Yesterday I posted on arranger Billy May's Bill's Bag (1963). Today, let's have a look at May, the actor. In the promotional film below called Wanna Buy a Record? (1951), Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, plays a greasy record store owner who tries to cajole May's dim character into buying a record.
Some context. The reason Blanc struggles to interest passers-by in records is a result of the "speed war" taking place at the time. The 33 1/3 LP was unveiled by Columbia in 1948 and RCA countered in 1949 with the 45. The two giants battled over which format would dominate. The LP was a logical shoe-in, but RCA hung in there with its concept of selling multiple 45s as an album. Then, in 1952, the label's classical stars voiced their displeasure over the 45's fidelity and threatened to defect to Columbia.
Faced with a sharp drop in revenue, RCA grudgingly adopted the LP, leaving the 45 to flounder as a children's format at all labels and then, by extension, became the unbreakable format of R&B and rock 'n' roll. During this period, between 1949 and 1952, sales of LPs and 45s plummeted along with sales of record changers with the new speeds. Americans thought the 78 was perfectly fine and viewed the new formats as a gimmicky way for record companies to con them into spending money unnecessarily. Hence Blanc's struggle and Capitol's attempt to shore up its image.
In the film, we get a glimpse of Capitol's old executive offices at 1507 Vine Street above Wallich's Music City (below). Then, to convince May that records are cool, the pair tour Capitol's old Melrose Studios at 5515 Melrose Avenue (above) and the company's Scranton, Pa., plant. There's also a weirdly gruesome ending. Whether or not May was inebriated during the film's shooting remains unknown.
Also interesting, the film was made four years before Britain's EMI acquired Capitol and five years before the iconic, cylindrical Capitol Tower was completed by EMI. Best of all, we get to see the seemingly endless steps needed to make a record back in the early 1950s. Today, you can record an album on your home computer. Back then, you needed Frankenstein's laboratory and hundreds of workers. Given the toxic sprays, lethal chemicals and scant protection, it's a wonder anyone lived to work another day. Just watching the process induces a rash.
Here's Wanna Buy a Record?...
