Desert Lover - Ray Starita and his Ambassadors video free download


359
Duration: 03:05
Uploaded: 2014/12/14

Why did Ray Starita leave Columbia? A question I once asked Sandy Forbes. He replied "Columbia left him!". It was a downward move but not unique in dance band circles. For Starita collectors today know that almost all his Sterno issues are difficult to find. I have seen it noted more than once that Sterno records were only available at Marks and Spencer. This is not the case and I've shown a record cover from c.1930 which clearly shows Sterno were available from some gramophone and record dealers. It is possible that this may have changed from the time Starita joined Sterno at the beginning of 1932 as Sterno recordings from then until their demise in 1935 are generally more elusive. This particular record would have been in a Sterno dealers shop.

Vocal chorus by Sid Buckman

Recorded 5th January 1932.

Comments

10 years ago

Mike Thomas

Your record sleeve is a bit earlier as it also mentions Piccadilly records which went out of business in 1932. Still, it is true that the later Sternos are hard to find.

10 years ago

Henry Parsons

Fantastic record and great to see and hear such an interesting rarity. I hope we'll be treated to the other one seen in the video at some point! Unusual to hear Sid Buckman without Billy Cotton or Roy Fox - do you suppose he was moonlighting on trumpet for this session and was asked to sing the vocal? I seem to recall hearing that Ray Starita's band at this time was resident at a hotel in Bloomsbury and didn't contain a brass section (which would explain the presence of Buckman and Nat Gonella on his records even though they were both playing with Roy Fox at the time.)

10 years ago

foxtrotgin

Wow ... This is a lovely treat! I'm a big fan of Starita. Thank you for posting!!

10 years ago

Paal's Records

A very pleasant recording! Always good to hear one of Ray Starita's Sterno recordings, although the quality is a far cry from his previous employer. 

10 years ago

Alex McKenna

I've always assumed until 1932 Vocalion - and then Crystalate - had M&S sewn up, with other Division 2 and 3 labels like Sterno, Winner and Piccadilly being sold mainly in smaller independent music, radio and cycle stores. I imagine things further down the pecking order, like World Echo were sold in street markets or wherever they could unload the discs :-) It seems W H Smiths also handled Broadcast 8" records early on, but I've no idea how long they carried the label... Somebody should do the research on this... not me!

Related Videos