Henry Scharf's "Deenah" [My Argentina Rose] - dance band on 1921 Melodisc (Emerson) 78rpm, HMV 102
It's Melodisc! This was the budget label for Emerson, produced between 1920 and 1922 or 1923, intended to reuse old 7" Emerson matrices and potentially extend the market lifespan of Emerson's universal-cut [diagonal] records. I say potentially since this disc is center-panned like any standard, lateral-cut mono 78rpm disc - it actually sounds rather nice, like other early 1920s Emersons in good shape.
Universal-cut Emerson and Operaphone discs should register in one stereo channel only. Early Melodisc issues cite the universal cut patent, though this doesn't [that I see], and it definitely behaves like a lateral disc. Some say Pathé had a hand in these due to shared pseudonyms, though it's not clear.
While credited to the "Palm Beach Players", this could have been some studio/recording ensembles under leaders such as Sam Lanin, Ben Selvin, etc. I can't find out much about the composer, but Henry Scharf composed a few nice 1920s foxtrots.
I recently found what might be another clue into his life - the better-known film composer, arranger, and conductor Walter Scharf "was the son of longtime studio musician Henry Scharf and Bessie Zwerling, who was among the most popular comediennes starting in the New York Yiddish Theater. Son Walter began playing music at an early age, helping his uncle play the piano in theaters for silent films" - which explains a lot! Walter appears on records as well, such as the Phil Harris recording of "Goofus" for RCA Victor, from 1950. While this could just be coincidence, knowing that Scharf may have come from the NYC theater and studio milieu and passed that along to his son seems plausible -
https://ahcwyo.org/2023/02/20/unsung-...
This was matrix 21830-1, issued on disc 7131. While not the exact same setup as the flipside, it probably was the same ensemble at the same session.
I'm always amazed at the HMV 102 portable gramophone's ability to put out a huge sound with great fidelity, thanks to the Victor Orthophonic-type exponential folded horn. Even acoustically-recorded discs like this sound great! Cameo of #Cheems #plush [y'know, the #cheemsdog #cheemsdoge #cheemsmeme]
Victor Hugo Emerson began his career in the 1890s, as a member of the Columbia recording staff. He became influential as a studio manager, recording director, and engineer, helping to start the Columbia-produced Little Wonder 7" budget label in 1914. Henry Waterson also helped to make Little Wonder a reality, and the low price helped the little discs take off. This set in motion one of the major themes of Emerson's products: small records at low prices.
When Emerson left Columbia a few years later, he started his own firm to produce...little records. He also marketed various models of disc phonographs, ranging from a $3 external-horn machine with lateral/vertical sound-box to spruce-horn "Music Master" furniture pieces, worthy of rivaling the Victrola series. Because Victor and Columbia held a patent duopoly on lateral recording, all lateral discs had to come from their facilities or those of subsidiaries. Upstarts like Emerson had to either adopt a vertically-cut groove, or find a creative workaround. Emerson chose the latter, licensing a diagonally-cut "universal" groove - it played equally poorly in either lateral or vertical playback setups! This indirectly laid the groundwork for stereo recording years later, however, since the diagonal groove concept was adopted as the standard we know today.
Emerson combined this with various sizes of mini-discs in an ambitious effort to become one of the Big Three record producers. As patent litigation led to the termination of Victor and Columbia's duopoly by 1919, Emerson also adopted this, switching to larger disc sizes as well, ending their 7" series by December 1919.
What to do with the older masters? Well, there was still some market for smaller, cheaper discs...so try reissuing them. Emerson even recorded new masters for this series, Melodisc. At first they credit the universal cut patent, though this example doesn't have that notice, nor does it sound different than lateral-mono. The series sold poorly, however, due to the economic downturn and changing tastes. Melodisc finally fizzled out in 1922 or so, as Emerson's firm went bankrupt and went into receivership, just around the time Columbia went under and ended Little Wonder. Emerson barely kept things going with a new idea of Henry Waterson's: full, 10" budget discs on the Regal label. Then, two other investors saw an opportunity to revive the Emerson brand...and the rest is history...