This from All Access:

------------------------------The 45 Turns 60------------------------------

It was MARCH 31st, 1949 when the very first 45rpm single was released. The 45 turned 60-years old yesterday and the very first one was from none other then the great EDDY ARNOLD with 'Texarkana Baby." The B-side was "Boquet of Roses," both recorded in NASHVILLE. The single was released on bright green vinyl. Why you ask? They were color-coded. Green was for Polka and Country, red for classical, yellow for children's, blue for international, cerise for rhythm'n'blues.

The two formats at the time were singles and four-track EPs The second single followed soon after with ARTHUR CRUDUP's "That's All Right/"Crudup After Hours," on cerise vinyl.

What the hell is a 45?

Were those early 45s all 7" records, or were there some 10" records as well?

"blue for international"

There may have been several shades of blue... the blue 45s that I have seen are mostly Broadway related or very light "classical" music. I have in my hot little hands a box set of 4 records "South Pacific" performed by Al Goodman and his Orchestra (RCA WK-18). The vinyl and labels are a very pretty medium blue! At one time I was told that international & folk 45s were purple, but I have never seen one (Perhaps they were indeed a very dark blue?). I have seen a picture of a 45 of religious music that appears to be turquoise, but possibly that picture had faded ?

As far as I know the early 45 records were all 7" with the large center hole. The 45 changers sold by RCA could not play anything larger!

Found this RCA Ad and comments:

http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=104263&sid=a754a15ebf4da1664 8e060f27c753cfa

So perhaps international records were indeed blue with a very dark blue or purple label. I am trying to dig out a "green" 45, but as far as I remember, it is a nice grass green, not chartreuse or turquoise.

> I have in my hot little hands a box set of 4 records

Be careful about "hot hands." They might warp the records!

The old ads are interesting in that I didn't realize that automatic record changers were a feature of the 45rpm system from the beginning.

Ok, I found some more RCA 45s...

Eddy Arnold (country) 48-0025 & Lawrence Duchow (polka) 48-0024: Green with Green label. (both a very nice "emerald" green)

Jarl-Franzen Duo (Scandinavian) 53-6252: Teal with a Black label.

Many more (Broadway related) Medium to dark Blue with Blue label. (some variation in shade)

Fran Allison (childrens, little nipper series) 47-0218 Yellow with Teal label.

Many classical which are Red with Red labels. Later "Collector's Issue"... Red vinyl with Gold label (WCT 7) Beethoven Fifth, recorded by Toscanini in 1939.

If you have not cued up a 45 in radio...you're a kid.

Even I have cued up 45s in radio!!

Still have a box of 45s "obtained" during my brief yet unspectacular radio career. That's how I discovered many of my favorite cult artists.

The official RCA Victor 45 color code was:


Black = Popular series.
Cerise = Rhythm and Blues series.
Green = Western and Country series.
Midnight Blue = Popular Classics series.
Red = Red Seal series.
Sky Blue = International series.
Yellow = Little Nipper series.

Ya, and we still had 45s in the KALE studio when we flipped to News in late 1994 ! And I occasionally used one when I needed a quick request that wasnt on a 33 or on the automation tapes.

It really happened quite often...It was easier to get to a 45 than any other way we had then, other than the occasional CD compilation, but those were limited in our station at that time ! Only a few good oldies CDs then...

"Sky Blue = International series."

Well, my wife (a quilter) showed me fabric samples of "sky blue". The record that she said is "Teal" is a little darker, but very close !

I completely forgot about THAT KALE. You had me going there for a second. The one I was thinking of fits the discussion and is closer to 1894!

Ha Ha Ha.,...that is a funny comment !

We have had discussions of this on the other side with lots of contributions from Craig as well. The guy who put KALE on the air up here ( the McCaw brothers of KELA Chehalis KIXI Seattle and KMO/KTVW ch 13 Tacoma fame ) bought the callsign and much of the transmitter and studio equipment in 1949 to put the Richland 960/KALE on the air April 1, 1950. One of the old timers over here ( long dead now ) told me once that the McCaws wanted the KALE callsign because it was an anagram of KELA.

I think the Portland 1330/KALE went dark in March of 1947 if I remember Craig's info correctly.

a 45 is a non-digital CD!!very popular and commonplace in the 50's and 60's!!!!

I've never quite heard that particular comparison before, but true dat..... 'o)

(On the other hand, I have described to several of my colleagues and contemporaries an LP record. One [rather unfortunate] analogy that I have often found myself using is that "a record is like a CD, only much bigger, is usually black, and it is played with a needle instead of a laser." Kinda' makes me wonder how I would describe a CED disc to the DVD Video/Apple I-Pod video/Foobarzaa generation, one who'll probably never even know what a physical video storage medium even *is*, let alone the slim possibility of ever seeing one? "Like a Sony Blue-Ray disc, only way bigger, and it is played with a needle instead of a laser"?

Jeeeash!)

I have come across a number of 45 RPM records from the late-60s, early 70's, that appear to be regular black records when observed under normal light. Holding them up to a light source, and observing the colour of the light passing through the record, would reveal the material was actually a really dark shade of RED or PURPLE!

Why is that? Was black vinyl more expensive than red or purple vinyl at the time, or what?

Seriously, have you had to explain vinyl records? I am a bit shocked that there could be people out there who have never seen a record or a turntable.

I have also noticed that some records are a deep red color when held up to a light source. I will have to photograph some records with a near-infrared camera. I suspect that they might appear transparent at those wavelengths. I have noted this phenomenon in other plastics; for an example, compare http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2505644220100993826dkNvoo to http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2164444230100993826Glxcve

"the McCaw brothers of KELA Chehalis KIXI Seattle and KMO/KTVW ch 13 Tacoma fame"

Cell phone service as well? I remember that there was a McCaw cellular back in Motorola "brick" days.

There's an episode of "Home Improvement" where the mom is elated because she found her collection of old 45s to which one of her sons replies, "Grandma let you have guns?".

Kennewickman: KALE Portland became KPOJ, KPOK, KUPL, KKPZ.

Motozak2: 45's that you can see through, using a bright light or what I've used "The Sun" are made of Polystyrene. All albums and some 45's were also made with Polyvinyl. You can't see through Polyvinyl and they hold up better. A telltale sign of Polystyrene 45's: Labels are glued to the record, although some were melted in with a lip around the label. Polyvinyl records always featured the label melted into the vinyl. For DJ's, it was the Polystyrene 45's that would develop Cue Burn.

Knowing this at the time, when buying a current 45 at say "Fred Meyer" from the "ABC Records & Tape Sales" display. If I picked up a Polystyrene record, I would look through the stack, hoping I could find an earlier pressing on Polyvinyl. Some record company's would, first press currents on Polyvinyl, then when the record became a hit, switch the Polystyrene which was cheaper to press and could be manufactured faster.

Here's more on this:

Traditionally, phonograph records are molded from either a polystyrene material or a vinyl material such as polyvinyl chloride, the latter having to be compression molded, whereas polystyrene formulations are able to be injection molded. Polystyrene materials promise certain advantages over the vinyl based materials by virtue of their ability to be injection molded into phonograph records at a lower cost, in a shorter period of time, and with lower energy consumption than compression molded records.

Compression molding of vinyl materials produces phonograph records having well-formed grooves approaching that of an ideally formed V-shaped groove, whereas injection molded phonograph records have less well-defined grooves which tend to have rounded rather than sharply defined edges, because when the molding material is injected into an injection mold it must flow from the center there of and there throughout, resulting in a significantly rounded groove formation as opposed to the grooves that are more precisely defined with compression molding techniques.

In the compression molding of phonograph records, a thick and pliable biscuit is extruded and then placed in a compression mold and subjected to temperature and pressure conditions which flatten the biscuit to the desired disk shape and form the V-shaped grooves. Injection molding of phonograph records, on the other hand, simply involves delivery of the composition, which is in a powdered or pelletized form, into an injection mold operated at suitable temperature and pressure conditions to produce a phonograph record faster, with less energy, with less manual labor, and with reduced costs when compared with compression molding but which heretofore resulted in a phonograph record having grooves of a much more rounded character than the ideal V-shaped groove.

Also, compression molded phonograph records traditionally have superior wear resistance over injection molded phonograph records, which is especially valuable for molding the larger, long playing type of records where there are an average of about 50 more grooves per radial inch than the number of grooves in the smaller, 45 rpm type of records.

some labels played better than others!!some were apt to skipping on some cheaper record players. Some people had to put(tape) a coin on the tone-arm to prevent the skipping/repeating!!??I think the thinner ones were better than the thicker plastic ones!!??some were noisier too. others were quiet!!

Craig--

Some of the Reader's Digest LPs from the mid-1980's are pressed on some sort of translucent material as well. I imagine those to be polystyrene or something similar. They appear to be black under normal light but when held up to a light source (like that "Sun" thing you mentioned ;o) they appear a sort of pale brownish colour.

I am not sure what moulding method they used for those records, (I imagine compression moulding, due to the rather smooth "rounded" outer rim.) A few of those records that I have heard (the 1987 box "25 Years Of #1 Hits: 1956-1975" springs to mind) have incredibly limited sound quality, often sounding very "hollow". Some of the songs in that package sound as though I am listening to them through a plastic garbage pail!

Most of the records of that period, as far as I am aware, were manufactured specifically for RD by RCA Music Service. (Maybe the records were a spiritual decendant of "Dynaflex"?)

From:

http://www.crimsondog.co.uk/

"The majority of records are pressed on black vinyl. The colouring material used to blacken the transparent PVC plastic mix is carbon black, the generic name for the finely divided carbon particles produced by the incomplete burning of a mineral oil sourced hydrocarbon. Without this, the record would be transparent and would show the dirt collected in the grooves, the scratch marks and other damage to both sides of the record. Carbon black also increases the strength of the disc."

So, perhaps some records did not have as much carbon mixed into the vinyl, and are slightly transparent ?

Yes, I have an album on Columbia's budget label "Harmony" that was pressed with Polystyrene in the 1950's but I believe it's kind of rare. Also I remember some of the later 45 pressings on Polyvinyl you could see through because they didn't use enough carbon black.

I took a near-infrared photo of a polystyrene record, and it is, indeed, transparent at those wavelengths. Have a look -> http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2128000450100993826pXhYDo

I also posted photos of some vinyl records for comparison.

Cool! were the cat shots in total darkness? (except for the IR LEDs)

The cat pictures were almost in total darkness. All lights in the house were turned off, and to guarantee that there were no foreign influences on the cats' behavior, I was out of the house. The only light that they would have been able to see would be stray light from the outside. In one of the shots, one of the cats is looking out the window, possibly at a passing car. In none of the pictures that I took did I see the cats looking at the LED lamp or at the shadows that they cast in the IR beam.

CBS Records were notorious for pressing Promotional 45 copies for radio stations on Polyvinyl. Then issuing Polystyrene copies to the public.