The Sound Of The Hound
The Sound of the Hound is a podcast series about the people and the technology that brought recorded music to the masses in Victorian London and beyond. In it, journalist and author James Hall and music industry executive Dave Holley chronicle the adventures of the early sound pioneers as they risked life and limb to capture sound and launch the music business as we know it today. In particular, the series focuses on a genius called Fred Gaisberg. The world’s first A&R man, Fred was a nineteenth century amalgam of Steve Jobs, Simon Cowell and Indiana Jones. He travelled by cart, cargo ship and camel – from London to Italy and from Japan to India – in search of intriguing music. His – and others’ – stories have to be heard to be believed. The Sound of the Hound is brought to you by EMI Archive Trust.
James Hall is a music journalist and author. As well as being one of The Daily Telegraph’s rock and pop critics, he has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The FT and The Observer. James’s novel about the birth of the recorded music industry in 1890s London — The Industry of Human Happiness— was published in 2018. James’s prize possession is a very battered, very loud gramophone-in-a-suitcase from the 1920s. His neighbours are equally enamoured of it.
Dave Holley is a music business suit. He ran EMI's recording studios, including Abbey Road and Capitol Studios, and remains a trustee of The EMI Archive Trust. He is currently CEO of Wise Music Group one of the world's leading independent music publishers. If you hear a dog in the background of the podcast that is Dave's labrador Leo who joins us for the recordings, dozing as we speak. He occassionally talks in his sleep.
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- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 41 minutes
- Episodes
- 20
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2021
#20 Simon Blumlein
In a bonus episode to round off Series 2, Dave and James talk to Simon Blumlein about his father Alan Dower Blumlein, the extraordinary man who among others things invented stereo sound.
Alan Dower Bl…
#19 Giles Martin
This series of The Sound of the Hound ends with an interview with Giles Martin, the Grammy-winning record producer and son of Beatles producer Sir George. With this episode it feels as though we’ve c…
#18 Adelina Patti
Bonkers, basically. The story of opera singer Adelina Patti is one of the most eye-popping of all the tales we explore in this series. The saga starts in Madrid, where Patti was born in 1843, before …
#17 Nellie Melba
Melba toast. Peach Melba. Melba sauce. Why are we listing foodstuffs (and sounding a bit like Alan Partridge in the process)? Because they are all named after the subject of this episode of The Sound…
#16 William Barry Owen
With these episodes focusing on the life and work of the mighty Fred Gaisberg, we may have given the impression that he was his own boss. That would be wrong. Working for The Gramophone Company in Lo…
#15 Sinkler Darby
Every hero has a sidekick. And in this episode we tell the story of Fred’s wingman, the wonderfully named William Sinkler Darby. Five years Fred’s junior, fellow American Sinkler was by his boss’s si…
#14 Feodor Chaliapin
In this episode we look at the epic – and we mean epic – story of Russian bass singer Feodor Chaliapin. The singer’s relationship with Fred spanned decades, continents, wars and revolutions. It is a …
#13 Emma Calve
Diva alert! In episode four, Holley and Hall tell the story of the recording of one of opera’s greatest characters, Emma Calvé. Basking in the glory of having captured the voice of the mighty Enrico …
#12 To Japan
After India, Fred goes to the Far East. But when he arrives in Tokyo in January 1903, he is rocked by some terrible family news. Stuck on the other side of the world, Fred does what he’s done countle…
#11 To India
It’s late summer 1902. Fred heads to Tilbury Docks to board the steamer SS Coromandel and set sail for India. His objective? “To open up new markets, establish agencies, and acquire a catalogue of na…
#10 Fred's plaque
Fred’s back! And he’s got a plaque! The first episode of Series Two of The Sound of the Hound covers the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on the wall of Europe’s first recording studio, opened by …
#9 Interview with Joe Boyd
#8 James Hall on The Industry of Human Happiness
#7 The Caruso breakthrough
#6 The last castrato
#5 Russian revolutions (part two)
#4 Russian revolutions (part one)
#3 The first propaganda record
#2 Syria Lamonte, the world’s first female recording star