Off the Record

We have come a long way in the recording world since Thomas Edison uttered the words Mary had a little lamb back in the 19th century on the first phonograph. For a while the cylinder was the record of the time. Eventually 78-rpm records were introduced. Some of the early recordings were at speed 80 and were 12inch instead of the usual 10 inch. They were made of shellac and would easily break. Also the shellac surface would give off surface noise, which could be heard on playback.

10 inch 78s continued until the 1950s when vinyl was introduced. The speed of the single was reduced to 45 rpm and the size was 7 inches. The LP also hit the market and was 10 inch and 12 inch. The speed was 33 and 1/3 rpm. The 12 inch LP or album, as it was later called usually had 12 songs – six a side. For a while 78 rpm and 45 rpm singles were released side by side, but it wasn’t long before 78s were phased out. In the UK this was in the late 1950s.

One recording organisation, EMI, ran several labels including Columbia, Parlophone and HMV. Each label had its own colour. Columbia was green, Parlophone red and HMV blue. Around 1963 the colours were dropped and EMI produced less interesting labels that were black. This, no doubt was a cost cutting exercise. I preferred the colours; they gave the labels a touch of individuality.

Also in 1963 the audiocassette was born and was eventually used as an alternative to the LP. Titles were released on both sound carriers. Another sound carrier was eight track. This system was a loop. Two tracks would be played, creating stereo, then it would cut into two more tracks and so on. This system didn’t last long – the sound quality wasn’t that great, having to squeeze eight tracks on the not very wide tape. Before cassette, some material was released on reel-to-reel tape, which was quarter inch. Another short-lived piece of kit was four track record players – one system known as SQ.

Before the Beatles, American artistes dominated the British charts. There were many great American singers including Ricky Nelson, Eddy Cochran, Gene Vincent, Roy Orbison and Pat Boone. Many of their releases in the UK were on the black London label, which was part of the Decca record company. Later, the label became silver and black and was known as London American. The recordings were released under license in the UK because the labels were not available in the UK. There were labels including Dot and Del-Fi, the latter releasing Ritchie Valens’ Donna in the States. London American listed the name of the record company at the side of the label.