Discos Qualiton - The 1970s

The 1970s

By the late 1960s the record label had already relocated from Rosario to Buenos Aires, and expanded its catalog. New investors were seduced by the idea of creating a major independent label. Curt von Simpson and Gertrudis Moser joined Fonema executive leadership providing the needed contacts with local banks (namely Banco Oddone). During this period of expansion Take One, a state-of-the-arts 24-channel recording studio was built to specs. The console was manufactured by Solidyne and the studio acoustics was designed by Oscar Bonello. Take one, which would eventually become a landmark of the record industry was located at Fonema's HQ on Perú 375 in Buenos Aires historical district known as Monserrat The original concept of a small and family orientated garage experiment born in Rosario, had grown out of proportion. However, by 1976, a military putsch, led by Jorge Rafael Videla, ousted Argentine president Isabel Perón making life quite difficult for the arts at large, and in particular for domestic labels linked to the previous years of social unrest. The final days of Discos Qualiton came about in 1978.

Only a few complete collections of Discos Qualiton, and other labels associated to Fonema and Fondo Cultural, have survived and are available in a handful of libraries, private collections, and research institutes throughout Europe and the US. It is worth noticing that up to 1977, the artistic direction of Discos Qualiton was mostly the result of the expertise of Ivan Cosentino as a musician and recording engineer, while the publishing, editorial presentation, production and marketing was carried out by Nelson Montes-Bradley.