Divamani Enterprises

In this blog, we will be looking back to the wonderful days of listening to LP record music.

The history of LP records in India dates back to late 1950s. Prior to this, 78 RPM shellac records could hold only about 3-5 minutes of audio per side. This did not gel very well with the improvisational nature of Indian classical ragas.

The Gramophone Company of India

Famously known by their label, HMV, introduced local LP production in 1958. Pandit Ravi Shankar, legendary sitarist, officially inaugurated the company’s pressing plant at their Dum Dum factory in Calcutta.

This began a culture of listening to music with LP records. Both Indian film music as well as the classical songs were set in this long-lasting format.

Polydor of India Ltd.

In 1969, the monopoly of HMV was broken by this German company. they partnered with the Patel group who were highly involved with the film industry. Film music contracts were diverted to them. Sholay released in 1975 was a blockbuster and the records were the top selling for many years.

1960’s and 1970’s India

The LP record became the primary method of listening to songs of various varieties.

• Classical songs: Typically, classical songs required a minimum of 15 minutes to really do justice to the raga and the song. Indian classical musicians would hesitate to to condense their art to 78 RPM discs which gave them only 3-5 minutes of time. This provided the boost for a huge cultural wave of Indian classical music across the globe.
• Bollywood:

Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar, the two veteran playback singers of that time were heard everywhere. LP record was the main vehicle for Hindi film soundtracks. Some of the female voices who ruled the roost at that time and later were Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, and so on.

• South Indian playback singers

T. M. Soundararajan , G. Venkateswara Rao, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. J. Yesudas, P. Susheeka, S. Janaki, L.R. Eswari, Vani Jairam, P. Leela and many more were famous in that period.

All of them became household names and their LP records were played everywhere.

• Western influence:

The LP format also enabled the Western pop and rock to flood the Indian market.

Owning an LP record at home became the ultimate status symbol. It signaled sophistication and modernity.

How it looked

The record player itself was a large wooden cabinet with a manual tonearm.

The standard LP record was 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter. They were designed to spin on a turntable at 33 1/2 revolutions per minute (RPM). Each side could be played for 20-25 minutes.

It was a flat black disk with concentric circles. The needle fixed on one edge of the table would be placed at the outermost circle. The innermost section near the label was the ‘run-out’ groove to catch the needle after the final track ended.

There was a paper circle in the centre containing the album art, tracklist and speed info. This was not glued on but placed into the hot vinyl puck and pressed directly into the plastic, bonding with it permanently.

Listening to the LP record

Owners would slide the heavy black disc out of its sleeve. This was treated with a great deal of care since the slighest scratch would spoil the record. Dropping it meant the record would break. Once out of the sleeve, the grooves were dusted and the needle was wiped before placing it gently onto the spinning platter.

Friends and families would sit around the record to listen to the music with undivided attention.

Current Status

The Gramophone Company of India has evolved into Saregama India Ltd. They do not manufacture physical records at their plant in Calcultta, but they have the largest catalogue of vintage Indian music.

Polydor of India transferred its assets to Music India Ltd. in 1976. This later became part of the Universal Music Group. They, too have a huge collection of Indian music of that era.

Modern collectors

There are some physical records created by these two companies for the modern collector’s market.

India is now experiencing a huge vinyl resurgence. Turntables are appearing everywhere in cafes and homes. However, clean Bollywood records are scarce now and command high prices.

While writing this blog, I was reliving some of the experiencs of that time and also the sheer joy and excitement of going to a HMV shop and getting a record. The question that came to my mind, though, was: why this resurgence of the vinyl records? Are people harassed by the too-fast paced life and want to live life a little slower?

I would love to hear your comments and thoughts.