05/4/2011 6:55 am  #1


Redmond Nostalgia

I was very sorry to read in the latest issue of "Bing" magazine of the demise of Redmond Nostalgia. Over the past few years, Redmond has provided - along with John McNicholas' "Jonzo" series, the subsequent "Through The Years" issues and the treasure-trove of releases courtesy of BCE - one of the richest sources of Crosby material available in recent years to collectors such as myself. I was gradually acquiring all of the Redmond Crosby issues and was very sorry not to be able to complete that project before Redmond stopped - for whatever reason - offering them for sale. I hadn't really kept track of the site after that and now, of course, I wish that I had. I would very much like to be able to offer David Kiner a personal "thank you" for the opportunity he provided to enhance my collection. If anyone out there has a personal e-mail address which they would - with permission - be willing to share, I would be very grateful.
All of Redmond's releases - not only the Bing material - were of an extremely high audio quality, in many cases transferred from original masters. I would be very interested to know the fate of these masters if anyone has any info...

 

06/4/2011 11:52 am  #2


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

jeremyrose wrote:

I was very sorry to read in the latest issue of "Bing" magazine of the demise of Redmond Nostalgia.  - - -
- - - I would be very interested to know the fate of these masters if anyone has any info...

A sorry loss indeed, and it would be reassuring to know if the masters are being preserved in good hands.

For what it is worth, gazing into my personal crystal ball, I think it likely that we may see issues of the song content from many of the later programmes from Crosby family sources. We now know that many of the General Electric sequence at least were pre-recorded for the shows and survive in excellent quality, and we have had examples of a few.

I presume that such issues will depend on the success or otherwise of the issues last year and possibly on the future of Collector's Choice, the direction of which seems to be the subject of some sort of question. I know nothing of the success of the issues but I have seen nothing but favourable comment both among fans and the wider musical community.

However many of Bing's fans do hanker after the complete radio shows, particularly those with major guest artists where Bing's ability with 'off the cuff' repartee came to the fore, and some of the duets performed with them are far better heard in the context of the show. I for one would wish that it might be possible that these shows could continue to be available. They will never ever sell in vast quantities but a permanent library with access for suitable paid downloads would preserve and make available for all, this part of Bing's considerable legacy.

Last edited by Richard Baker (06/4/2011 10:21 pm)

 

09/4/2011 2:31 pm  #3


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

I totally agree with Richard that making complete radio shows available for download is probably the only way these shows might ever be available in the future. I have absolutely no idea of the technical problems or costs involved in making material available for download, but I do a fair bit of downloading of (mainly) classical music from various sources (not only i-tunes) and it is a quick and easy process - even for someone like myself with very limited computer skills!

Thanks to Redmond, we know that a fair number of these shows survive in excellent sound quality, and it seems a great shame that they're not being made available.

     Thread Starter
 

10/4/2011 6:21 pm  #4


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

There are so many different interests making up the 'Crosby Community'. Some like the songs and Bing's interpretation, but in the context of the radio shows, many appreciate the overall environment in which they were presented - the narrative leading up to them, the jokes and the 'dramatics' surrounding them (many of those with Judy Garland are hilarious), and even the serious references relating to the events of the time.

I for one repeatedly return to the 'middle' and late KMH shows, the  Philcos and the early Chesterfields, - I am even quite addicted to the really rather awful 'Sound off for Chesterfield' ditty.

Many of the radio versions of Bing's hits have something special about them as well, whether the addition of a special guest, some new 'off the cuff' lyrics, an aside, or even a 'fluff' which combine to add something to the entertainment value.

 

20/5/2011 4:47 pm  #5


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

I was so glad I was able to complete my collection of Bing Crosby Radio Shows  from Redmond Nostalgia before its demise on Dec 15th 2010. The Masters still remain with the Kiner family the last I heard.

 

09/6/2015 12:46 am  #6


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

I am curious whether anyone has a catalog or list, preferably a soft copy, of the Redmond Nostalgia CDs which featured Bing. I am curious to see what they had available in their heyday.

I was disappointed when Redmond Nostalgia closed. At the time I was concentrating on Bing's commercial recordings, buying the Chronological and Through the Years series, figuring I would get around to the radio shows later (although I had purchased some of the better compilations of songs and excerpts from the radio shows). So, they closed before I had a chance to take advantage of their catalog.

Since BCE has excellent quality sources for many of the later shows, I am hoping they will make an extensive catalog of the full shows available for download at some point.

 

15/6/2015 3:09 pm  #7


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

There must be a place in Music Heaven for small recording operations who did their best to keep putting out recordings of interest to collectors when bigger or more "legitimate" operations were serving such audiences much less, if at all.  We all know that Redmond and earlier operations of this sort were largely run on love, since there were no big bucks to be made from such efforts.

Last edited by Steve Fay (15/6/2015 3:10 pm)

 

15/6/2015 5:45 pm  #8


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

I'm still kicking myself for not completeing my purchases of all the 400+ Bing releases that Redmond offered. I amassed app. 250 CDs - all the KMH, Philco, Chesterfield, and GE releases, together with a fair selection of the Lux Radio Theatre releases, radio specials, out-takes, rehearsal tracks, etc...
The stuff that I frustratingly missed contained some absolute gems which I've never seen available elsewhere. I've got a hard copy of the Redmond "Bing" list which I printed off from the web-site but not a "soft" copy, I'm afraid...
It shouldn't be forgotten that the Bing releases - although a major part of the Redmond releases - comprised only a part of that amazing catalogue. I also bought about 20 CDs of the Gordon MacRae "Railroad Hour" productions of classic musicals.
A sadly-missed resource...

     Thread Starter
 

15/6/2015 7:37 pm  #9


Re: Redmond Nostalgia

It definitely is. I probably have 70 of their CDs. Everything from Bing to big bands. They the complete collection of Buddy Clark that I wish I would have gotten as well. Maybe we can trade items. Let me know.

 

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