Four Speakers Good, Two Speakers Bad (MP3)

An Introduction to Quadraphonic Sound (15:50)

I'm posting two of my favorite demos over the next two weeks and putting together a little history lesson on home electronics marketing and the changing American consumer landscape.

From the early 1970s, this album by Columbia Special Products takes you into the wonderful, then-new world of quadraphonic music. For the best effect, you'll want to listen to this one in your car, where the quad effects hold up quite nicely. You car is, after all, where quad went to die.

There's some great cuts included from Sondheim's Company, the obligatory classical cuts for the audiophile set, and some sound effects. Narration is by Michael Tolan, who played Mary Richardson's on-again-off-again boyfriend DAn Whitfield on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

It's at 6:33 where this gets interesting, and we hear the change in stereo marketing .

There's a slightly psychedelic overtone to this at the start, but it's when Ten Years After comes screaming through in full quad that this album leaves all other stereo demos behind.

If you haven't heard it yet, go back and listen to Demonstrating Silvertone Sterephonic Sound--Store and Home. On that album, Dad is clearly the decision-maker. The family is putting pressure on him, but he's the one writing the check. There's nothing that Dad would find musically objectionable.

Flash forward to the 1970s and this album. Dad's not a Ten Years After fan, but his teenage son is, and his son now has the buying power to get his own audio system. Since this is a music company promoting the technology, there's no brands here, but there is a sense that quad is the new, cool thing to have. That follows the general tone of "impress your friends with your powerful stereo sound" that infuses all demo albums, but it also moves quad out of the utilitarian or bargain-conscious appeal and into fashion, the domain of the young.

This marks a significant turning point where home electronics move from costly luxury to a tool of personal expression, something that would open the door for boom boxes, the Sony Walkman, and the iPod. It also shows how the cost of ownership had declined since the 1950s, another factor in electronics becoming a part of our daily lives.

Comments

[Captain Wrong]

I always thought I was the only one who collected these demo discs. :)

[Hear It Wow]

We might be the only two, Captain, because there's always plenty of them at record stores around here until I buy them.

[Ernie (Not Bert)]

No, no, no, I've got a ton of them, too. It's just that none of the ones I have are very good. Never actually seen this one, though. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. Actually, that sounds really painful...

[Jimmy Nations]

I made a trip down to Memphis in 1997 and stopped by Charlie Feathers house, where i was greeted warmly, but with some confusion on how i heard of him and it took some convincing that there are big Charlie Feathers fans out there, believe it or not.

We sat on his front porch, spittin' tobacco, while he talked about Junior Kimbrough (R.I.P.) the Chulahoma, MS Bluesman. The two of them were completely unique musicians - he was very excited that I had heard of Kimbrough (I had plans to go to his juke joint that evening). He asked me to sit in his car and listen to a cassette of them playing music together - priceless! i have a photo of this moment on my website (www.jimmynations.com). I will treasure that memory.

regards, Jimmy

[Jimmy Nations]

I made a trip down to Memphis in 1997 and stopped by Charlie Feathers house, where i was greeted warmly, but with some confusion on how i heard of him and it took some convincing that there are big Charlie Feathers fans out there, believe it or not.

We sat on his front porch, spittin' tobacco, while he talked about Junior Kimbrough (R.I.P.) the Chulahoma, MS Bluesman. The two of them were completely unique musicians - he was very excited that I had heard of Kimbrough (I had plans to go to his juke joint that evening). He asked me to sit in his car and listen to a cassette of them playing music together - priceless! i have a photo of this moment on my website (www.jimmynations.com). I will treasure that memory.

regards, Jimmy

[Waxwing]

Great! I remember hearing a clip from that trumpet section on a quadraphonic history web page. Now I know what it's from. I have a small logitech 5.1 system on my computer, and it has a "matrix" switch that sets up the back speakers for stereo music. It sounds like it catches the separation on these tracks. Well it sounds great to me. Looking forward to more tracks.

[Inkydog]

I'd love to hear side two of this...