The Great Crepitation Contest of 1946
Note: This recording contains material that may be offensive to some listeners.
For those of you who collect such ephemera, here’s an unusual bit of radio memorabilia that should be an upgrade from copies that have been floating around on lps and the web.
In this post, “The Great Crepitation Contest of 1946″, the granddaddy of all “party records” and a recording surrounded by much rumor and misinformation. Apparently, this was originally produced as an in-house joke by CBC sports announcer Sidney S. Brown assisted by CBC producer Jules Lipton. Some sources indicate the recording was done in Toronto in late 1940 at “Red” Foster’s Studios on Alcorn Avenue. There have also been rumors for many years that it found its way to some in the US military who released it as a V-disc, although a V-disc or AFRS copy has never surfaced to my knowledge.
What we do know is that someone at Columbia Records in 1947 dubbed the program to a set of 78 rpm masters and pressed the recording on two 12″ 78’s, matrix numbers xxx1-4. The resulting set, with cover art by influential in-house graphic artist Alex Steinweiss (crediting himself as “Joe Blow” on the cover) and bright yellow Trillblow Records labels, was given to Columbia Records distributors as a premium. CBS president Ted Wallerstein nixed the release, but some copies did circulate.
I’ve never seen anyone on the web claiming to have an original Columbia pressing of “The Great Crepitation Contest”, even though copies of the 78s were dubbed many times and released on various party lps over the years. But, here’s proof that Columbia actually pressed and released the records - the discs are Columbia’s laminated pressings of the period and the cover art is most definitely by Steinweiss. It’s also an opportunity to hear the recording in a first-generation copy from the original Columbia 78 release.
You can read more about Steinweiss and see examples of his work at the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame and this site about Remington Records.
I obtained my copy of the “Great Crepitation Contest” in the mid 1990s, not really knowing what it was, from a man at a Winston-Salem flea market who owned a record store in the area for many years. I never had an opportunity to ask him where he got it.
Anyone seen another copy of this set? Any ideas on who the guys are in the photo in the inside front cover?
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May 14th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Holy Crapfest, Batman !
This site sure went downhill fast.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I had a copy of this on reel to reel from 1971 that a friend made for me. I believe his father owned an original of it that he got while serving in WWII. My opinion then was that it was a show made for the boys……. I may be wrong. I transferred it to cassette about 14 years ago. I’ll take a look for it but i doubt mine is of a better sound quality then yours. As an aside, I can see no reason why anyone should find this offensive in any way. It’s funny and not done in an offensive manner at all. Turn your Tv on and within seconds you will find things infinitely more vile.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:03 am
The site “went downhill”?
Uh, Jerry, please, hold your outrage, huh? It’s a legitimate part of sound history, one of those odd little things that folks talk about but no one’s ever actually seen, let alone heard. Should we just ignore it because it doesnt meet some strange version of “community standards”?
Man, move on.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:27 am
BTW, Randy, Paul Boomer (in the photo) might be Paul “Boomer” Stamp, drummer for the Newfoundland band the Irish Descendents. He was part of a concert celebration for Ron Haines last year and looks to be about the right age.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:59 am
I did some digging and I’m wondering if the guy on the left in the photo on the inside of the album cover is Alex Steinweiss himself - look at this photo of Steinweiss when he was on staff at Columbia during the same time period as the Crepitation album set was released:
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/90/steinweisshx6.jpg
May 17th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Peee- ewwww !
This is the exact moment that this site “jumped the shark”
May 18th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Randy, your discovered photo certainly looks like the same man. I notice in your picture, he has a “widow’s peak” while in the photo on the web site, he doesn’t. There doesn’t look to be much different in age, but in the new photo he looks older and usually you don’t get a widow’s peak as you get older, you lose it!
May 24th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
“one of those odd little things that folks talk about but no one’s ever actually seen, let alone heard”
Dunno ’bout”no one”, but I heard this played annually as an event for decades on the old DR. DEMENTO radio program — for all I know, it may =still= be getting play there.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
i HAVE ORIGINAL ALUMINUM ACETATE RECORDING (2) PURCHASED IN 1946. INTERESTED IN VALUATION AND MAY SELL.
BOTHERED MY WIFE FOR 58 YEARS.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I read in Anna Russell’s autobiography “I’m Not Making This Up You Know” that Paul Boomer was Anna’s agent at the time… and she suggested that they use his name for it… The first time she actually heard it…she was in Dallas and they were selling bootleg recordings of it… This probably makes it one the most famous of the pirate recordings out there today…if not THE most famous…
September 13th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I remember my father bringing the 78 rpm home to play for us around 1948-50 and from then on it got play whenever certain, understanding friends visited. The dialog from this has been incorporated into the family usage for the past 60 yrs .& I can still remember how the ending was considered such dirty language at the time to hear on a recording. I have the record somewhere along with the original “Victory at Sea” recording, and can picture the blue label with the title “Great Canadian Sporting Event”. Great fun! & memories of an innocent time. Jack
November 14th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I have a I, II, III, and VI LP version of these. They were stored in a Cuban Rhythms case. The interesting thing is that stamp on the VI LP is IV. Yes, stamp with 4 but labled with a 6. The number 4 record is stamped with a Z and a W. Others stamped as well.
If someone knows more about these please let me know.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I got this on a homemade record long ago, one someone dubbed off on one those Wilcox-Gay-type discs from the ’40s and ’50s. It was good enough to transfer it to cassette in the ’80s. We listened to it a number of times. At the time I had no idea where it originated. I thought it was an actual radio presentation, but of something of course fictional and humorous. It’s nice to see it out there, so well known on the internet. One of the funniest bits is the description of the Fenetre de breeze, the zephyr window.
December 24th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Thanks for the download. My girlfriend’s grandfather was amazed that we found this recording for him. Thanks!
January 17th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
I have to say that you just made my dad’s day - and his brother’s. They are 71 and 70 years old, respectively, and both have been telling me about this recording for years. Their favorite uncle introduced them to it when they were kids.
Regardless of their age, they both still think it’s hilarious, and it brought back great memories for them.
Thank you!
January 25th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I believe it’s spelled “Fenetre debris” (the debris in this case being the “shit”).
My dad has had an LP recording of this since I was a kid (I’m 61 now) and transferred it to cassette tape as well. Thanks!
February 4th, 2009 at 6:25 am
This is the original version, as it should be. I also heard the watered down version. The announcer said, “Ooooooh, he sh…. defecated. This was 50 years ago. Never could decide which recording was the funniest. Everybody should CD this thing for posterity. It’s a super classic.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:17 am
as a kid, my uncle would give us his rendition of this famous match up. needless to say, at age 11, it was the funniest thing in the world. i just lost it when lord W. wasted one in boomers face. all through the event i never heard either contestant call a safety. in my 11 year old crowd, one would have a sore arm for weeks..
April 21st, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I have a set of vinyl white label tests of the ‘Contest’. They have ‘PART 1′, ‘PART II’, ‘PART III’ & ‘PART IV’ in the area between the label and recorded section. Also the numbers 8481, 8482, 8483 & 8484. These tests include several slips by Brown including one where he says ‘I can’t go on’. Other versions I’ve heard have the slips edited out.
Classic and still funny 40 years after I first heard it.
June 13th, 2009 at 8:43 am
I used to run a radio show called Insanity Palace which was similar to Doctor Demento but dealt more in spoken word comedy than the good Doctor. I aired the Crepitation Contest early in 1981on WAIF in Cincinnati. (Uncensored too, it aired was very late at night with a disclaimer.)
The copy I played was borrowed and I didn’t know much about it, but it was still pretty clear on the old aircheck cassette. I am certain that copy must have been on a standard LP because WAIF didn’t have any 78RPM turntables so it had to have been a second generation copy at least.
I was transcribing the aircheck of that show to an MP3 and decided to see what I could find about it on the Net, since I have a huge comedy collection and I’m supposed to be something of an authority on this kind of crap, er, farting. Great write up and a beautiful copy of it too! I have never seen the covers or knew the name of the artist before. THANKS RAND!
June 13th, 2009 at 8:53 am
BTW I vote for “fenetre de breeze”. I hear a “z” when he says it and in French “debris” is properly pronounced as “debree”. Besides “fenetre de breeze” is funnier!
July 31st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I grew up with a copy of this in our house that was my dad’s. This would have been in the late 50’s, but all I remember is it had a solid red cover with the title in yellow (I’m guessing on the font colour) and it was an LP not the version on 78. It was one of the funniest things I’d ever heard. Still a classic!
August 16th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
This had many other permutations. I have seen this as a 78 rpm set which appear also to be late 1940s, 10 inch.The four-part tests mentioned above were no doubt dubbed from these 2 10″ 78s.They had printed labels. Also 12″ acetates have circulated (33 1/3)with the punchline word just snipped out.Then there are other pressings including the Anonymous 12″ white Label, the red cover someone mentioned above, which was bootlegged in the 60s by Joe Davis for BEACON. Those in turn were bootlegged again in the 70s with paper insert covers. And today I found the weirdest pressing yet, with a personally typed sleeve as ” Fahrting Contest” on the Heirloom label, no cover, set up with phoney label copy as a classical lp by the non-existant “Vladivostok Concert Society”. (There is at least one other Heirloom decoy lp, an anthology of party records from 78s.) -pvc
August 23rd, 2009 at 6:50 pm
just a comment concerning a technical point re the transfer of the 78 to the mp3 , as a retired sound engineer (X CBC Canada) i feel that the record player was running a touch too fast not 78rpm but more like 80 + as syd browns voice tone was more baratone in real life and my copy runs truer to speed thanks terryc m
September 26th, 2009 at 1:17 am
my folks had this record in the early 50’s. by the time I was in JR High 67, one of my older brothers friends must of swiped it. No pun indented. Chi ch and Chong didn’t have anything on these Blokes Thanks for giving me the opportunity to hear it again.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I used to hear this on Dr. Demento back in the early 70’s. The major difference was when Lord Windesmere lost the contest, he “sploched” instead of “sh!t” A timeless classic.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:44 am
we used to sell a ton of these recordings. We purchased the CD’s from a supplier. I’d get calls from people all the time tellng me when they first heard it. I had one older guy tell me he heard it in Europe in the early part of WWII….so, not sure if he was mistaken, or maybe it wasn’t actually done in 1946?
….I’m wondering now if this recording is in the public domain, or if it is still copyrighted. Can anybody shed some light on this?
Thanks!
November 4th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
The original Crepitation Contest was made by Special Services of the Armed Forces during WWII at Fort Dix, NJ. My dad was there, and the entertainers in that unit had carte blanch to all copyrighted items so long as it was for the greater war effort. They assembled all sorts of clips and the like, and assigned roles to play. One day a General was visiting the camp and the CO brought him in, and he demanded to hear a sample of their work, and fixated on the just finished record sitting there on the turntable. They tried to dissuade him but he was adamant. The crew thought they’d be in the brig, so with hearts in mouth they played it and the General peed his pants and ordered the distribution to the forces to boost morale. When my dad found a copy on line in the late 1990’s he fell out of his chair laughing so hard. I never saw my dad cry until that moment…i thought he would have an anyeurism right then and there. if anyone has information regarding the Special Services units during WWII, and the celebrities and talent that was assigned there, it would be a great start to get the real truth on the origins of this classic.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Does anybody know where I can find out if this recording is now public domain?
thanks sean
November 9th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I first heard this in the late ’60’s at Ithaca College in the Radio/TV department. I haven’t heard it again until today. It is even FUNNIER, if that is possible. The the posters who thought it was offensive, let me refer you to any “Run DMC” recording to straighten you out on “offensive”. Classic? This DEFINES classic!
December 15th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
I have an LP (33rpm) transcribed from I know not what by my late uncle in a studio in San Francisco in the mid-50’s. I had the recording transferred to tape about twenty-five years ago, and have a cassette and reel-to-reel versions, which I passed on to my cousins. My late uncle was a nationally known expert in the broadcasting of music, and the fidelity of the recording is pretty good. If I were smart enough I’d get the thing on to a CD. Thanks for posting this classic of lowbrow humor.
December 21st, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Thank God for the internet. I hadn’t heard this glorious bit of windbreaking virtuousity since the late 60’s where the mother of one of my friends brought it back from the east coast on a cassette with artwork that was similar to the “cheeky” cover art shown above. We had it committed to memory and had never laughed so hard in our then short lives. The recording exacts that same sick humor out of me today. This was such a wonderful bit of parody of sporting broadcasts of the day regardless of which side of the US /Canadian border you were on. Thanks for posting it for future generations to enjoy.