For a ten year period, starting in 2006, Lorne VanSinclair wrote a bi-weekly column for the Orillia Packet & Times newspaper. Most of the articles were about music and record collecting with some about other antiques and collectables. Some of them, presented here, have been edited or updated from their original form but may contain dated references.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
Every generation has its own unique fashion in clothes that is not liked by the previous generation. Lately there has been a tendency to “dress down”; the grunge look of the 1980s, or the torn blue jeans of the hippies in the 1960s, but in the 1930s the ultimate in-your-face fashion statement was a suit. It was called a zoot suit and surprisingly, it generated the strongest reaction ever seen about any form of clothing in the modern era.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
In 1665 English physicist Robert Hooke did something very interesting; he demonstrated an invention that would allow two people to talk privately without being physically close to each other. They could even be in different rooms. His device was later dubbed the “lover’s telephone”; it was simply two cups connected with a taunt wire. He was the first to demonstrate that sound could be transmitted through a medium other than air so he gets credit for inventing the microphone.
Read more: Those Beautiful Microphones That Changed Our World
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
We now think of Nashville as synonymous with country, but it also played a big part in the development of blues, R&B and gospel, the building blocks of rock ‘n’ roll. Memphis may have the reputation of bringing it all together with Elvis and Sun Records and popular myth has it that Allan Freed’s radio show in Cleveland turned white teenagers on to R&B but in fact, that happened in Nashville first.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
Collectors are drawn to certain brands for various reasons. Enormous ubiquity is one; Coca Cola, Disney, RCA Victor and Motown are examples of iconic brands that people collect just because they are there and have been for a long time. Peacock Records is a brand that will not be familiar to many outside the music collectors’ community but it has a dedicated following among music fans because they were consistently good and hugely influencial.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
In 1960 top 40 radio was pretty bland and predictable but suddenly the airwaves exploded with a strange record full of manic laughing, yodeling and weird lyrics about mules and water boys, all done by two guys with electric guitars. Mule Skinner Blues by The Fendermen is considered the last gasp of crazy, spontaneous, unpredictable rock ‘n’ roll that no record producer could have imagined. It was also the latest, but certainly not the last testament to the timeless legacy of the song’s writer, Jimmie Rodgers.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
Popular music, is it better now or worse than it was in the past? That’s a loaded question and it seems the answer depends on how old you are. But come on, it’s obvious; popular music today is dominated by manufactured pop stars who need a dozen dancers on stage to hide the fact they have no talent. It’s all about money, money, money. It was better back in the day when artists sang about what mattered. Right? Maybe, maybe not
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
The festival business is getting bigger than ever. According to one U.S. booking agency there were 847 bona fide festivals last year in North America alone, and thousands more around the world. While music sales and concert attendance dwindle, festivals are on a definite upswing.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
When you think of a popular music performer of the 1920s or 1930s, as often as not you may visualize some guy in a coon-skin coat strumming a ukulele. That simple instrument was hugely popular at the time, and then it faded, then came back and faded again. It had a reputation as kind of corny; a novelty instrument not much better than a toy but certain people managed to give it the respectability it deserves and kept it from obscurity.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
Stanley Dance, one of the pre-eminent jazz critics of the swing era called her “America’s greatest singer”. Years later music historian Dave McGee wrote in the Rolling Stone Album Guide "One will come away from her recordings believing that she was nothing less than the greatest singer ever". The person they were describing is not that well known to the general public. In fact there are many very dedicated music fans who adore singers from that era who have never heard of her.
- Written by: Lorne VanSinclair
Think of a technology that allowed us to share music with almost anyone anywhere in the world and gave amateur musicians a chance to record their songs without having to be signed to a record label. Oh it had a bad side; it allowed people to make illegal copies of material that was protected by copyright.
All this could be, and has been said of the digital revolution but I’m referring here to an older, almost forgotten technology; the cassette tape.
Read more: How The Compact Cassette Changed The Music Business