An early Christmas present. You wouldn’t believe how much I paid for it. Less than a ‘Pineapple’! I had no inclination of purchasing a Large Professional Boomerang. I was researching online for information on a Crackajack model when this struck me firmly between the eyes – for sale and not at an auction site. The tin was a little worse for wear, true, but it certainly had done its job of protecting the item inside, which was nearly pristine. It is in the relatively unusual key of ‘B’ and appears to have had very little action. The tin has since had a bit of a spit and polish.
The Boomerang model, featuring a fluted cover plate, first hit the market place in 1902. This had been created by Richard Seydel four years earlier for their Seydel Bandmaster line. It has been suggested this was a revolutionary design that changed airflow and the tonal nature of the mouth organ. The name Bandmaster was registered, which Richard made great pains to publicise as many other manufacturers were copying the cover plate design. Perhaps their was no patent protection or registration for the cover plate pattern as no action appears to be taken against the other companies.
One distinct difference between the Large Professional Boomerang and the Bandmaster was a metal lip cover plate with round holes on the former. The Large Professional Boomerang’s day was numbered, probably somewhere around Seydel’s merger with Bohm and Rauner (1930 – 1933) when times had become tough. Hard to date my acquisition exactly – maybe sometime in the twenties. Earlier models before WW1 would have been stamped ‘Made in Saxony’ rather than ‘Made in Germany’ – more to come on this in a future article.
Remember it’s not practice that makes perfect. It’s perfect practice. You can become quite accomplished at doing something incorrectly.
A single and an album up for review. Nice little upbeat blues, toe tapping number from The Marvellous Hearts called Get Up. Features Clayton Doley’s Hammond organ, dirty harp from Captain Bluetongue (Blues Preachers) and the backing vocals of the Ladybeans. Well worth a listen. The album for review is really not my cup of tea. Covers of some of Australia greatest tunes that have been reinterpreted into a dub fashion by Sydney’s Mick Dick. One track did standout, and it did have harp from Dave Kolb on Chain’s classic Black & Blue – retitled Black & Dub. Not too shabby. Out now on the good music platform Bandcamp.
A special Christmas gift for you Riff Raffers next week – a bonus article of sorts named ‘Aussie ‘Arps’. Keep checking back because it will be added to each month.
2022 will feature a new first of the month titled Cartoons & Caricatures following on from this years highly successful 45 Revolutions.
It was great to be back live in the radio studio for the first time in twenty months presenting Huff’n’Puff (last Toosday of every month) with Peej on his The Imaginary Friends Show. We had a cracker of a time and listeners tried valiantly to prevent me from singing in the segment, Name That Riff Before Shep Sings. Well some did, others just wanted to hear my dulcet tones. The tune was Country Radio’s Wintersong. Ron from Venus Bay went close, but no cigar.
Check out by clicking on this 📻. Starts at 2:01:20 – playlist below. No Huff’n’Puff for December, but should be fine and dandy for the last Tuesday of January.
1) Zydeco Cha Cha – The Moonee Valley Drifters 2) Living In The Land Of Oz – The Dingoes 3) The Coo Coo – The Blues Preachers 4) Place In The Sun – Tex Perkins & the Fat Rubber Band 5) Other Side – Daxton 6) Wintersong – Country Radio
Came across this Hohner tin sign on an auction site (industrialartifacts.net) during my surfing on the information highway. A little beauty, hey? It measures 14.25” x 6.75” and sold for $750. Just two letters WOW!
Check out Mark Weber’s fabulous Chromatic Harmonica History site, he’s recently updated Albert’s Chromorgan after our recent discovery.
Cheers & Seasons Greetings
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