Re: [ARSCLIST] The dawn of commercial digital recordings

[David Lewis <davlew@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

2. what were some of the early Denon recordings and were they released on LP
in the USA? Were these 
earliest digital recordings ever put out on CD?

I vaguely remember seeing an early Denon digital LP in my collection -
something got from a library sale - but no idea what it was and when it was
from, probably the 1980s. They did have some LPs in the US.

3. Soundstream made what is widely called the first US commercial digital
recording at Santa Fe in 
1976. What was the LP generated from this recording (title, performers,
label)? Was this ever 
reissued on CD?

There are all sorts of claims and candidates for this distinction, or
something like it. Celestial Harmonies claims the first all-digital remote
recording at:

http://www.harmonies.com/companyhistory.html

Telarc claims that Kunzel and the Cincinnati Symphony's "Overture 1812" was
the first all-digital classical recording in the US - I'm not sure if it was
issued in 1977 or 1978. It was definitely the first one I'd ever seen, but I
lived in Cincinnati at the time, so... 


4. Was Ry Cooder's "Bop Til You Drop" the first created-in-studio
multi-tracked rock album to be 
done all-digital? What were some other early all-digital rock albums?

"Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac (1979) was a very important one; the fact that it
was all digital was picked up by the press and that led to a strong
anticipation for the album. I'm sure it charted, but I'm not sure it made it
to No. 1, as in addition to being a pioneering effort and a splendid album
it was also the most challenging and uncharacteristic LP that Fleetwood Mac
ever made, and audience interest in the thing did drop off rather rapidly.

5. What was the first all-digital (digital basic tracks, digital master)
recording to hit #1 on the 
Billboard charts?

I hope this next request is taken in the proper spirit -- answers of facts
only please. Citations would be most appreciated.

Sorry - most of this is from personal memories and experience, though those
of someone who was working in a record store in these years.


David N. Lewis
Assistant Classical Editor, All Music Guide

Maybe music was not intended to satisfy the curious definiteness of man.
Maybe it is better to hope that music may always be transcendental language
in the most extravagant sense. ~ Charles Ives


-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tom Fine
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 7:18 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ARSCLIST] The dawn of commercial digital recordings

Hi All:

I'm working up an article on the early days of digital recording, back in ye
days of digital-to-LP 
recording. A few questions, which I'm hoping some collectors and
discographers on this list will 
have answers to:

1. as far as I can tell, the first system used to make an all-digital
recording released on LP was 
the Nippon Columbia/Denon system, developed in 1973. I guess the first
question is, true or false on 
Denon being first?

2. what were some of the early Denon recordings and were they released on LP
in the USA? Were these 
earliest digital recordings ever put out on CD?

3. Soundstream made what is widely called the first US commercial digital
recording at Santa Fe in 
1976. What was the LP generated from this recording (title, performers,
label)? Was this ever 
reissued on CD?

4. Was Ry Cooder's "Bop Til You Drop" the first created-in-studio
multi-tracked rock album to be 
done all-digital? What were some other early all-digital rock albums?

5. What was the first all-digital (digital basic tracks, digital master)
recording to hit #1 on the 
Billboard charts?

I hope this next request is taken in the proper spirit -- answers of facts
only please. Citations 
would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance to all the experts on this list.

-- Tom Fine