Pages

▼

Thursday 3 March 2011

RAILWAY RECORDING BOOTHS

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.
at

10 comments:

  1. Tenacious Dee3 March 2011 at 11:31

    ive heard tales of guys squeezing in with a a couple of acoustics beltin out a few tunes :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. RETRO DUNDEE3 March 2011 at 14:30

    If it was The Ramones, they'd be able to knock out 3 tracks in one session!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Historian5 March 2011 at 15:16

    Am sure I used one of these at Butlin's Ayr and the disc that popped out was a flexi disc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown24 June 2018 at 07:52

      Yes but ins had them they were very floppy great fun

      Delete
  4. Stoo6 March 2011 at 08:48

    I have a disc from one of these somewhere sent to me by my Cousins in the 60's, its as rigid as a 78rpm

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1 August 2012 at 05:17

    Charing 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.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rosie23 February 2013 at 16:24

    I 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?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous15 March 2013 at 01:35

    I 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!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous22 August 2014 at 04:40

    I made one record and sent home ( Hong Kong) from London as late as 1971.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Unknown13 February 2022 at 15:22

    There was one at Liverpool Street Station and us girls from work all crammed into one and made a record.

    ReplyDelete