Audio Erotica

Hi-Fi brochures 1950s-1980s

Jonny Trunk, Damon Murray, Stephen Sorrell , FUEL

$59.99

Paperback

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English

FUEL Publishing
26 June 2024

Audio Erotica is a perfectly pitched visual anthem to home audio entertainment. Using sales brochures from the 1950-1980s, a symphony of graphic nostalgia tracks the technological progress of our listening pleasure.

Remember roller-skating wearing your first Walkman? Or relaxing to easy-listening in your pure white Philips lounge? Or playing chess on your JVC tabletop radio? All these scenarios can be found in the geeky and rarefied world of the vintage hi-fi brochure, where graphic design and acoustic apparatus make magical music together.

From austere post-war Britain to poppy pre-millennium Japan, Audio Erotica presents a nostalgic nirvana of the strangest and most significant period hi-fi brochures. Alphabetically listed, from Aiwa to Zenith, with Braun, JVC Nivico, Nakamichi, Sony and everything in between, this book will resonate with any music fan.

Setting the tempo are the pipe-smoking, high-end separates (amplifiers, speakers, turntables) of the 1950s, followed by the swinging Dansette record players of the 1960s, the prog-brushed-metal music centres of the 1970s, and the sleek capitalist cabinet stack systems of the 1980s - not forgetting the aerobic stereo sound portability facilitated by the boom-box, and that final high-fidelity, hardware hurrah: the compact disc. All accompanied by questionable fashion decisions and acres of shag-pile carpet.

The evocative brochures in Audio Erotica track the technological development of audio equipment before the digital download, while simultaneously revealing the way hi-fi was marketed to the listening public. With knobs on.

By: Jonny Trunk
Edited by: Damon Murray, Stephen Sorrell, FUEL
Imprint: FUEL Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 220mm, Width: 180mm,
Weight: 800g
ISBN: 9781739887810
ISBN 10: 1739887816
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 26 June 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Nostalgia enthusiast Jonny Trunk founded his record label Trunk Records in 1995, which specialises in releasing lost and archived recordings. He compiled and wrote The Music Library a book that documented the hidden world of library music, and Own Label a book about Sainsbury's packaging from 1962-1977. He has worked with Oliver Postgate, Derek Griffiths, Tony Hart and other celebrated artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Jonny also writes for a number of magazines and broadcasts his own weekly Patreon show. Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell - FUEL - have been publishing books since 2004. They have worked with Jonny Trunk for almost 20 years on a number of publications, including The Music Library, Own Label, Wrappers Delight and A-Z Record Shop Bags.

Reviews for Audio Erotica: Hi-Fi brochures 1950s-1980s

A playful survey of three decades' worth of design for listening.--Michael Lavorgna ""Wallpaper*"" From the futurist-tinged images in Japanese manufacturer Aiwa's brochures, to the groovy typefaces of Massachusetts-based audio company Scott, 'Audio Erotica' also functions as a fascinating archive of commercial design through the ages.--Daniel Milroy ""Maher Creative Review"" Rare and hard-to-find hi-fi ad's spanning the high-end separates of the '50s, the Dansette record players of the '60s, the futuristic hi-fi's of the '70s, and the stack systems of the '80s, from brands including Aiwa, Zenith, Braun, JVC Nivico, Nakamichi, Technics, Sony, and many, many more.-- ""DJ Magazine"" The UK's Fuel Publishing has put together a lovely softback book [...] filled with pics of hifi brochures from the 1950s-1980s to remind us that hifi was, at one time, cool & sexy.--Michael Lavorgna ""Twittering Machines"" 'Audio Erotica' is nothing if not a love letter to music.--Jake Carlisi ""Flaunt"" The book pays homage to a frontier of audio delivery that changed people's relationships with sound and music to become more personal and customized. That trajectory continues now through personalized playlists and completely portable sound. These products helped fulfill modernism's promise to deliver more and better everything right to your home.--Colette Gaiter ""The Brooklyn Rail"" A treasure trove for art direction from bygone eras.--Shawn Ghassemitari ""Hypebeast"" Spanning from austere post-war Britain to vibrant pre-millennium Japan, the 'Audio Erotica: Hi-Fi Brochures 1950s-1980s' book offers a nostalgic journey through the quirkiest and most pivotal period in hi-fi brochure history.--Myrto Katsikopoulou ""Design Boom""