CHAPTER THREE

THE MUSIC OF CUCA

A record company, independent or conglomerate, could not exist without performers who supply musical material. Therefore, a company must attract quality musicians in order to stay in business. In the case of the conglomerates, however, it is often the artists attracting the company to the music. A performer is motivated to seek outlets for his or her talents because, according to Dick Weissman, "Records are the lifeblood of the music industry."^[1*] Without recording their material, groups are limited to live performances before small audiences. These live audiences cannot grow if the public cannot purchase and take home a piece of the artist's repertoire. The commercial success of a musician is consequently directly related to the number of records sold to the public. Artists would find it impossible to record, promote, market, and distribute the recorded product themselves so they must rely on the economic and promotional capabilities of a record company for these tasks.^[2*]

Certainly throughout the industry's history, record labels, including the giants, have sought talent. For example, large and small companies alike scouted the countryside in the 1920's and 1930's with mobile recording units, hoping to catch the next rising star. By the 1950's and early 1960's, as noted in Chapter 2, song releases had flooded the market and companies were less likely to actively recruit musicians. Instead, artists themselves more and more frequently approached the labels themselves by sending "demo tapes" to the businesses' artist and repertoire (A&R) representatives. But even when demand by companies was large - a buyer's market - the sellers, especially the unknown musicians, often prostrated themselves before the power of the labels.

In the 1920's, a relatively small number of artists began to enjoy long-term record contracts and steady royalty payments from their record companies. Most musicians had to content themselves with less than adequate contracts. They often accepted small royalty payments and label executives sometimes forced the inclusion of management members' names on the artist's own written material. Musicians accepted these unfair contracts because even then recording was the best way of gaining attention and increasing the artist's audience.^[3*] As marketplace competition intensified, these practices and others became institutionalized. The A&R representatives became powerful members of the industry's structure. Access to and a favorable response from the A&R reps and the record producers became crucial; they screened the demos, selected the artists, supervised recording and record production, and selected songs for release. Artists, through their contracts, were legally bound to these decisions.^[4*]

Further complicating the musician's livelihood was the fact that during this period of market overload, the odds for any kind of commercial success dipped exponentially (only 17 new artists a year recorded a Top 40 hit^[5*] ). A large label was often unwilling to financially risk promoting a new or unknown band, the very group which needed the extra attention. Therefore, regional, unknown, or part-time musicians often had little choice but to seek out an independent label willing to record their material. They realized that the financial rewards would likely be less, but knew they would gain some exposure and, at the very least, would have records to sell to audiences at live performances.

The vast majority of artists who recorded in the Cuca studio hailed from Wisconsin,^[6*] drawn there by its convenient south-central location. They also chose Cuca mainly for its accessible and relaxed recording studio policy; Kirchstein would record any group or any artist for free. In return, the artists agreed to purchase a pre-determined number of records. The average charge for the complete production of a run of 500 45 rpm singles was about 200 dollars and the cost for a run of 200 LP's was 400 dollars at Cuca. The major labels at this time could not match these prices, usually charged for studio time, and rarely had the time during this period of overproduction to grant studio access to unknown musicians.^[7*] The prices, the policy, and the quality of the Cuca studio quickly began luring musicians from areas outside of the south-central Wisconsin area.

Kirchstein stated he never advertised in trade magazines or local newspapers to attract musicians to his studio.^[8*] He neither had the time nor the budget to do so. Instead, he relied solely on word-of-mouth, the reputation he gained through the studio's construction, and his production and engineering skills. The hit "Mule Skinner Blues" drew musicians from outside Wisconsin. Nationally known artists like Bobby Vee of Fargo, North Dakota heard about Cuca and began visiting Sauk City to record in the studio. Artists, particularly black gospel singers and blues performers, from Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, also began to make the short trek to central Wisconsin in the early- to mid-1960's, but not necessarily for reasons of price or studio quality. Cut-throat competition in the recording business made artists and their managers suspect larger recording studios, especially those in Chicago, believing the studios to be "tapped" in order to steal the next big hit. Confident that an independent company located in rural Wisconsin did not present such dangers, many musicians, including Jan Bradley (who will be discussed further below), came to Cuca to record.^[9*]

Independent recording labels tended to concentrate on musical genres that represented their regional populations during the 1950's and 1960's. For example, Ace Records of Mississippi recorded primarily African-American rhythm and blues performers. The most successful labels were able to expand beyond racial, ethnic, and musical boundaries into commercially viable and diverse styles, particularly rock-and-roll and country western. For example, as a result of its geographic location, King Records of Cincinnati successfully incorporated both of these styles into its record catalog by reproducing the music of northern rockers, Memphis country songsters, and even rhythm and blues singers performing country western novelty songs.^[10*] Atlantic of New York also diversified its offerings; it first developed rhythm and blues and black vocal groups and later moved into the rock, soul, and British blues genres to meet audiences' changing demands in the early 1960's.^[11*] Just as major labels released a broad spectrum of musical material, indie labels with a varied selection of styles could tap into a wide market and were able to meet the demand of a musically mercurial public.

South-central Wisconsin's musical influences in the early 1960's differed significantly from Cincinnati and New York City and therefore Cuca reflected both the supply and demand of the population in its record catalog. Although perhaps a slight exaggeration, Jim Kirchstein asserted that every town in Wisconsin had a rock group and polka band and therefore these were the two musical genres upon which Cuca concentrated. It recorded approximately 2,000 45 rpm singles and 150 LP's by 80 rock groups and 100 Wisconsin polka bands during the label's existence.^[12*] Cuca issued other musical varieties too, but demand was largest for these two styles in Wisconsin during this era.

Years after his recording days had passed, Jim Kirchstein, as well as regional folklorist James Leary, maintained that the old-time or ethnic line of music remained the most important part of Cuca's output.^[13*] Ethnic music, music performed by immigrants or descendants of immigrants from European nations, has had an intimate connection with the recording industry throughout history. It played a significant role in the growth of the business as well as in the formation of many independent companies. From the birth of the industry until the Depression, record companies aimed records at specific audiences and viewed new immigrants as potential customers. Industry executives realized immigrants wanted to enjoy the musical traditions of their homelands and as early as 1906, Columbia's catalog offered records in twelve languages.^[14*] Sales of ethnic music, as well as sales to other minority markets, helped the industry expand during the 1920's. According to Pekka Gronow, Victor, Columbia, and other large companies found it was easier to sell phonograph players and phonograph records if the music offered had ties to the immigrants' mother countries.^[15*] These new arrivals tended to congregate by nationality in urban areas and small towns, making the job of marketing the ethnic offerings convenient for the record companies. The majors' successes helped spark the development of small, independent labels like Svenska and Autograph of Chicago which hoped to win a share of the ethnic market.

The Depression caused a temporary halt in the success of ethnic music sales but during the economic recovery of the late 1930's, along with the success of radio, jukeboxes, and newly constructed dance halls, ethnic music regained its consumer base. However, it now began to have a more "crossover" appeal^[16*] with second and third generation immigrants and those outside a specific ethnicity. Much of this crossover audience tuned into radio stations' remote broadcasts from dance ballrooms or flocked to halls featuring ethnic bands performing dances such as the polka, waltz, and schottische. Old-time music's popularity reach a fevered pitch during and just following World War II. The war facilitated the intermixing of ethnic group members, from both the continued spread of radio and the shift in populations resulting from war time mobilization and industrialization.^[17*] Musicians and fans alike borrowed and traded musical tastes and styles and more commercialized, distinctly American forms emerged, though they maintained their traditional subgroup titles such as Slovenian, Swiss, Dutchman (German), and Polish.

Polka music (as ethnic or old-time music is often generically referred to) is, according to folklorist James Leary, the vernacular music of rural immigrants and their descendants in the upper Midwest.^[18*] It was therefore not surprising that ethnic music gained significant popularity in states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio during the middle years of the twentieth century. Frankie Yankovic of Cleveland rode the tide of polka's prosperity and created a crossover audience with his expansion from traditional Slovenian music to a broader, more American style by incorporating pop tunes and other ethnic songs into his repertoire.^[19*] Wisconsin, and especially Milwaukee, became a leading center of ethnic music in the late 1940's and early 1950's and it was there that Yankovic was crowned the Polka King in 1948.

Yankovic exerted a profound influence on Wisconsin music fans and old-time performers. Although during the mid- to late-1950's polka's national popularity declined with the advent of rock-and-roll, the ethnic music tradition continued to remain strong in communities around the state until as late as the mid-1960's.^[20*] Carlo "Spike" Micale, a polka bandleader who recorded with Cuca, recalled his Milwaukee audience and the lasting influence of Yankovic.

In the sixties, [the audience] would have been from people that were in their twenties through people that were no older than maybe fifty. [They] were pretty much of a cross-section because of that influence they had from Frankie Yankovic. When Yankovic came, he completely changed the scene in that years ago people that played ethnic music were Italians, Polish, German, Slovenian, Croatian....Yankovic modernized polka music and he reached a cross-section of people...I mean the people that were out there were all different nationalities.^[21*]

The dance hall, too, remained a viable institution until the late 1960's in Milwaukee. Halls like Club Slovene, the Arcadia Inn, the Muskego Beach Ballroom, and Devines' Ballroom provided performance venues, audiences, and, most importantly, outlets for the promotion and sale of old-time recordings.

While the major labels and the rapidly disappearing independents were turning their attentions toward the young national market demanding the new rock-and-roll style, Cuca chose to focus much of its attention on the recording of ethnic bands. It was accessible geographically to rural and old-time recording artists and it was surrounded by relatively homogenous ethnically populated towns. Sauk City was also only 80 miles from the polka center of Milwaukee which had a young audience willing to buy old-time records. Even though it represented only three million of a billion dollar a year industry, for Kirchstein and Cuca the benefits of concentrating on this market for old-time music were the availability musicians, an audience which demanded the products, and the notion that the old-time styles were timeless; a record release could continue to sell for years without becoming outdated, unlike the erratic trends in rock-n-roll and other popular genres.^[22*]

Four major styles of old-time music predominated in Wisconsin and on the Cuca label: Slovenian, Dutchman, Bohemian, and Polish. Other styles like Swiss yodels which reflected Wisconsin's cultural heritage also went on record at Cuca. In fact, Wisconsin boasts a greater variety of polka styles than any other state (the state legislature declared the polka as the state's official dance in 1994) and Cuca recorded more old-time musical varieties than any other label.^[23*] Regardless of the ethnic background or subcategory, polka music generally can be described as "madcap" and "rollicking," with "tubas bouncing like trained elephants, trumpets and clarinets blending in chorus to form a single rich-textured voice, and concertinas, the old biting plate reed squeezeboxes ringing in the high registers like musical toys, the mellower tapered reed boxes gently crooning out the old-time melodies."^[24*]

The Wisconsin musicians attracted to this style of performance and those directly influenced by the Cleveland/Slovenian sound mainly came from the Milwaukee area, although many were not, in fact, of Slovenian descent. The Slovenian style emphasized proficiency on the accordion or button box, often employing two accordion players in a band, one to handle the melody and the other to color the music with technically brilliant musical runs.^[25*] Ethnic background alone was not a determinant in a musician's choice to incorporate the Slovenian musical tradition into his style. Rather, it was the direct influence of popular touring musicians like Yankovic and the intermingling of heritages in Wisconsin communities. These factors combined to make the Slovenian style a prominent form of old-time music in the Cuca catalog.

One of Cuca's most prolific and long-lasting old-time recording artists concentrated in the Slovenian style: Verne Meisner. Meisner, born in 1938, is of Austrian-German descent and originates from Milwaukee. Like many other Wisconsin teens after World War II, he was impressed with Frankie Yankovic and received his first accordion when he was only thirteen years old.^[26*] In the 1950's he began playing professional jobs and toured regionally. He recorded his first 45 rpm single in 1957 at Milwaukee's Leaf Studios and released the record on his own one-shot label, Paragon Records. Meisner then spent a couple of years in the armed forces, stationed near Madison. It was here he heard about the new Cuca label and when his service ended in 1961, he formed his own Slovenian band and recorded an LP with the company.

Meisner's band, which featured himself on the flashy second accordion as well as musicians playing the banjo, guitar, saxophone, drums, and a melodic accordion, recorded its first album in 1962 titled "Polka and Waltz Holiday" (K2002). This LP was the first single polka band LP released on the Cuca label and it received a five-star rating from Billboard magazine.^[27*] Meisner would go on to record fourteen more LP's at Cuca during the following ten years, but it was this first successful foray into the old-time genre that, like "Mule Skinner Blues," attracted hundreds of other Wisconsin old-time musicians to the label, almost exclusively by word-of-mouth.

One Slovenian style musician directly encouraged by Meisner's experience at Cuca was Spike Micale, a Milwaukeean of Italian descent. Micale grew up in a Slovenian, Croatian, and Serbian neighborhood and began playing accordion when he was seven years old. He too was influenced by Yankovic's Slovenian style as well as the musical traditions of his neighbors and in 1948 began playing professional gigs in Milwaukee. During the 1950's, Micale and his group often performed with Meisner's band. Impressed with the quality and production of the first Meisner album, they recorded "Smile Awhile with Spike Micale" (K2006), an LP of standard polka hits and some original tunes by Micale, in 1963.^[28*]

Roger Bright of New Glarus, a town in south-central Wisconsin dominated by descendants of Swiss immigrants, was another old-time musician inspired by Yankovic who recorded for Cuca. Bright claimed he recorded the second 45 rpm single at Cuca (though it is more likely the third or fourth to actually be recorded) in 1960 called "I Love to Yodel" and "The Ski Waltz," in Kirchstein's Hi-Fi Record Shop. Bright released the single just before going on tour as part of Yankovic's band, with which he remained until 1963. Bright blended his Slovenian influence with the Swiss heritage of his hometown in later LP and single Cuca recordings by playing traditional Swiss selections in a more Slovenian, Yankovic style of music.^[29*]

German immigrants populated much of Wisconsin and the German polka tradition, especially the Dutchman style, influenced many of the old-time performers who recorded at Cuca. The term Dutchman for the German style of old-time music grew from the word Deutsch and the definition unified immigrants to the upper Midwest from Bavaria, Sudentenland, and Westphalia into a German-American identity. Practitioners of this style also incorporated the word Dutchman or a more neutral sounding ethnicity into the names of their groups and to label their music during the two world wars against Germany. For example, Dutchman style Cuca recording artist Syl Liebl changed the name of his band from the Jolly Germans to the Jolly Swiss Boys.^[30*]

Performers like Syl Liebl, a transplant to western Wisconsin from the Dutchman mecca of New Ulm, Minnesota, who specialized in the Dutchman genre played their polkas, waltzes, and laendlers in a style which not only reflected their own cultural heritage but mixed those of their neighboring ethnic groups like the English and the Scandinavians. This synthesis made the music more American and attracted an audience beyond the German culture. New Ulm-inspired repertoire selections included traditionally Slavic and Scandinavian tunes as well as songs in both English and German.^[31*] The resulting unique sound was characterized by the oompah sound of the tuba, a blending of brass and reeds, square-tempo military styled drums, and a virtuoso and melodic concertina playing music with "an old-time flavor with a lot of drive to it."^[32*]

Another German-styled old-time performer drew less influence from the heterogenous New Ulm Dutchman style and instead stressed the German folk tradition in his musical style. Syl Groeschl and his band, which included a tuba, saxophone, accordion, and drums, recorded at Cuca. Groeschl grew up in Calumet County, Wisconsin, an area settled by Catholic Austrians, Germans, and Czechs, and spoke German throughout his childhood. Because he was nearly beaten by area residents in the 1940's for this practice, for many years he sang only in English. However, he later adopted a celebration of his German identity through wearing lederhosen and performing German folk songs and waltzes. Despite this stress on this ethnicity, other musical traditions affected Groeschl and he performed American popular tunes and country songs, thus bringing to his audiences and to his records a uniquely American style of old-time music.^[33*]

From an area close to Groeschl's home in northeastern Wisconsin came another hybrid form of old-time music also captured by Cuca. A large number of Bohemian immigrants settled in Manitowoc, Calumet, and Kewaunee Counties, bringing with them the traditional Bohemian polka. The Bohemian bands' line-ups paralleled the Dutchman bands, featuring septets of tubas, drums, accordions, and brass and reed players, borrowing from the Germans the accordion and the military brass sections.^[34*] Lawrence Duchow of Potter, Wisconsin expanded the Bohemian style into a more American one with a jazzy horn sound and the incorporation of English into his lyrics.^[35*] Many of his polkas and waltzes became standard old-time favorites (such as "Blue Skirt Waltz") and his Red Raven Orchestra of the 1930's influenced many Cuca musicians, including the obvious tribute band, the New Red Raven Orchestra.

The New Red Ravens formed in 1960 after its bandleader, Jay Wells, and saxophone player Andy Anderson negotiated with Duchow's brother for the rights to the name. Though the band's personnel fluctuated, some of its members included musicians from Duchow's original band, such as Larry Pagel on bass, and most of the performers came from towns near Potter like Manitowoc, Maribel, and Chilton. The band recorded its "New Red Ravens" album (K2023) at Cuca in 1965 which presented Bohemian folk tunes like "Waltzing in the Woods" and songs originally recorded by Duchow's band like "Grand and Glorious Feeling," "Land O'Lakes Sweetheart," and the old Red Raven theme, "I Love to Polka." Though this album maintained strong ties to the Bohemian and Duchow traditions, it did include a song influenced by another polka tradition. The band discovered only after arranging and performing the tune "Polka Royale" that a member of Alvin Styczynski's Polish old-time band had actually penned the material.^[36*]

The Polish old-time sound is the most raucous of the polka varieties, featuring energetic brass and wild concertina performances. The form is most prominent in the areas of Stevens Point and Pulaski, the home of Alvin Styczynski.^[37*] Many Polish descendants who performed old-time and lived in other areas of the state chose to concentrate on the popular old-time forms of their area. For example, Don Gralak, a Cuca artist from Milwaukee, took his cue from the Slovenians. Dick Rogers, another Polish musician who recorded at Cuca, featured the Bohemian style. Both, however retained some elements of the Polish sound in their recordings.^[38*] Styczynski, by contrast, maintained a strong ethnic tie in his performances and his recordings for Cuca and he has been credited with sparking a Polish music renaissance in Wisconsin. Performing on the concertina and accordion, Styczynski led his band's swing-beat waltzes, hop polkas, and obereks, liberally mixing both English and Polish into the lyrics.^[39*] He and his band recorded an early LP at the Cuca studios, "Polish Music at its Best," (K2004) in 1963. That album's title and its follow-up, "More Polish Music at its Best" (K2017) of 1965, proudly proclaimed Styczynski's musical and ethnic tradition. He even recorded a Christmas album sung entirely in Polish: "Polish Christmas Album" (KS2145). Like Slovenian style performer Verne Meisner, Styczynski continues to perform regularly at festivals around the Midwest in the 1990's, including at Milwaukee's Polish Fest.

Cuca's record catalog featured other Wisconsin ethnic traditions less prominent than the German, Bohemian, Slovenian, and Polish forms. For example, south-central Wisconsin attracted a small but distinct German-speaking Swiss population in the mid-1800's and by 1930 Wisconsin had the highest per capita concentration of Swiss lineages in the nation.^[40*] The most prominent feature of the Swiss musical tradition was the yodel and yodel clubs formed in Wisconsin towns like Monroe and New Glarus in the 1920's. The Edelweiss Stars of Monroe captured this heritage on record at Cuca when they recorded "Edelweiss Stars" (K2200) in 1964, its waltzes, polkas, and yodels sung in both English and German-Swiss. The group also made a conscious effort to keep the Swiss tradition alive at ethnic festivals like Monroe's Cheese Days as well as with a recorded collaborative effort with yodeler Rudy Burkhalter, a Swiss native and founder of a yodeling club in Wisconsin.^[41*]

Also engraved on record at Cuca was another form of "ethnic" music, which grew out of the Anglo-Celtic tradition and in the twentieth century evolved into country western and bluegrass to become truly American music. In the upper Midwest and in Wisconsin particularly, these styles migrated from their Appalachian roots to mingle freely with the other European musical traditions and bands performed a "hybrid repertoire of polkas and hoedowns on accordions and guitars."^[42*]

One of the best examples of this cross-cultural influence at Cuca was also perhaps its most famous artist to ever record there. Pee Wee King (born Julius Frank Kucznyski) of Abrams, Wisconsin began his musical career on the accordion in the 1930's. He and his band, the Golden West Cowboys, relocated to Nashville where they performed on the Grande Ole Opry, perhaps the most important and long-running country performing venue in America.^[43*] King toured with Gene Autry and even appeared in the Autry film "Gold Mine in the Sky" in 1938. Folklorist James Leary credited King with making the accordion an accepted instrument in country music. King also contributed elements of the Polish polka into country music listening.^[44*] The Golden West Cowboys continued performing on the Grand Ole Opry through the 1940's and in 1948 King and fellow band member Redd Stewart wrote one of the best-selling country songs of all time, "Tennessee Waltz." Patti Page covered the composition in 1950 and by 1951 the song had sold 4,800,000 records, making it not only one of the most valuable copyrights of all time (it was copyrighted by the famous Acuff-Rose company of Nashville) but also the signal to the music industry at large that country music held enormous commercial potential.^[45*] In the 1960's country's continued commercial success was ensured by the expansion of country radio stations from 80 to about 500 and television shows such as "The Lawrence Welk Show" began to feature country artists.^[46*]

King learned about Cuca through Clarence Dahina, a musician from Dubuque, Iowa, who toured a circuit similar to King's and who also had connections to the Nashville country music epicenter. Dahina knew artists who had recorded at Cuca, was pleased with their results, and convinced King to check out the studio. King did so and recorded a single with Kirchstein. King liked the studio so much, he decided to record a full length album at Cuca, "Pee Wee King's Country and Western Hoe-Down" (K2255). He recorded a wealth of other material for his personal use which he never released to the public.^[47*] King also worked with other Cuca artists, including Slovenian style performer Verne Meisner. King cut "Country Music Polkas" (K2024) at Cuca and for this album he performed his famous "Tennessee Waltz." However, he was not pleased with the accordion rift on the song's introduction and asked if Kirchstein could find someone to redo the music. Meisner happened to come in soon thereafter and for ten seconds of work and twenty dollars, Meisner's accordion can be heard on the first eight bars of the song. Although his name does not appear in the liner notes or the credits, Meisner was pleased, as was King.^[48*] King's recording at Cuca served to strengthen the label's position in the music industry in the 1960's and to create a connection with Nashville (Acuff-Rose would license some Cuca songs for Kirchstein^[49*] ), further attracting artists both from the country music tradition as well as from other musical backgrounds who had a more Southern musical heritage.

Bluegrass music, a subgroup of country, developed in the South and came to national prominence during the late 1930's and 1940's under the leadership of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Characterizing this Appalachian flavored music were acoustic fiddles, guitars, mandolins, string basses, accordions, and distinct vocals: high-pitches and nasally three and four part harmonies.^[50*] The style made its way to Wisconsin and the Goose Island Ramblers captured its Midwest interpretation at Cuca.

These musicians who recorded at Cuca were actually the second group in the state to carry the band name. Kenneth Wendell Whitford of Albion, Wisconsin founded the first Goose Island Ramblers in 1938, having been inspired by national broadcasts of Chicago's WLS "National Barn Dance," a radio show similar to the Grand Ole Opry. Whitford and his group, which included Clarence Reierson, a fiddler of Norwegian dances, Alvin Hodge on bass and jug, and Howard Stuvantraa on mandolin, performed around Wisconsin until 1944.^[51*]

The second Goose Island Ramblers formed in 1962, again led by Whitford. Their bluegrass style and repertoire remained essentially unchanged, though other ethnic influences continued to be contributed by the new line-up. Bruce Boolerud began his musical training on the bandoneon, a squeezebox similar to the concertina, and later switched to the piano accordion. Boolerud had performed German and Norwegian old-time tunes with band leaders Verne Meisner and Roger Bright before joining the new Goose Island Ramblers and he contributed a selection of Norwegian dialect songs to the band's performances. George Gilbertson played the harmonica, mandolin, guitar, and fiddle for the band, enhancing Whitford's selections of Anglo-Celtic fiddle tunes, Appalachian mountain songs, and general "barn stomping" music.^[52*] They successfully blended such instruments as jugs, harmonicas, mouth harps, accordions, and bottleneck slide guitars (usually associated with African-American Delta blues) while performing traditional country songs, Irish and English ballads, polkas, and even a waltz based on a Norwegian tune. Their lyrics frequently consisted of Norwegian and other ethnic tongues and their songs often referred to localities in Wisconsin, such as "Beach of Wauankee" on the Cuca record "Doin' the Hurley Hop" (K1112) or "Milwaukee Waltz" on "From Bluegrass to Russian Gypsy" (K1110). Therefore, the Goose Island Ramblers' recordings are perfect examples of the marriage of ethnic music traditions found in Wisconsin.

Yet another "ethnic" group brought its music to the Midwest and Wisconsin and its members recorded at Cuca. African-Americans began arriving in significant numbers in the Midwest, especially Chicago, during the great migrations from the South after both World Wars. They settled in areas like Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois, just across the Wisconsin state border, and carried with them musical varieties like gospel, blues, and rhythm and blues. Like the European-based musical traditions of country, bluegrass, and old-time, the musical genres developed by African-Americans evolved into truly American and crossover styles, borrowing instruments and lyrical themes from other ethnic groups. Geography also influenced African-American styles; Chicago blues has a distinct sound with an urban flavor as contrasted to the rawer, country blues of the Mississippi Delta. In the Upper Midwest and Wisconsin, African-American artists borrowed from their own heritages and those of their neighbors to develop popular styles from which they hoped to achieve national fame. And a way to achieve this fame, of course, was to cut their music on record.

Jim Kirchstein had radio contacts in Milwaukee, like deejay O.C. White, to whom he would sample records and in this way secured several African-American performers. One was Twistin' Harvey Scales and his band the Seven Sounds. Scales was born in Arkansas and moved to Milwaukee in the early 1950's where as a teenager he earned the name Twistin' Harvey after winning a twist contest with superstar Chubby Checker. Influenced by Checker's performances, Scales formed a band and early in their career, from 1963 to 1967, the group recorded several singles at Cuca.^[53*] Scales and other black performers like the Supreme Four from Milwaukee, who recorded at Cuca in 1961, may have expected to encounter racial animosity from the exclusively white residents of Sauk City. However, according to Kirchstein, race differences never presented a problem during the 1960's era of nationally volatile racial tensions. He recalled that Scales even commented to him how friendly the townspeople were towards the group. One reason was African-Americans rarely could afford to spend more than one night in town for a long recording session. Another reason was the novelty of having African-Americans visit the town. When the white residents saw a black face, they assumed he or she was a talented musician.^[54*]

As mentioned earlier, another factor, besides geography and cost, drawing African-Americans to the Sauk City label was the fierce industry competition, especially between labels located in Chicago. With some of these Chicago artists, Kirchstein suspended his open-door policy and charged studio time at 25 dollars per hour. Believing the managers of these mainly black vocalists to be mafia connected, Kirchstein explained how these performers quietly did business at the Cuca studio. "It was done with an anonymous phone call out of the dark saying, 'I hear you got a studio. I want to come in and I want to pay you cash.'"^[55*]

The singers and their managers, who carried shoulder holsters, would come to Cuca, record, and take the master tapes with them, likely releasing them on other labels and avoiding any kind of contract commitment to Kirchstein. He encountered this situation, with an added twist, when he produced Jan Bradley's song "Mama Didn't Lie," which shot to number 14 on the charts. Bradley, however, was under contract with Chess in Chicago. When she and her manager, John Talty, tried to repeat the success by recording "Pack My Things and Go" at Cuca, the song was blocked, according to Kirchstein, by angry Chess Records managers and their recording industry, and possibly mafia, connections.^[56*]

Other rhythm and blues performers had better success at Cuca. However, Kirchstein continued to experience problems with his competition in Chicago. The Rockford-based group Birdlegs and Pauline (Sidney "Birdlegs" Banks and Pauline Shivers Banks) recorded "Spring" which climbed to number 18 on the r&b charts in 1963. After recording the single, Kirchstein sampled it to O.C. White in Milwaukee and it gained regional popularity. Similar to "Mule Skinner Blues," Kirchstein found he was unable to handle the demand for the single and leased it to VeeJay of Chicago. The record sold over 100,000 copies but soon after the song hit, VeeJay declared bankruptcy and thus Cuca lost its sale royalties on the record. He also was unable to include the hit song on Birdlegs and Pauline's LP "Birdlegs" (K4000), recorded in 1964, because the single was still officially leased out to VeeJay.^[57*]

Kirchstein's work with Birdlegs and Pauline did cause him to connect with a great bluesman, Earl Hooker. Hooker was a regular visitor to Rockford where he heard Birdlegs and Pauline perform and had recorded in the 1950's with their bandmates, Billy Duncan and Julian Beasley, who also recorded on "Spring."^[58*] Hooker was born in Mississippi in 1929 and moved to Chicago with his parents the following year. He developed an interest in blues guitar from watching his famous cousin, John Lee Hooker, perform and later learned more techniques from blues giants Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Hooker recorded regularly throughout the 1950's at such labels as Argo and VeeJay as a backup musician and had his own instrumental hits, "Blue Guitar" and "Universal Rock," released on the Chief and Age labels. He even recorded with Sam Phillips in the early 1950's before Phillips started famed Sun Records. However, at the turn of the decade, interest in instrumentalists by the large blues independents like Chess waned and moved toward black vocalists, like Jan Bradley. This shift in industry concentration forced Hooker to seek studios and labels willing to grant him studio access and to release his records.^[59*]

Hooker's and Kirchstein's musical collaboration lasted from 1964 to 1967. During this time, Hooker recorded not only blues instrumentals but also soul covers, like James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and the country western classic "Blue Moon of Kentucky." He often improvised his sessions and recorded late at night into the early morning hours. Kirchstein's relaxed studio style differed from the high pressured, high cost style of the Chicago labels, allowing Hooker these recording luxuries. His only LP to be released on Cuca was "The Genius of Earl Hooker" (K4100) in 1968, though most of its songs had been recorded in 1964. Kirchstein released the album in 1968, hoping it would prompt the hospitalized Hooker, suffering from tuberculosis, to regain spirit and strength. Hooker frequently called and wrote Kirchstein during his final years (Kirchstein still holds his letters from Hooker as prized possessions), helping to compile the LP and making plans to record at Cuca once again. But this was not to be; Hooker died in April 1970 at 41 years old.^[60*]

A hybrid between the previous two styles discussed, blues and country, emerged in the late 1940's and 1950's as rock-and-roll, a crossover style which by the 1960's dominated the recording industry and became the buying choice of American teenagers. Rock, however, was a relative latecomer to Wisconsin. In other parts of the country, rock-a-billy groups like Bill Haley and Elvis, who married the blues and country styles on their recordings, were hitting the charts as early as 1953. Southern Wisconsin, by contrast, did not see its first rock big-name group until 1958 when Vilas Craig formed his band, the Viscounts. Inhibiting the early growth of the enormously popular style was Wisconsin's own old-time traditions, the enormous popularity of Frankie Yankovic with teenage buyers, and the fact that radio stations in the state did not rotate rock records full-time until 1960 when WISM went to a rock format. Before that time, listeners had to tune in stations from Chicago to hear the latest rock hits.^[61*]

Craig and the Viscounts, joined by a student string section from University of Wisconsin - Madison, recorded the single "Little Miss Brown Eyes" at the Cuca studios in 1962. This was their fifth venture into the recording milieu, having started in 1959 at Kay Banks studio, an independent label located in Chicago. By 1962 the band had a large Wisconsin audience and supply of teenage buyers for their rock music. In 1959, however, while playing live in Baraboo, Craig recalled that teens, "didn't even know what rock was...they weren't into it." Also in 1959 the band played gigs in Prairie du Chien, Reedstown, and Soldier's Grove, where they had to guarantee the inclusion of polkas in their repertoire in order to secure the gigs.^[62*]

Despite the slow start, rock music expanded from its traditional centers of Nashville, New Orleans, Memphis, Detroit, New York, and San Francisco^[63*] to Sauk City, Wisconsin in the 1960's and eventually over 50 percent of Cuca's total output boasted the classification of rock-and-roll.^[64*] Soon performers from Milwaukee, La Crosse, Shawano, and Eau Claire came to Cuca to record their rock singles, hoping to secure a hit on the independent label, be "discovered," and then move on to a major label or better known independent, one with a larger marketing and promotion system. While some performers, like the Fendermen, succeeded in this undertaking, most rock groups remained local, releasing singles only on Cuca and other small indies like Tee Pee and International Artists, Vilas Craig's own label. Others, like the Corporation from Milwaukee, used Cuca after their larger recording contacts soured. The Corporation formed during the late 1960's and Capitol Records signed the band, recording their album in Detroit. Despite the record's regional popularity (it went to number 3 in Milwaukee), the group did not meet the major company's profit standards and Capitol refused the Corporation a second record deal. Instead, the band recorded their next album at a small studio in Milwaukee and Kirchstein released the material on a special Cuca label, Age of Aquarius, in 1970 after the group had disintegrated.^[65*] The album did not make the charts.

Cuca's catalog represented other musical genres which, although less commercially popular in both national and regional markets, still had local performers who wanted their music on record. Doc DeHaven of Madison, a trumpet player whose father performed with the legendary Bunny Berrigan, recorded five jazz albums during his career at Cuca and enjoyed local popularity through the 1990's.^[66*] Folk musicians like the Bek Brothers recorded at Cuca, too, the folk genre gaining popularity nationally during the 1960's with the success of such big-name artists as Bob Dylan and the Kingston Trio. Other, more obscure, musical offerings were recorded and released on the Cuca label, including "Sarod Ragas" (KS5700) by Shyamal Sinha, an album of classical Indian music performed by musicians from the Madison area, soundtracks to local musicals like "For Heaven's Sake!" (K6100), as well as albums of circus and train sounds for the nearby Circus World Museum in Baraboo.

The myriad of recorded genres was directly affected not only by geography and local talent supply but by Kirchstein himself - his recording session style, engineering and production capabilities, corporate policies, and recording contracts. Kirchstein's sessions in the Cuca recording studio reflected a combination of Kirchstein's own acoustical knowledge and intuition as well as the dynamics of each particular recording group.

The standard recording session at most studios was three hours, usually with a rigid division of tasks between the artistic and the technical coordinators.^[67*] Kirchstein, by contrast, was the artistic coordinator, studio scheduler, and production manager. After he scheduled a band to record, Kirchstein started the session by getting to know the members and making them feel comfortable. Often the sessions were very informal, with the spouses of the musicians tagging along and playing cards in the studio during the sessions.^[68*]

Studio time varied from group to group and was largely determined by the style of music being recorded. Old-time performers like Syl Liebl and Syl Groeschl, accustomed to leading their bands in frequent Wisconsin performances, could record an entire album in two to three hours. It rarely took more than two or three takes of any selection to have a song perfected and ready to cut onto the master.^[69*] In fact, Kirchstein found that the first or second take of a song was usually the best, even if a note here or there was missed, because the excitement and enthusiasm for playing the selection would be evident on the recording. However, Kirchstein would stop a group in mid-performance if he heard frequent wrong notes, tempos, or harmonies. Most artists, impressed with his natural ear, respected Kirchstein's input. Spike Micale stated the following about his session at Cuca and impression of Kirchstein.

I've been in more than one recording studio and I can say this: in my own humble estimation, Jim Kirchstein was the best polka engineer of all the engineers....He knew just how to balance the band. You could just tell him what you wanted - more bass, less drums - and he would balance it out just exactly the way you wanted it....He was very sensitive to what you were trying to produce. What he did is we talked a little bit and we ran through a couple throw-away songs....You're just going to play them until you get the thing balanced....On this album, the "Smile Awhile" album, we did either six or seven songs on one take. We played it - boom. Everybody played perfect. No mistakes.^[70*]

Rock groups, on the other hand, were much more difficult to work with in the studio. Many, like Vilas Craig and the Viscounts, ad-libbed their performances to develop a new sound on record or because of the inclusion of non-group musicians for the session.^[71*] Other rock groups dominated the studio for days, working and re-working one song, hoping to get it right. This studio monopolization sometimes resulted in missed opportunities for Kirchstein. For example, he recalled that the rock group Circus booked the studio for a solid week and refused to vacate it even when superstar David Bowie requested time at Cuca during a visit to Milwaukee.^[72*] It was to Kirchstein's credit, however, that he maintained his open-door studio policy and low-key style which both allowed the lesser name acts access to recording facilities and attracted more artists as word of the Cuca style and sound spread.

The relaxed style and open-door policy carried over to the individual artist contracts at Cuca, which protected both the artists and Kirchstein in the often sensitive area of financial agreements. The no-strings-attached nature of the legal documents also convinced musicians to sign with the label. Artist contracts with record companies generally provide for royalty payments to an artist based on sales. Therefore, if a record does not sell, the artist and the company make no money. This system puts an unknown artist or one with a limited audience at a distinct disadvantage, especially with major labels with a keen eye on the bottom line. In order to receive a contract at a major label or larger independent, upcoming artists often agreed to give the record companies' publishing firm the rights to their compositions. Many signed contracts for smaller percentages of royalties than better known artists with track records for producing hits commanded. Those who were very successful sometimes received 50 percent of the mechanical rights royalties.^[73*] A new artist could not hope to get such a generous share of the profits.

Better-known artists or ones in whom record companies felt confident contracted at majors not just for one single or LP but for several records. Majors' management often charged the first album against the royalties of the next recording and no royalties would be paid at all until production expenses of the first and perhaps second albums were paid. Therefore, an artist could theoretically be in debt to his or her record label if the records did not sell. Majors justified this with the excuse that recording, producing, and promoting albums were expensive.^[74*] Also, there were thousands of musicians eager to try cutting a best-selling record and their chances rose when recording on a well-connected, well-financed major record company. Even artists who contracted with independent producers, those who negotiated with major companies to record an album, sometimes found themselves indebted to the independent producer. The producer would underwrite, or loan, the money necessary to make a recording at a major. A standard contract with such a producer required that in the event of a hit record, the artist's royalties would be deducted for all recording costs incurred prior to the hit.^[75*] The advantage, therefore, for recording at an independent company and releasing a single or LP on its label was often not only a factor of proximity and lack of national popularity, but sound financial calculation. Artists knew exactly how much cash outlay to expect at the outset of a recording venture and did not find themselves later indebted to a record producer or tied to a record company for two, three, or more albums.

Artists' contracts also addressed issues of wages, how much a company agreed to pay the bands and studio musicians, and work conditions. Individual contracts became especially important after the musicians' union (the American Federation of Musicians) decline in strength during the 1960's and its general ignorance by the independent companies. While all of the majors were signatories to the AFM work codes, which stipulate wages and recording session length, many independents were not, knowing they were too small to be noticed. Some, like Ace Records, were non-union but paid union scale, a potentially pricy policy. For example, in 1960 it cost Ace about 480 dollars for two songs in musician wages.^[76*] Other indies circumvented the work standards required by the AFM, even though they may have been, like Cuca, officially licensed union studios. It was Kirchstein's open-door policy which allowed him to bypass the union pay scales. Because he offered free studio time and because the artist contracts indicated it was the bandleader's responsibility to pay his or her musicians union scale, Kirchstein effectively avoided the potentially high musician costs, especially with the large old-time bands which often contained five to ten members each. Cuca's contracts were successful; the free studio time policy was never challenged by the AFM.^[77*] The short-lived, Minneapolis-based Oxboro label, formed in 1964, also offered free recording and relied on record sales for its profit.^[78*] By contrast, in 1959 Ace received $37.50 per hour of recording^[79*] from musicians but if a record did not sell, Ace may very well have been stuck with losses in studio time and money paid to musicians.

While companies like Ace might charge the musicians studio time, they also signed one-shot contracts for whatever single or album the musicians recorded, promising both wages and royalty agreements. Kirchstein's one-shot contracts not only established royalty payments, but also discussed fiscal responsibility for aspects involved in each record's production beyond its recording. They established the master ownership rights and provided for future leasing of the master recordings. The agreements also set forth the number of singles or LP's to be produced and purchased by the artists themselves, thereby guaranteeing that Cuca would recover its costs.

"Concertina" Millie Kaminsky's contract for her "Concertina Moods" LP (K2054) provides an example of Cuca's standard artist-studio agreement. The contract, signed 9 May 1967, included the following stipulations. Cuca paid all studio, master tape processing (including the metal parts, acetates, and vinyl discs required), and printed jacket expenses. All compensation to the musicians and their associated organizations (meaning the AFM), as well as any social security taxes, were the responsibility of Kaminsky. Cuca agreed to pay Kaminsky a royalty of 4 cents per 45 and 20 cents per LP sold, sample copies and artists copies being exempt from royalty payment. Kirchstein promised to send Kaminsky a quarterly royalty statement and payments would be made only when the amount exceeded 5 dollars. The contract also included the charge for album orders: 25 cents for the first 400 45's ordered and $1.50 for LP's until a "break-even" point was reached.^[80*] A contract with Sammy Egum mirrored Kaminsky's contract, but the charge for the ordered material was 40 cents for the first 250 45's and 2 dollars for LP's until the break-even point, then the price dropped to $1.85.^[81*]

Cuca contracts also stipulated that the bandleader was prohibited from re-recording any song material until after the LP or 45 had been dropped from the catalog. This line was amended in late 1967 to assign a three-year recording ban on material discontinued from the catalog, unless Kirchstein gave written consent. Also in 1967, Kirchstein revised the standard contract, stating no royalties would be paid on the first 300 records to allow Cuca to recover promotional set-up charges. In 1968 the contracts were further adjusted, giving Cuca the right to release singles from artists' LP recordings as long as a 10 percent royalty was paid to the musician and the three-year ban was reduced to one year.^[82*]

Bigger name artists, like Pee Wee King, often had altered contracts which they required in order to insure their recording flexibility with major labels. Pee Wee King's contract with Jim Kirchstein in 1965 for his LP "Country Music Polkas" included a sliding scale of royalty payments: 30 cents on 90 percent of the records sold at $1.85 or more, 20 cents on 90 percent of the records sold at less than $1.85, and 6 cents on 90 percent of any 45's issued from the LP. His agreement also contained a specific line stating "understood that this contract is nonexclusive, thereby giving Pee Wee King the privilege to record on other labels."^[83*]

Contracts with artists and other recording labels also provided the legal means for Cuca to lease master recordings, thereby making additional money for both the company and the musicians. According to Kirchstein, ownership of the master was equal between himself and the artist. Cuca never leased or sold a master without an artist's written consent and expected the same courtesy in return. While he has leased many master recordings to other companies over the years, including those by such bandleaders as Verne Meisner, Dick Rogers, Syl Groeschel, and Spike Micale to the GRT Corporation of Sunnyvale, California,^[84*] he has sold outright only a handful of masters of the thousands recorded during the firm's years in business.^[85*]

These carefully defined provisions all boded well for contractual success. It can only be assumed that the artists themselves were pleased with the terms of the documents, as artists like Verne Meisner, Earl Hooker, and Doc DeHaven routinely recorded and released records on the label and no artists ever brought suit against Kirchstein for contract violation. Another indicator of the mutual legal respect was that only two artists during the entire history of Cuca reneged on their contracts, one for "unknown reasons"^[86*] and the other for problems resulting during the LP mixing process.

The post-recording stage, which includes equalization and mixing, is one of the most important stages in record production. The film industry led the way in post-recording technology during the 1930's. In the 1940's, the music business incorporated these technologies and professionalized their operations by employing record producers to supervise trained technicians in major studios.^[87*] Small, independent firms rarely had the resources to hire multiple staff members to operate the various pieces of equipment required in the post-recording work and frequently their owners wore many hats: mixing console technicians, equalizers, and supervising producers. At major recording studios, by contrast, management hired specially trained technicians to mix the various tracks of recorded sound together. They also equalized the sound levels, removed unwanted noise, and enhanced vocals with echos or other effects. The overseeing production manager then organized the total music package, if it was an LP, for song placement. Usually producers waited several days or weeks before beginning the process, allowing them to hear the music objectively.^[88*]

Being an independent owner, Kirchstein performed much of the post-production process himself. He usually followed the recording process through from start to finish and did not have the luxury of waiting several days to prepare a record for production. Instead he worked late at night after a session to prepare the master recording. Kirchstein also had to improvise with post-recording technology, just as he did in the studio. He built his own equalizers, creating his own circuits, in order to get a high frequency boost and remove any excess bass (which could cause a record to skip) missed during the initial preventative studio measures.^[89*] He also used old tube electronics, a hold-over from the 1940's and 1950's recording era, which produced a warm sound on the final product. Kirchstein relied upon first a two-track and then a four-track recorder until the early 1970's, which, along with his role as engineer, producer, and sound technician rolled into one, created some problems and caused one artist to default on his contract.

Because producers mix all the ingredients of a recording into a salable commodity, an art which "borders on alchemy," artists blame producers for unsuccessful albums.^[90*] It was they who artists considered responsible for supervising the engineers who mixed the sound, insuring a quality product. Kirchstein found himself a blamed producer, as well as label owner, after old-time artist Spike Micale recorded a second album at Cuca in the mid-1960's. Micale had recalled Kirchstein being "masterful when he was at the controls" during the production of "Smile Awhile." Unfortunately for Micale, during the second session Kirchstein was attempting to expand the business and was training an engineer. Micale's band recorded twelve songs and thought the sound was balanced correctly. However, when the new engineer mixed the tape down from its various tracks, Micale reviewed it and realized that the resulting balance of instruments was wrong. The new engineer had recorded the banjo and the second accordion together on the same track and the sounds could not be separated; the banjo was much too loud and the second accordion, the most important instrument in Micale's Slovenian style, could barely be heard. Also, indie labels with tight budgets often reused the initial recording tape because master tape was expensive. Cuca was no exception to cost control measures and by the time Micale realized the error, the master tape had been recycled, making any re-mixing and equalization impossible. Unhappy with the result, Micale canceled the record order.^[91*] Because Cuca only earned profit when artists either bought albums to sell themselves or from orders by distributors, Kirchstein swallowed the loss.

Later developments, like the 16-track recorder introduced in the mid-1960's, helped alleviate post-production problems because each instrument had its own track on the master tapes. The new technology, along with the introduction of noise reduction equipment (the Dolby sound system, for example), further reduced the need for studios' acoustical excellence by allowing sound quality decisions to be delayed until the equalization and mixing stages.^[92*] Indies, however, had to wait and acquire the resources necessary to invest in these machines and in the meantime constantly faced the threat of poor results and unhappy artists.

After studio engineers recorded and mixed a master tape of an album, the song order on the LP or the single to be released would have to be determined. In the early days, a recording manager (something like today's producer) selected the songs to be recorded, decided which takes would be mastered, and chose the songs to be released for sale. The majors often had recording committees of executives to aid in the final decision as the entire recording procedure had to be coordinated with the other facets of production.^[93*] Of course, single-owner indies did not have a committee of executives, during this time or later, to make these judgments and thus it was a collaboration between the owner/producer/engineer and artist. As the selection process evolved into the 1960's, these decisions were more and more made at larger studios by the producer, group manager, and musicians. Record company executives, however, still exercised a great deal of control over what single would be released for airplay. At smaller studios, the evolution had little effect. Kirchstein and his artists, for example, worked together to determine the best flow of songs for an LP and which take would be best for a release. Kirchstein liked to arrange albums mentally during the studio session, looking for variations in tempos and keys, and often choosing selections which may have contained minor mistakes but most accurately depicted the spirit and enthusiasm of a "live" performance. After mixing, equalizing, and adding sound effects, he collaborated with the artists and he generally received their acquiescence on song arrangement for the album's release.^[94*]

The final stage of record production is the actual manufacturing or pressing of the music into vinyl, magnetic tape, or, beginning in the 1980's, compact disc. Again, Kirchstein extended his many roles to include supervision of this process when he opened his own pressing plant in 1964, located one block from the studio at 250 Hemlock Street in a warehouse owned by his father.

Economy and expediency motivated Kirchstein's investment in record pressing equipment and operations. As stated earlier, it cost Cuca about 10 cents per record for orders placed at RCA, a reduction from the cost required if the label did not have had its own master-making capabilities. The financial outlay to a major like RCA for pressing records could become quite burdensome over time, especially if an indie placed a large order and the inventory did not sell, like Dave Kennedy's "Wooden Heart" single.

While monetary considerations were important, equally compelling was the amount of time required to place a custom order at a major company-owned manufacturing facility and get the records returned to Sauk City for marketing and distribution. Sometimes Kirchstein would have to wait months to receive completed records from RCA, although it usually averaged about six weeks. Not only were Cuca orders low on the priority list for RCA, but the approval process also ate valuable time. Kirchstein sent a master recording to RCA in Chicago and RCA then returned a test acetate to Kirchstein for approval. RCA cut the acetate from soft vinyl and it therefore had a mellower sound than the expected end product made from rigid vinyl, which produced a harder sound. Keeping this in mind, Kirchstein listened to the master recording and returned it to RCA with his signature. At that point, RCA fabricated an electroplated, metal test pressing platter, which also needed a signed approval. Kirchstein carefully screened each test pressing because once he signaled the go-ahead, RCA allowed no returns on the final pressed record order. Another piece of the process which added to this already lengthy ordeal was the time required to order and print the labels for each record, which stated the artist and song titles.^[95*] During the cutthroat 1960's era of rock singles and cover records, six weeks meant the death of any potential hit, especially one released on an unknown indie label by a regional artist.

For all these reasons, Kirchstein invested several thousand dollars to develop his own record manufacturing plant. He first updated his master-making, electroplating equipment from a used German Neumann 3D2 lathe to a new Westcheck 3D2, which cost 9,000 dollars. Then he purchased second-hand pressing equipment from "L'il Wally" Jagiello, a Polish polka artist from Chicago who liquidated his Jay Jay label, for 3,000 dollars. Jagiello's equipment consisted of four presses driven by steam to heat the plastic used to make the records. With the help of John Castagna, a pressing plant operator from Nashville, Kirchstein converted the warehouse and the presses to meet his record production needs.^[96*] Fortunately for Kirchstein, his father's warehouse had previously been a chicken hatchery and was therefore properly wired for high current and low voltage, the same properties necessary for electroplating.

The process of manufacturing records has not altered significantly since Edison invented the process of electroplating master recordings of cylinders with gold dust and then Elderige Johnson applied the method to flat discs, making negative imprints to duplicate record after record. Record manufacturers refined the process, of course, throughout the twentieth century but the basic concept remained the same. By the 1960's, most operations were fully mechanized and disk material shifted from shellac to vinyl and plastic.^[97*]

Chemicals and hydraulics also came to the fore during the evolution, and Kirchstein's background in engineering made it possible for him to utilize his education in the development and operation of his pressing plant. Kirchstein himself handled all of the chemical applications necessary for the electroplating process.^[98*] The master, which held the sound grooves cut by the lathe, was first coated with silver in a chemical bath at the warehouse. Then Kirchstein removed the silver layer and coated the master with nickel in another chemical bath. This resulted in a metal disk, or negative, of the record after an approximately four and one half hour chemical process. Next, 300 degree steam heated the vinyl, made of ground plastic, to a near-liquid state. Workers, of which there were several young men and women from the local community, then poured the vinyl over the metal negative and the record presses exerted nearly a ton of weight onto the vinyl, forming the record. Finally, water cooled the record after it was removed from the metal mold. The record remained on a warm aluminum disk to insure it would cool slowly to prevent warping.^[99*]

Two of the record presses manufactured 45 rpm singles and two created 33-1/3 LP's. With all four record presses running, Cuca had the capacity to produce about 2,000 albums and 4,000 singles a day. Although the procedure usually took about a week, Kirchstein experimented and discovered that if necessary, he could complete the entire process, from recording to pressing, in two days. Average production time in the pressing plant was 60 albums and 100 45's per hour.^[100*]

Kirchstein also invested in the machinery required for the packaging stage of record production: jacket and label fabrication. Again, the impetuses for self-sufficiency were time and money. Indies without the capability to produce the protective covering for a record were at the mercy of the majors which owned the equipment for this necessary process. For instance, Ace Records paid 581 dollars in 1962 for 5,200 LP covers. It also paid pressing costs to RCA. All told, it cost Ace 33 cents to produce a record and distributors paid, on average, 46 cents per record to the label for the privilege of handling an Ace product. Therefore, the indie garnered just 13 cents gross per 45 rpm single.^[101*]

Kirchstein was able to both reduce time and increase profit through his purchase of a record jacket machine from Jay Jay, which he bought at the same time he invested in the pressing machines. He hired a printer from Madison to create the jacket "slicks" or special paper need to manufacture the sleeves. The paper would then be fed through a machine at the Cuca warehouse which cut and glued the jackets to the required size.^[102*]

Through his investment of just 3,000 dollars, Kirchstein avoided the 10 cent charge per record for pressing as well as the approximately 11 cents per record sleeve. This reduced his overhead costs and earned him an additional 21 cents per record, a profit key in the survival of his independent company, especially in a time of severe competition. The additional savings also allowed him to expand his promotional activities and survive through the 1960's in an unfair, major company controlled distribution system. It was Cuca's self-sufficiency in record production which allowed it to avoid most, but not all, of the problems that all indies faced during the final phases of the recording process: marketing and distribution.