Dundee used to have a Recording Booth (like the one above) at the rail station in the 60's and 70's.
Just like a photo booth, you'd plonk your coin in the slot, but instead of posing for some snaps, you'd start speaking.
The idea was that those who were travelling could send a voice message from the location they were visiting - a bit like a sonic postcard!
2/6 (13p) for a 3 minute recording at the standard speed of 45rpm.
Mind you, it was also put to use by the locals from time to time.
Yvonne J (Susan Childe from The Flamingos) was telling me that when she was a young teenager she once popped into the booth and recorded a full song - a bit of a precursor to her later years in proper recording studios.
The booth in the picture isn't the Dundee one, but I'm sure every main town in Britain had one back then.
I guess they must have been phased-out some time in the mid/late 70's.
ive heard tales of guys squeezing in with a a couple of acoustics beltin out a few tunes :)
ReplyDeleteIf it was The Ramones, they'd be able to knock out 3 tracks in one session!
ReplyDeleteAm sure I used one of these at Butlin's Ayr and the disc that popped out was a flexi disc.
ReplyDeleteYes but ins had them they were very floppy great fun
DeleteI have a disc from one of these somewhere sent to me by my Cousins in the 60's, its as rigid as a 78rpm
ReplyDeleteCharing Cross station in London had one in the sixties, It cost me a weeks pocket money to cut my disc, and it was a floppy disc..not a hard one! Couldn't wait to get home and play it on my record player.
ReplyDeleteI remember me and my pal made a recording and it was a floppy record,I'm sure it was at Butlins Skegness. We sang "She's Leaving Home" by the Beatles.Must've been about 1967, would that be about right?
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I found these comments, as a little girl I remember my dad singing in one on a station in London. But whenever I mention it, no-one remembers recording booths. Thought I had imagined them!
ReplyDeleteI made one record and sent home ( Hong Kong) from London as late as 1971.
ReplyDeleteThere was one at Liverpool Street Station and us girls from work all crammed into one and made a record.
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