Sounds, Pictures, Brontosauruses!

I've learned a lot of things from listening to records. But my earliest experiences with vinyl recordings were with storybook 7" read-along records. My mother bought them for me because she had read somewhere that they would foster a love of reading in preschool aged children.

Yes, I did eventually learn to read in school, but I think what these early record experiences mainly fostered in me was a fascination with the Audio/Visual world. We didn't have a TV when I was in preschool. Or at least I don't recall watching it much, as most of the programs were probably actual grown-up humans (not cartoons or animals) talking and using long words I didn't understand... which didn't interest me when I was 2-4 years old.

These storybook records were different... Slightly more interactive, slightly more Skinnerian in their "turn the page when you hear the chime" design. It was fun to have that simple task and to be rewarded with a new illustration, or to hear the next part of the story. Honestly, I don't think I paid much attention to the text. It was upstaged by the illustrations, the music, the sound effects and the sounds/tones of the narrator's voice or voice actors. 

Perhaps I would have actually done more "reading-along" if there was some sort of pop-up-book device or a "karaoke bouncing ball" hitting the words on time... but that tech wouldn't arrive until much later. 

Still, I would escape into the little universes on these storybook records for hours. It was one of my favorite pastimes as a pre-schooler. 

I had a small collection of these book/records by the time I was 4. Some were based on classic fables, others adapted from popular films, but the ones I enjoyed the most were the scientific/educational ones where I could learn about space, physics and dinosaurs.

I'm often asked in interviews if I had to choose between making music or drawing, which would it be? The answer is I would be very lost if I had to quit either of them. The audio and visual worlds are pretty inseparable in my mind.  It's probably due to the countless hours I spent with these storybook records in my early years!

In the recording studio, visual narratives/characters often (actually, always!) guide my music making process.  Similarly, music is always playing when I'm at my drawing desk. It keeps me  focused and somehow helps balance the tone/pacing in the comic strip panels. 

The A/V device pictured above actually predates my childhood. I grew up in the Fisher Price record player era, whereas the device in the photos is a General Electric Picturesound Show N Tell (1960s). It had a mini screen and record player built into it. The record would come with a flat cardboard strip which held a piece of slide film with the images on it. You would advance to the next slide image when cued from the record. I learned about the existence of this device when I was at a flea market years ago and have been digging for them ever since... as you know, I'm nostalgic for audio tech from before my time, or generally interested in audio devices from any era for that matter. For me, it was the turntable equivalent of finding a fossilized dinosaur tooth! (which also happened once while walking through Drumheller, Alberta on a family trip!!)

Nowadays, there are digital tablets and all kinds of wonderful things to access the same stories and information. I see my children using them and being captivated in the same way.

When I look at the 1960s Picturesound Show N Tell, it's amusing to me that it can play at so many different speeds including 16rpm, 45rpm and even 78rpm?? I mean, most professional DJ turntables can't even do that! Plus, all the Show N Tell records are cut at 33rpm. I guess they put that 78rpm feature there for the kids who were really in a hurry and just wanted the information quick.

Kind of like hitting the "skip ad" button or playing back an online lecture at 2x speed. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Also, Some of you probably didn't know what Skinnerian meant and had to Google it.

See what I did there? LOL

Eric

**PS: I just read an article saying the Brontosaurus never really existed. What?!! Be right back I have to go rewire my inner child's archeological brain.