Retired Editor
Posts: 2752
Having been active on SHS as an editor now for almost two years what often still puzzles me is the issue of day of first performance. I had an extensive interaction about this with our important Certified Contributor JeffC and the confusion is the following:
When you read the definition of release in our Guidelines - https://secondhandsongs.com/wiki/Guidelines/ReleaseConcept - the following is stated:
• A release is the physical or digital carrier of a performance.
But does this definition mean that the day of recording of this performance would also be the day of first performance?
We have many examples in the database of “first performances” related to stage shows, but also releases of recordings by other artists around the same time.
When looking - for example - at the work Silk Stockings, SHS lists Don Ameche from the stage show as the first performer on 26 November, 1954. The November date was the first day of try-outs for the show Silk Stockings. It officially opened in Boston on January 4, 1955 after Perry Como and Vic Damone recordings had been released in December 1954, performances probably recorded earlier and possibly in November before the day of the first try-out of the stage show.
The question is: if we knew the recording dates and they were before the date of the first try out, would these performances be noted as first performances?
Thom
Last edit: 2023-08-30 09:20:54 UTC by CarlDennis