Re: [ARSCLIST] Soviet Recordings - MK

[Steven Smolian <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>]

MK was the Russian state publishing house.  It did paper and records. The 
woman who headed it was the only female member of the Politburo, if memory 
serves.  I don't recall her name at the moment.   Records they administered 
were marketed under various names, both within and extranal to the Soviet 
Union.  The same record under different labels often included the name of 
the pressing plant as part of the label design- remember, the USSR covered 
11 time zones.

The jacket smell was usually fish glue.  When I worked at Leeds, the room 
with the Soviet printed music had a distinct odor.

The Artia MKs were pressed in the US under license.

The material was copyright-free until the Russians joined the international 
agreement covering this right- I don't remember the year.  Though many 
issues were dubbed, one had to pay to get use of the master tape copies. 
Those I handled were on the Telefunken-type rich orange tape which shed 
powder as it played.  They were equalized strangely and some of the lousy 
sounding issues from these tapes were because the mastering facility didn't 
have the proper eq or, in some cases, even have been aware it needed it. 
Some came in "B" wound.

Steve Smolian


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Punto" <punto@xxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 1:10 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Soviet Recordings - MK


> Where in the scheme of things does MK (Mezhdurodnaya Kniga?) fit in? I 
> have seen a number of discs on this label, but don't know if it is related 
> in some way to Melodiya or not. I think I saw some that were MK - Artia 
> and there was some western label or labels that licensed MK material.
>
> I am finding that this thread is stoking my nostalgia. I used to haunt the 
> Four Continents and treasure those LPs housed in thin, flimsy, unglossy 
> cardboard which even had a distinctive vegetative odor that they emitted 
> (anyone else ever notice this or is it just me?). I snatched up discs 
> devoted to Levko Kolodub and Murad Kazhlayev and the like largely because 
> I couldn't possibly resist the allure of the names themselves.
>
> Peter Hirsch
>
> Tom Fine wrote:
> > Here's one:
> > http://www.musicdirect.com/product/78137
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Natalie Zelensky" 
> > <nzelensky@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:09 AM
> > Subject: [ARSCLIST] Soviet Recordings
> >
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I am trying to gather information on the early distribution of Soviet 
> > recordings in the US.
> >
> > 1.  What was the first recording of Soviet songs that was released in the 
> > US? (year?; label? contents?)
> >
> > 2.  I also am trying to find more information regarding subsequent 
> > distribution of recordings of Soviet songs in the US.  (Labels?; 
> > History?; Would the companies simply copy from eachother and resell under 
> > their respective labels?).  Based on my research in American and 
> > Russian-American papers, it appears that Stinson and the "Am-Rus Music 
> > Corporation" were the first distributors of these records - is this true? 
> > Does anyone know anything else about this "Am-Rus" company?
> >
> > 3.  Could anyone tell me more about the "World's Fair" recording. 
> > (Year?; Contents?; Performers?).
> >
> > 4.  Does anyone have any suggestions for sources about early Soviet 
> > recordigs in the US?
> >
> > Thank you very much.
> >
> > N. Zelensky
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Windows Live Hotmail and Microsoft Office Outlook – together at last. Get 
> > it now.
> > http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102225181033.aspx?pid=CL100626971033
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 
> 269.15.31/1129 - Release Date: 11/13/2007 9:22 PM