Today in Music (1954): The transistor radio introduced.

October 18, 1954 The transistor radio was introduced.

“The idea of taking information and entertainment out of the living room all started with the transistor.” DTN The radio was once a large piece of furniture that took up the role eventually assumed by televisions in that it thrust news, entertainment, and other programming right into the family living room. Those radios used vacuum tubes which were large, cumbersome, and unreliable. DTN In 1945, Bell Laboratories started exploring a new way to amplify electrical current. They developed the transistor, which was patented on June, 30, 1948. DTN It “revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small, but powerful, convenient hand-held devices.” WK At first, their value was mostly for the phone company and “a handful of scientists building computers” PBS but they found wide-spread commercial use when introduced in the first commercial transistor radio – the Regency TR1 – eight years later. The first one was a joint project between Texas Instruments and the Regency Division of Industrial Development Engineering Associates. TI built the transistors while Regency built the radio. On October 18, 1954, the five-inch-high radio was introduced to the market. PBS It revolutionized how people could absorb music because it was now available to anyone, anywhere. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, said, “My first transistor radio…I loved what it could do; it brought me music; it opened my world up.” TH However, at the time the invention wasn’t taken seriously by major radio manufacturers such as RCA. They thought transistors were just novel ideas which would appeal to hobbyists. TH While the Regency radio stopped production in the spring of 1955, it opened the door for other future-minded companies. A Japanese company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo decided to also make radios. Since their company name was unpronounceable to Americans, they renamed the company Sony because of the Latin word “sonus” which meant “sound,” and the phrase “sonny boys,” because it was a reference at the time to bright, young men. PBS Sony introduced their portable radio in 1957. TH For more important days in music history, check out the Dave’s Music Database history page. Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “History Index” DTN Decades TV Network (2016). “Transistor Radio: The Beginning of the Mobile Revolution” PBS PBS.org “Transistor Radios” TH Treehugger.com (2/10/2021). “It’s Sixty Years Since the First Portable Transistor Radio Went on the Market and Started a Revolution” by Lloyd Alter WK Wikipedia.org “Transistor radio” First posted 10/6/2023.

The compact disc (CD) was introduced.

October 1, 1982 The compact disc (CD) introduced.

American physicist James Russell was an avid music listener. He was frustrated with how the stylus on a record player caused wear and tear on vinyl records. He realized he could eliminate the contact between the stylus and the record by using a light to read the music without actually touching the disk. He patented the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system in 1970. He could not, however, find any investors interested in developing it for the consumer market. HC In 1975, Phillips Electronics representatives visited Russell’s lab and determined that his equipment would work for data storage, but not audio or video. They had just released a laser disc video player and were convinced it could only be done via analog technology. HC However, by the late 1970s both Phillips and Sony were focused on developing new technology which would allow the digital storage and playback of audio and video. By 1979, they announced that they would jointly work to develop what would become the compact disc, or CD. Phillips focused on the physical design of the disc while Sony focused on how to convert analogue recordings to digital. The compact disc was first manufactured in August 1982 and released in October 1982 in Japan. The standard CD was 4.7 inches in diameter and held up to 74 minutes of music. The length came about because of Sony’s insistence that Beethoven’s entire 9th symphony – which ran 74 minutes – should fit on a CD. DW The first CD ever created was The Visitors by Abba. Billy Joel’s 52nd Street was the first commercially available CD album. DW In the United States, the first disc players were available in the United States for about a thousand dollars. DT By 1988, the CD overtook vinyl in sales, DT thanks to its smaller size, durability, and portability. By 1991, it had bested the cassette tape as well DT because of the ease with which one could jump back and forth between tracks. The CD would eventually become the music format of choice, reaching peak sales in 2008 before being overtaken by technology such as mp3s, iTunes, and Spotify. For more important days in music history, check out the Dave’s Music Database history page. Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “History Index” AB ABC Science “Introducing the Amazing Compact Disc | 1982 | Retro vintage 80s technology” DT DigitalTrends.com (2/7/2018). “The Life and Times of the Late, Great CD” by Ryan Waniata DW DiscWizards.com “The history and evolution of the compact disc (CD)” HC History-Computer.com (7/28/2023). “Compact Disc Explained – Everything You Need to Know” by Lisha Pace WK Wikipedia.org “Compact Disc” First posted 9/29/2023.

The Sony Walkman was introduced: July 1, 1979

Originally posted July 1, 2012.

the Walkman TPS-L2, image from Wikipedia.org

The blue-and-silver Walkman pictured above was the first model introduced, going on sale in Japan on July 1, 1979. It hit the U.S. in June 1980. Today the idea of a device at least twice the size of an iPod which held 60-90 minutes of music may seem positively quaint, but at the time the Walkman marked a new era for music on the move. The Walkman represented individual portability; listeners no longer had to rely on big bulky ghetto blasters which shared one’s music with the world, whether they wanted to hear it or not. Suddenly a person could pop in a favorite cassette, plug in a pair of lightweight headphones, and the music could travel with them wherever they went and as long as a pair of AA batteries could take them.

Walkman was a brand tradename used by Sony to mark their portable audio cassette players. The company is still around today, marketing portable audio and video players as well as mobile phones. The prototype for the first one was built by Sony engineer Nobutoshi Kihara in 1978. Sony co-chairman Akio Morita reportedly wanted to listen to operas during long plane trips.

the Stereobelt, image from thenutgraph.com

However, the Walkman owes a debt to a predecessor known as Stereobelt which was invented in 1972 by Andreas Pavel, a German-Brazilian. He had the device patented in Italy in 1977. When Sony began selling its Walkman, it agreed to pay Pavel royalties, but only for sales in Germany. Lawsuits followed over the years, finally endingin a multi-million dollar settlement in 2003.

Eventually the Walkman would see the cassette market disintegrate and portable CD players (including Sony’s Discman, introduced in 1984) would take over. Once the digital age hit, there was no need for music to be stored on a device such as a cassette or disc, opening up the possibilities even more. However, every owner of an iPod or other digital music device owes thanks to the original portable music player.

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Resources and Related Links:

• TheNutGraph.com: Music in Motion by N Shashi Kala, 17 December 2008
• Wikipedia: Walkman

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