Young People's Records and Children's Record Guild were the first
commercially significant record clubs in the world. By applying proven
book club methods to the field of phonograph records, these two related
companies attracted some hundred thousand subscribers at their peak and
serviced perhaps a million members in their existence. Revolutionizing
Children's Records: The Young People's Records and Children's Record
Guild Series, 1946-1977 tells the history of YPR/CRG, explaining how
these two labels intersected important developments in the histories of
mass marketing, recording technology, educational philosophy, folk
music, contemporary composition, and Cold War politics. David Bonner
covers in detail the history of YPR/CRG, tracing its influences back to
the beginnings of music education in the 19th Century and incorporating
the impact of the American folk music revival on music educators. The
narrative follows the career paths of the company principals, such as
its progressive founder Horace Grenell; the musicians who recorded for
him, like American folk music revival pioneer Tom Glazer; and the record
industry offshoots they created in the process. Bonner considers
advances the club made in recording technology as the first record label
devoted exclusively to "unbreakable" vinyl discs and provides a
comprehensive summary of record club marketing, including the
application of "music appreciation" to phonograph records. He also
charts the commercial, critical, and political response to these
endeavors, including an historical footnote to the "Red Scare"
unavailable in existing Cold War literature. A complete and detailed
discography listing every YPR and CRG recording, including all known
writers and performers, concludes this excellent reference for scholars,
nostalgists, and phonographic fanatics.
