Lightning Synopsis of Modern Recording Milestones

Thomas Edison patented his first recording technology in 1877 toward forming the Edison Phonograph Company ten years later in 1887 for use with the wax cylinder following the not so successful tinfoil. Emile Berliner had patented a telephone transmitter in 1877 which he sold to the Bell Telephone Company where he would also work as an engineer. In 1887 he patented his gramophone for use with flat shellac discs. Come Edison's talking dolls from 1888 to 1890 which, when they functioned, more frightened children than amused them. During that time Columbia emerged in January of 1889 to produce cylinders. It was 1890 when initial commercial recordings were made by William Denny and George Johnson. Though Johnson was black the preponderance of early recordings during the first decade or two of the industry was by Irish descended artists. Columbia began producing flat discs in 1899 such that by the turn of the century the three major record companies were Edison, Berliner and Columbia. Berliner's flat disc technology would quickly lead to the formation of Polygram in Germany, HMV (His Master's Voice) prior to EMI in the UK, and Victor prior to RCA Victor in the United States. In 1909 Columbia stopped recording on cylinder and in 1912 pulled out of the cylinder market altogether, releasing flat discs only. During this time the Fisk Jubilee Singers recorded their first gospel title, 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot', in December of 1909. It was shortly after this that the first blues recording went down per W.C. Handy's 'Memphis Blues' in 1914, composed in 1912, followed by the first jazz recording in 1917 per the Original Dixieland Jass Band's 'Livery Stable Blues'. Edison continued with cylinders until it recorded its last in 1929 and folded entirely in 1930. The one permanent invention contributed by Edison was the diamond stylus. In the meantime fidelity had improved in 1925 as it shifted from acoustic to electric recording with microphone (developed from Berliner's transmitter of 1877). Mendelssohn's 'Violin Concerto in E minor' Op 64 was featured on the first classical LP at 33 1/3 RPM released on 21 June of 1948 [Discogs]. That was introduced by Columbia Records [Wikipedia] at a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria (Hilton) in NYC on the same day as the first LP of a living musician, 'The Voice of Frank Sinatra' which had been released a couple years earlier on 78 RPM shellac. The vinyl 45 RPM, said to offer better fidelity than the 33 1/3, followed soon after with 'PeeWee the Piccolo' recorded by Russ Case and His Orchestra in December 1948 toward release by RCA Victor on 31 March 1949 [Discogs]. Eddy Arnold's 'Texarkana Baby' had been recorded in August of 1947 toward release on 45 RPM vinyl on the same date, but was recalled for legal reasons [Discogs]. Magnetic tape quickly followed vinyl as Ampex come into view, first getting employed to record master tracks in 1949. Come the cassette tape in 1963 followed by the 8 track in 1964. Magnetic tape would be popular well into the eighties, particularly for use in automobiles where the phonograph couldn't go. Come the digital CD (compact disc) in 1979 when Richard Strauss's 'Eine Alpensinfonie' ('An Alpine Symphony') received a test pressing. The CD player got its first public demonstration in 1981 on BBC's 'Tomorrow's World' using a reproduction of the Bee Gees' album, 'Living Eyes', supposedly to show how the CD stood up to scratching with a rock. The initial commercial classical CD was released by Polygram in Europe in August of 1982 per waltzes by Chopin first recorded in March of 1979 by Claudio Arrau [Discogs]. The first pressing of popular music on CD was ABBA's 'The Visitors' in August of 1982, released earlier on vinyl in November 1981 [Wikipedia]. The first popular album to be released on CD was Billy Joel's '52nd Street' issued in Japan in October of 1982 [Wikipedia]. The first album issued on CD in the United States is thought to have been Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' in September 1984, having been released on vinyl in June [Wikipedia]. First issues, however, don't translate into later popularity since equipment on which to play such was initially prohibitively expensive, taking about a decade for the general population to catch up.