Sterling
The “Sterling Record Company was launched in December 1904 and in April 1905, the forthcoming “Sterling” records were announced by what was now the “Russell Hunting Record Co. Ltd". Louis Sterling was the general business manager, Russell Hunting the recording engineer and Percy A. Smithurst the electrical expert and factory manager. The company got off to a blazing start and after 22 weeks in business, had produced and sold the first million records. It is not surprising; good Sterling records have the robust, full tonal quality of a gramophone record with the smoothness and relatively high definition of a cylinder record. Sadly for us, the wax of most Sterling records is on the soft side and in old age they can sound worn and fluffy.
|
La Kraquette, by the Parisian Orchestra (Justin Clarice) – Sterling 585 – September 1906. In the 1900s a great dance craze erupted in the States which rapidly spread to Europe. The exchange of innovation was not just one-sided and this spirited French number was the sensation of the season in Paris in 1906, not to mention London, and to judge by an illustration of the steps, was a rapid kind of swing dance involving twirling, strutting, posturing and a certain amount of bumping and grinding.
|