Durium 2, The Self Changing Record

Second 52 weeks Durium repost, but first the combined songs of the two episodes for all you stream fans out there:



Jan T.

Again Hans Koert writing:

THE SELF CHANGING RECORD

In Jan. 1998 Peter Tanner, record collector, ordered my "Durium (GB) Discography". For the first time all European Durium records were listed. I read your book on Saturday morning and again that night, he told me later. Then I found the address of the Durium factory in Slough, and because I had nothing to do I took my car and because there is not much traffic on Sunday I drove to Slough and found the street and the number. And there it was. The roof was new, but the walls were still there. Unfortunally it was dark inside and there was nobody who could show me the building.

April 1932 the production of large amounts of card board records started in Slough, a suburb or London. Like its American parent company they started a weekly series with popular dance music. The American firm broke up in the summer of 1932, but the card board record survived in Europe.

1. IMP (=DURIUM DANCE ENSEMBLE) - WHEN THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN
FOX TROT - Recorded London, Apr. 1932 (durium GE-10)
The introduction of the record was well prepared. Not only in England, also on the continent. This Dutch "gratis proefplaat" (= free sample) was made by an English orchestra with an announcement in Dutch, spoken by an Englishman (some sources say it was Lew Stone himself) with an accent, that makes us smile nowadays. Unfortunately no Dutch records were made, only a series of language courses for the Dutch with the NOROPA label.

2. no band name HAAR HARMONIKASSEN I LANDSBYEN GAAR VALS DAN FOLKE MART FRYBERG
VALS DAN FOLKE MART FRYBERG - Recorded in London, summer 1933. (SUPER durium SC-133)
The English factory in Slough made records for Italy, France, Germany and Scandinavia. This is a Swedish one, released as a SUPER durium in a weekly magazine-like cover (Veckans Skiva)

3. ORCHESTRE - MUSETTE P. DUREL - CHANTEE PAR ANDRÉ PASDOC ET GINA MAREZE - AU BORD DE L'EAU
SCOTTO-CHARLYS: Recorded in Paris, c 1934 - 1935 (SEFONO 6051)
In France they didn't want foreign labels, so Durium (and Hit of the week) were issued by the Société D'Editions Phonographiques as SEFONO. When the English firm stopped in 1934, SEFONO's continued in France the local market, like this musette.

4. CANTA MISCEL RADIORCHESTRA (sic) DURIUM DI LONDRA DIR. DAL Mº. MANTOVANI - ERA AI BAGNI …..
(BORELLA MASCHERONI) CANZONE ONE STEP ED. CARISCH - Recorded in London, summer 1933. (SUPER durium T-114)
A special find was made some years ago. A series of early unknown Mantovani recordings were discovered. No violins yet, but straight dance tunes being popular in those days.

The factory in Slough stopped producing music records around 1934 but in Milan and Copenhagen small factories survived for the local market. Card board durium records were made up to the late 1930s, although a mysterious post war card board durium record has been found, so new investigation have to be made !!

In Slough they made advertisement records up to 1936, a subject I'll love to tell you more about later.