A short history of Mo-Fi records
![[Deleted User]](https://w8.vanillicon.com/83b82048d67877ca27bbc25d5d38f9d3_100.png)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 7,658
Hello,
I'm a member of an open reel group and one of the members posted this, you might find it interesting:
"There is nothing off-topic about Mo-Fi. Their recordings were sold by hi-fi shops along side their equipment, as was Sheffield Labs, Crystal Clear, etc. labels. They were marketed just as any other component, and marketing was definitely a big part of the 1970s audio mindset.
What follows are some really old memories, gang...
By the 1970s, LP quality sunk to a really low level and you had to look long and hard to find pre-recorded open reel tapes. (Most of the guys I knew who did those were doing the record club thing for them, and even then it was still rare.) 8-track tapes (ugh) and cassettes (just as bad) were the pre-recorded tape offerings by then.
Keep in mind that nearly all of the tape offerings were high-speed duplicated and can't compare with a one-to-one realtime transfer. Unless you got lucky and caught a dupe house that was really picky about keeping their gear in line and up to snuff, you got a far inferior result. Worse yet, even the best maintained duplicator line was useless if they were shipped a 3rd or 4th-generation "master". No... they didn't use the original 2-track master tape! EMI wasn't likely to ship those Beatles masters from England to the dupe house in California!
Note that the original 2-track master tape, by Mo-Fi's own admission, was not used during the duplication process. They used "a very precise Dolby A copy" based on later inner sleeves.
>What is the general feeling about Mobil Fidelity's products? The few
>recordings I have are excellent but that doesn't tell the whole story.
Mobile Fidelity was created by Brad Miller and Gary Giorgi. As I understand it, Miller started work with a custom 4-track machine made by Carl Countryman doing environmental field recordings back in the very late 1960s. He later allied himself with Phillips and a group called "The Mystic Moods Orchestra" where he began mixing his environmental recordings with these Mantovanni/101 Strings type of music. (the kind of stuff you used to play after that recording of Bolero got old with your girlfriend..... kids, this was a long time ago & one of the *many* things you had to do before you could schtupp her. You kids have it really easy these days!)
I actually have a DJ copy of a Phillips recording of one of those Mystic Moods LPs. Though I can't say for sure, I suspect he couldn't get Phillips to sign on for more releases (four was enough for them) and decided to create his own label. I also supect that he found doing licensed reissues for the high-end market was far more profitable than recordings of choo-choo trains. (The Mo-Fi LP "The Power and the Majesty, and the follow-up "Power and Majesty II" were only a fraction of what he did. I recall some decades back that Mo-Fi tried to sell a limited edition set of all Miller's train recordings for several hundred dollars. It was something like a 30-plus disc set that was sold like a subscription. I *think* it was in the back of Model Railroader, but like I said, it was a long time ago.)
I recall they also had tried to market hot-rodded electronics (to the tune of low 5 figures) for Scully 280B series machines. I recall seeing that in a trade journal, but forget which one.
>Did they ever make open reel tapes?
No.
I do recall that the cassettes were duplicated in realtime using JVC consumer decks that had a single meter on them that averaged both channels, but with spectrum analysis. I have a DSOTM tape they did, and it is pretty darned good... though it can't compare with the UHQR on my turntable rig.
> They had a GREAT alignment LP and Cassette. (GeoDisc and Geotape)
They worked well. They also used to sell some very nice anti-static inner sleeves as well.
> They're all first rate reissues, but it seems to me that the major
>labels finally started to cramp Mo-Fi's style a little in the 1990's as
>they could generate their own specialty audiophile pressings of just
>about any title they want to.
Yep. That was about when they changed hands the first time.
> Their Pink Floyd DSOTM is pretty sweet, too.
They first did that in 1977/78 by my memory. That was the first release that got them serious attention, bt at the time they had less than 10 discs in their offerings. I remember a pink full-page ad with black lettering in either High Fidelity or Audio magazine. I have a UHQR of it that came out around the early 1980s.
Really ingenious guys Miller and Giorgi were. They saw a big hole in the market, and filled it to the point where it took the major labels over ten years to get their act together (read: cost per unit was cheap enough) and respond with their own product. Best part was they did it with technology that existed easily a minimum of 8 years before.... stuff that JVC did for quadraphonic discs. (though Decca was doing 1/2 speed mastering long before that.) US pressings couldn't compete thanks to style guys, unions, and OSHA rulings that prevented the use of stuff like JVC Super Vynil, so they just pressed them abroad.
There were a few other labels that tried the half-speed mastered/high quality vynil game early on, but they didn't get very far, despite predatory pricing tactics. ($10 and change compared to $12-$15 and change for Mo-Fi LPs.) CBS and A&M come to mind here. They just didn't have the name recognition and market penetration that was built up on an exceptional product that Mo-Fi did.
I remember they had an "Original Masters Society" they used to send a newsletter out to. I still have all of those buried with the LPs. They used it to announce new releases. Too bad they didn't keep it up as a newsletter is a great marketing tool to keep a loyal following. Once they ran a contest and I won 3rd place. I still have the 4ftx4ft thick cardboard poster of the Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers" cover that they sent me. They even had good sales swag! One of these days I'm going to get it mounted to a good matte and frame it for over the bed."
I'm a member of an open reel group and one of the members posted this, you might find it interesting:
"There is nothing off-topic about Mo-Fi. Their recordings were sold by hi-fi shops along side their equipment, as was Sheffield Labs, Crystal Clear, etc. labels. They were marketed just as any other component, and marketing was definitely a big part of the 1970s audio mindset.
What follows are some really old memories, gang...
By the 1970s, LP quality sunk to a really low level and you had to look long and hard to find pre-recorded open reel tapes. (Most of the guys I knew who did those were doing the record club thing for them, and even then it was still rare.) 8-track tapes (ugh) and cassettes (just as bad) were the pre-recorded tape offerings by then.
Keep in mind that nearly all of the tape offerings were high-speed duplicated and can't compare with a one-to-one realtime transfer. Unless you got lucky and caught a dupe house that was really picky about keeping their gear in line and up to snuff, you got a far inferior result. Worse yet, even the best maintained duplicator line was useless if they were shipped a 3rd or 4th-generation "master". No... they didn't use the original 2-track master tape! EMI wasn't likely to ship those Beatles masters from England to the dupe house in California!
Note that the original 2-track master tape, by Mo-Fi's own admission, was not used during the duplication process. They used "a very precise Dolby A copy" based on later inner sleeves.
>What is the general feeling about Mobil Fidelity's products? The few
>recordings I have are excellent but that doesn't tell the whole story.
Mobile Fidelity was created by Brad Miller and Gary Giorgi. As I understand it, Miller started work with a custom 4-track machine made by Carl Countryman doing environmental field recordings back in the very late 1960s. He later allied himself with Phillips and a group called "The Mystic Moods Orchestra" where he began mixing his environmental recordings with these Mantovanni/101 Strings type of music. (the kind of stuff you used to play after that recording of Bolero got old with your girlfriend..... kids, this was a long time ago & one of the *many* things you had to do before you could schtupp her. You kids have it really easy these days!)
I actually have a DJ copy of a Phillips recording of one of those Mystic Moods LPs. Though I can't say for sure, I suspect he couldn't get Phillips to sign on for more releases (four was enough for them) and decided to create his own label. I also supect that he found doing licensed reissues for the high-end market was far more profitable than recordings of choo-choo trains. (The Mo-Fi LP "The Power and the Majesty, and the follow-up "Power and Majesty II" were only a fraction of what he did. I recall some decades back that Mo-Fi tried to sell a limited edition set of all Miller's train recordings for several hundred dollars. It was something like a 30-plus disc set that was sold like a subscription. I *think* it was in the back of Model Railroader, but like I said, it was a long time ago.)
I recall they also had tried to market hot-rodded electronics (to the tune of low 5 figures) for Scully 280B series machines. I recall seeing that in a trade journal, but forget which one.
>Did they ever make open reel tapes?
No.
I do recall that the cassettes were duplicated in realtime using JVC consumer decks that had a single meter on them that averaged both channels, but with spectrum analysis. I have a DSOTM tape they did, and it is pretty darned good... though it can't compare with the UHQR on my turntable rig.
> They had a GREAT alignment LP and Cassette. (GeoDisc and Geotape)
They worked well. They also used to sell some very nice anti-static inner sleeves as well.
> They're all first rate reissues, but it seems to me that the major
>labels finally started to cramp Mo-Fi's style a little in the 1990's as
>they could generate their own specialty audiophile pressings of just
>about any title they want to.
Yep. That was about when they changed hands the first time.
> Their Pink Floyd DSOTM is pretty sweet, too.
They first did that in 1977/78 by my memory. That was the first release that got them serious attention, bt at the time they had less than 10 discs in their offerings. I remember a pink full-page ad with black lettering in either High Fidelity or Audio magazine. I have a UHQR of it that came out around the early 1980s.
Really ingenious guys Miller and Giorgi were. They saw a big hole in the market, and filled it to the point where it took the major labels over ten years to get their act together (read: cost per unit was cheap enough) and respond with their own product. Best part was they did it with technology that existed easily a minimum of 8 years before.... stuff that JVC did for quadraphonic discs. (though Decca was doing 1/2 speed mastering long before that.) US pressings couldn't compete thanks to style guys, unions, and OSHA rulings that prevented the use of stuff like JVC Super Vynil, so they just pressed them abroad.
There were a few other labels that tried the half-speed mastered/high quality vynil game early on, but they didn't get very far, despite predatory pricing tactics. ($10 and change compared to $12-$15 and change for Mo-Fi LPs.) CBS and A&M come to mind here. They just didn't have the name recognition and market penetration that was built up on an exceptional product that Mo-Fi did.
I remember they had an "Original Masters Society" they used to send a newsletter out to. I still have all of those buried with the LPs. They used it to announce new releases. Too bad they didn't keep it up as a newsletter is a great marketing tool to keep a loyal following. Once they ran a contest and I won 3rd place. I still have the 4ftx4ft thick cardboard poster of the Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers" cover that they sent me. They even had good sales swag! One of these days I'm going to get it mounted to a good matte and frame it for over the bed."
Post edited by [Deleted User] on
Comments
-
Thanks Ken.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Great read, thanks Ken.
Sticky Fingers cover mounted over the bed, eh?
Man, I don't even know WHERE to start with that.
BDTI plan for the future. - F1Nut -
Thanks Ken....great read. This is the kind of stuff that just facinates me. Anything related to audio history is good stuff.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Very interesting!
Ken, I don't know if you saw the last post in this thread?
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35793
Doug (dkg999) may have some interesting original masters (on what sound like NAB hub reels). Any suggestions on how to create copies from them? -
Hello,
I thought you gents might find that interesting. I'm pretty sure I can play just about any open reel format and any speed. If not I've got some serious open reel friends who have been in the recording business and can be trusted. I don't have a way to turn them into CDs but I have another friend who is very capable at doing that. I'm sure we can make something happen. Could be neat! keep me posted.
Have fun, Ken
