Eldred Claude Stebbing (3 October 1921 – 6 December 2009) was a New Zealand record label owner and co-founder of the

Zodiac Records Zodiac Records has been the name of at least six different record labels: *Zodiac Records (New Zealand), an Auckland, New Zealand label of Stebbing Recording and Sound *Zodiac Records, a New York City, United States company in the 1950s *Zodiac Re ...

label. He also founded Stebbing Studios in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Biography

Stebbing was born in 1921. After leaving school in the 1930s, he was working on a production line for a company manufacturing radios. Later in the 1930s, along with his brother Phil, via their company, he supplied sound equipment for events. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was also involved in running dances attended by visiting servicemen. After the war, Stebbing Record and Sound Company Ltd was founded, and the company manufactured

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

records. In 1960, he founded Zodiac Records. He built the Stebbing Recording Centre in 1970, which became known as Stebbing Studios. In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Stebbing was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to the recording and entertainment industries. He was presented the Benny Award from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc in 2004 in recognition of his contribution to New Zealand entertainment. Stebbing died on 6 December 2009, aged 88, and his ashes were buried at Purewa Cemetery, Auckland.

References

External links

Stebbing Recording : History

The Stebbing Legacy, Chris Bourke, Audioculture

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stebbing, Eldred 1921 births 2009 deaths New Zealand audio engineers Music industry executives 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Burials at Purewa Cemetery