Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic
Documentary filmmaker, Jeff Krulik, was the first to inform me that back in the mid-to-late 1980s, one could exit Silver Spring’s Track Recorders and walk about a mile or so up Georgia Avenue to reach another commercial sound facility: Central Recording Studio. Silver Spring historian, Robert Oshel, writes about this
JazzTimes‘ Christopher Porter, amusingly, conducted his interview with bass legend, Keter Betts, at Silver Spring, Maryland‘s humble 9-hole Sligo Creek Golf Course due to its proximity to both Betts’ home and JazzTimes‘ editorial office. .From Porter’s 2002 JazzTimes piece, I learned that — Photo: Discogs Hinton initially met Betts in
Three recording facilities — Adelphi Studios, Track Recorders, and DB Sound — have helped put Silver Spring, Maryland on the world’s musical map, while a fourth, Paragon Studios, is notable for having captured The Muffins‘ influential early work (as was noted in the recent Bob Devlin piece) . Thanks to
This piece updated in 2019 & 2020 As you may have already gathered, Zero to 180 has a soft spot for music history related to Silver Spring, Maryland. We now know, for instance, that Track Recorders (with help from its chief engineer, Bill McCullough) was an important recording facility in
Pickwick International, those masters of mis-marketing, did whatever was necessary to trick you, potential chump, into buying one of their albums — namely, by dressing up outdated material so as to appear fresh and contemporary through the use of titillating imagery, stylish typography, and razzle-dazzle promotional hype. “Nouveau – A
A friendly shout out to Scooter “The Music Computer” Magruder, WPFW radio host and general manager of Silver Spring’s Roadhouse Oldies, who has labored tirelessly to promote the most salient aspects of our shared musical heritage. My recent album purchases at Roadhouse Oldies affirmed yet again that plenty of interesting
I suspect Gene Rosenthal will roll his eyes at the obviousness and artlessness of this observation, but let history officially note: In 1966, when Eric Clapton and company were reviving Skip James‘ “I’m So Glad” for Cream’s debut LP (an album well primed, thanks to its worldwide distribution – even,
Zero to 180 isn’t above recycling old tricks — like posting a “vintage” high-resolution image as a shameless distraction ploy to stall for time — while it finishes pulling together over fifty years of history that highlights Gene Rosenthal and his Silver Spring-based independent music operation, Adelphi Records. The same
Bill McCullough, who would serve music history as Track Recorders’ Chief Engineer from 1977-1983, can readily conjure a mental image of the Silver Spring recording studio (profiled extensively here), especially the control room in all its 1970s wood-paneled glory: Studio photos courtesy of Bill McCullough Silver Spring, in the new century,
If Zero to 180 isn’t too careful, February might come and go without a new history piece. Unacceptable! As it turns out, Zero to 180 has been working on a trio of Silver Spring music history pieces, with a two-part encore tribute to Track Recorders — that features reflections and
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