are meant to be heard on SP records while also showing you a cartridge for SP record players that support 78 rpm.

By the way, here is the SP cartridge that I will be using this time!

audio technica / AT-MONO3/SP

If you have a 3-speed record player that supports 78 rpm records along with this cartridge, you can easily enjoy listening to 78 rpm records.
It’s very easy to mount the cartridge onto the headshell.

Last time, I talked about classical music pieces on shellac SP records with intense sound quality that were originally owned by my grandfather. My colleague from our wind instrument team was with me to review and talk about these pieces.
This time, I would like to shift gears and introduce some exciting trancy music on shellac SP records that was miraculously (?) born from overseas popular music.
I’m going to omit the details about the artists and works, but instead I’ll be focusing on how exciting these songs are.
The shellac SP record is more fragile than the vinyl record, but I hope this post will bring some rare grooving vibes to rock/pop music fans, punk musicians, and DJs. You can take this opportunity to start jamming out to some SP records yourself.

○ SCAPPA-SCAPPA　/ GALLO E LA SUA CELEBRE ORCHESTRA

It is written that this tune was performed by an orchestrina, which is a simple composition consisting of just a circus organ and a group of men yelling as you can hear in the song. There are no drums or bass, but this uplifting mood could be due to the rough feeling of the recording technology of the time along with the effects of shellac and the 78 rpm. I’d like to call it ‘Shellac Punk’ since it will liven up events or pubs where psychobilly is played and it’s where the Teddy Boys are often seen hanging out.

○ THE WEDDING SAMBA/XAVIER CUGAT AND HIS ORCHESTRA(Vocal ABBE LANE)

“THE WEDDING SAMBA” is a bossa/Latin groove song released in 1951, which sounds a lot like the Tokyo Cuban Boys.
However, female vocals by Abbe Lane makes this song sound like lounge music. This song may be perfect for a reunion party among Suburbia/Shibuya-kei friends.
It has a really funky and an elegant groove that appeals to adults.
By the way, “MY SHAWL” on the side B is an instrumental track that I recommend for fans of early Gainsbourg Latin music.
Some people may think both tracks are worthy enough to be on side A.

○ GO ON! GET OUT!/TEX RITTER

“GO ON! GET OUT!” is the B-side of the theme song from the film “High Noon”. It is music from the good old days that sounds like a tie-in song.
It sounds slightly like ballroom music, so I think that DJs probably won’t get a chance to use this song too often.
However, the sound effects and the chorus make this song sound like a tie-in song, so chances are you’ll become hooked on this song, so I’m keeping this record in case I ever use it when I’m DJing.

○ CARIOCA / MARGET CARMEN and HIS DANCE ORCHESTRA

”CARIOCA” is one of the tracks from the omnibus album Dance Hit Memories that was released in Japan before the war.
This song has a high-tempo bossa/Latin groove with a little calypso. Although it's old fashioned dance music, I think it sounds a bit quirky, but it may be interesting for DJs who might think about playing “Eso Beso” by Georgie Fame.

○ YODEL BOOGIE/ROSALINE ALLEN AND THE BLACK RIVER RIDERS

As you can guess from the title, “YODEL BOOGIE” is a boogie sung with yodeling.
We tend to think of yodeling as singing with repeated rapid pitch changes, but maybe it wasn’t at that time. In this recorded version, a naturally high female vocalist mysteriously takes the lead in this early dance music.
Try playing back this song at a loud volume and dance sometime when you are drunk!

Well, I briefly talked about these tunes to introduce you to the world of shellac SP records, which was widely enjoyed on gramophones a long time ago.
It’s now an underground format because it’s fragile, loud when played back on a gramophone, and the hardware doesn’t allow for volume adjustment, but you have an option to use this cartridge for SP records!

Not only can you enjoy its nostalgic sound, but I also hope shellac 78 rpm records will become more widely enjoyed depending on how you listen to it.
Someday, you may find SP records in your father or grandfather’s house.
Shall we try out the shellac 78 rpm record?