Article

Edward B. Moogk

Published Online July 2, 2007

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Edward B. (Balthasar) Moogk. Recorded-sound archivist, discographer, broadcaster, b Weston (later part of Metropolitan Toronto) 15 Jul 1914, d London, Ont, 18 Dec 1979. He had piano lessons as a child and played drums 1938-43 with the Bob Donelle and Willis Tipping dance bands.

Moogk, Edward B.

Edward B. (Balthasar) Moogk. Recorded-sound archivist, discographer, broadcaster, b Weston (later part of Metropolitan Toronto) 15 Jul 1914, d London, Ont, 18 Dec 1979. He had piano lessons as a child and played drums 1938-43 with the Bob Donelle and Willis Tipping dance bands. Under the professional name Ed Manning he pursued a career 1942-72 in radio and in the recording industry. He was assistant manager 1942-50 of radio station CKCR in Kitchener, Ont, and manager of record divisions at Gordon V. Thompson Ltd 1951-5 and at Sparton of Canada 1955-9. He was director of public service 1959-72 for CFPL-TV, London, Ont. During his radio years he was host for the CBC record programs 'Audio,' 'Den of Antiquity,' and 'Roll Back the Years.' The last, which began in Kitchener in 1945, was a network feature 1950-70. For Gavotte and Rococo he produced the records The Big Sing (two vols: 1952, Gav LPG-100; 1954, Gav LPG-107) and American Vaude and Variety (two vols: Rococo 4006, 4009, released in the late 1960s).

A lifelong record collector, Moogk became an authority on Canadian recordings, and in 1967 the Centennial Commission adopted his plan to assemble a Canadian archive, which became the nucleus of the National Library of Canada's recorded-sound collection, of which he was the custodian 1972-9. He organized the exhibits '85 Years of Recorded Sound' (1975) at the NL of C and '100 Years of Recorded Sound' (1977) at the CNE.

Moogk's book, Roll Back the Years: History of Canadian Recorded Sound and Its Legacy, Genesis to 1930 (Ottawa 1975), is a pioneer work in the field of Canadian discography. A continuation, leading to the end of the 78 era, remained a fragment at his death. His wife, Edith K. Moogk, with Gerald Parker and David Emmerson, compiled a Title Index to Canadian Works Listed in Edward B. Moogk's Roll Back the Years (Ottawa 1988). Martin F. Bryan has compiled Additions and Corrections to Edward B. Moogk's Roll Back the Years (self-published, St Johnsbury, Vt, 1986). Moogk wrote also for Opera Canada, Record News, Ontario Library Review, the London Free Press, Electron, EMC, and other publications.

See also Recorded sound production.