Tuesday 27 October 2015

Golden Phoenix in a Week: Day Two (chapters 8-14)



Clairtone was a remarkable company. It was innovative in not only sound and design but marketing. Look up and you'll see Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin and a Project G in Marriage on the Rocks – an early example of product placement. A Project G also features in The Graduate.

I think Clairtone was Munk's greatest accomplishment. You'd never know it from Golden Phoenix. The biography sucks the life out of everything, reducing business to the balance sheet. Clairtone and its success came about because Munk knew something about hi-fi, though you'd be forgiven for forgetting. Only dry facts and figures matter here.

How did Munk became interested in sound reproduction? How did he become an expert? Beyond cabinetry, what role did he play in product development? What music does he listen to? Does he even listen to music?

That Golden Phoenix answers not one of these questions speaks volumes.

Pun intended.

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