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Revision as of 03:00, 28 March 2012

Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or coloured vinyl. Customarily, the term does not include records that have only an illustrated label, however large or elaborate it may be, or records with one illustrated but non-playable side; the graphics must extend at least partly into the actual grooved playing area.

File:Curved air record.jpg
Curved Air's Airconditioning (Warner Bros. 1971) was the first modern picture disc. This second edition pressing of the disc differs from the very rare first edition in that the credits have been edited. The album which was designed by Mark Hanau won the New Musical Express magazine (UK) Special Award for Best Album Art in 1971. Only 2000 of both editions were ever pressed.

Development

Picture discs debuted in the early 1930s, when various materials were used experimentally as gimmicks or for advertising. These early picture discs were simply a sheet of thin vinyl film which was placed over a thick paper print and then pressed with the grooves and had very poor sound quality.

Adolf Hitler released a 7" picture disc of this type with one of his speeches. Known as the Patria (Fatherland) picture disc, it holds an image of Hitler giving a speech on one side, and a hand holding a swastika flag on the other, and recordings of speeches by Hitler and Party member Hans Hinkel.[1]

Invented in the forties by Tom Saffady,[2] Vogue Records (picture discs) were manufactured in Detroit, Michigan, at Sav-Way Industries during 1946 and 1947 and sold for 50 to 75 cents each. With 74 titles featuring artists like Lulu Belle, The Charlie Shavers Quintet, and Patsy Montana, they were 10" in diameter and made of an aluminum platter covered in clear shellac.[3]

Red Raven released in the USA, 1956 circa, 78 rpm children's records with an animation printed onto the disc. They included a little mirrored device (similar to a praxinoscope) to be placed on the turntable's spindle, reflecting the animation in such a way that while the record plays one gets to see an endlessly repeating animated cartoon. Later, 33⅓ rpm vinyl records with animation on the labels were also produced. In the sixties similar devices were in introduced in Europe with different names (Teddy in France and Netherlands, Mamil Moviton in Italy, etc.).

Following introduction of colored vinyl, picture discs started to appear in the 1970s. The first serious pictures discs (with acceptable but still inferior sound quality) were developed by Metronome Records GmbH (a subsidiary of Polydor Records). These new picture discs were made by creating a five layer lamination consisting of a core of black vinyl with kiln dried paper decals on either side and then outer skins of clear vinyl film (manufactured by 3M) on the outsides. In manufacture, one layer of the clear film was first placed on the bed of the press on top of the stamper, then a "puck" of hot black vinyl from the extruder was placed on top of that. Finally the top print and vinyl film layer was added (held by a retracting pin in the upper profile usually employed to retain the upper paper label) and the press closed. Problems with poor vinyl flow caused by the paper texture and air released from the paper (that had not been removed in the kiln drying process) plagued the process.

The first 'modern' rock picture discs was British progressive rock band Curved Air's first album, Airconditioning, a UK issue (1970). The first commercially-issued American picture disc is To Elvis: Love Still Burning, a collection of 11 Elvis tribute songs by various artists, issued in May 1978. Both sides of the album (Fotoplay FSP-1001) picture Elvis Presley.

On some picture discs, the images used were meant to create an optical illusion while the record was rotating on the turntable (as in the B side of Curved Air's Airconditioning), while others used the visual effect to add to the music — for example, the 1979 picture disc of Fischer-Z's The Worker featured a train which endlessly commuted around the turntable, reinforcing the song's message.

Later picture discs included liquid light show style fluids between the vinyl, Rowlux 3D effect film, diffraction rainbow film, metal flake (vide examples here), pressure-sensitive liquid crystals that changed color when the record was picked up, a real holographic record (the first ever), and even a genuine "live album."

Made as a demonstration for Stevie Wonder's Journey through the Secret Life of Plants, it featured a layer of blotting paper between the clear vinyl layers that contained alfalfa seeds. A tag of the blotting paper protruded below the record, and resting the disc on a glass of water with the paper in the water allowed the seeds to germinate and grow inside the record. When the prototype was taken through customs in Canada it was seized by the Department of Agriculture, making it not only the only real live album but the only record ever banned by the Department of Agriculture (alfalfa being a prohibited import).

List of picture discs

First modern picture discs 1970 to 1979

Post 1980

Shaped Discs & 'special pressings'

Band Disc/Song Released Disc Description Disk Size Image
Barnes & Barnes Fish Heads: Barnes & Barnes' Greatest Hits 1982 Shaped as a fish head 12"
Broken English Comin on Strong 1987 Shaped as the 3 band members wearing Ghostbusters outfits holding guitars.
Devo Beautiful World b/w Nu-Tra 1981 Shaped like an astronaut head
Joe Strummer Love Kills Shaped like a gun 7" A gun
Monster Magnet Dopes to Infinity 1995 Shaped like the lead singer Dave Wyndorf's head. 12"
Gary Numan Warriors 1983 Shaped like a Jet Fighter. 7"
Gary Numan Berserker 1984 Shaped like Numan's head. 7"
Guns N' Roses Sweet Child o' Mine 1988 Shape of the classic logo of the cross and skulls of the five band members 7"
Guns N' Roses Paradise City 1989 Shape of a Colt "Peacemaker" 7"
Guns N' Roses Nightrain 1989 Shape of a suitcase 7"
Killing Joke Loose Cannon 2003 shaped yellow evil clown head image from the eponymous 2003 album sleeve
Kiss Lick It Up 1983 Shaped like an armored tank
Men Without Hats The Safety Dance 1982 Oddly shaped picture disc of a man and a woman dancing
Men Without Hats I Got the Message 1983
The Coconuts (Side project of Kid Creole and the Coconuts) Did You Have To Love Me Like You Did 1983 In the shape of a coconut. 7"
Monster Magnet Negasonic Teenage Warhead Shaped like a mushroom cloud 12"
OMD La Femme Accident 1985
Red Box Lean On Me b/w Stinging Bee 1985 Hexagonal red vinyl. Looks like a red box in 2D; flipside is a band photo. 7"
Saxon Back on the Streets Again Shaped as an apple (as is printed on one side of the disk). 7"
Tangerine Dream Warsaw in the Sun 1984 The record is in the shape of Poland and has several images including Lech Wałęsa and Pope John Paul II. 7"
The Fat Boys Wipe Out Shaped like a Hamburger 7"
Less Than Jake Cheese 1998 Shaped like a piece of swiss cheese. 1000 pressed in yellow. 500 pressed in green ("Moldy Version"). 7"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cheated Hearts 2006 Heart shaped. 7"
The Enemy You're not alone 2007 Square shaped. Has the single cover art on the A-side and a black and white picture of the band on the B-side with track listing. 7"
The Mars Volta Mr. Muggs 2008 In the shape of a clear planchette. 7"
Gangrene Sawblade EP 2010 In the shape of a circular sawblade.
  • A single shaped like DEVO's famous Energy Dome headgear was planned, but never made it past the test pressing stage.

toto africa/ rosana

Picture discs by band

Kiss

Muse

British rock band, Muse have released several picture discs since 2006. They have also notably released many clear wax vinyls since 1999.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ulric of England". Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  2. ^ New Products: Plastic Records Time Magazine Oct. 22, 1945. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  3. ^ Vogue Picture Records, 1946–1947. Postwar attitudes and optimism. University of California, Santa Barbara. Exhibition mounted May–June 2000.
  4. ^ Billboard. August 1974
  5. ^ http://www.bandstores.co.uk/shop/opeth/proddetail.php?prod=omerch_opeth_heritagepicdisc
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