The "new" RCA Victor 45-rpm record system

[electra225]

I had not seen this video before. I learned a lot, so I thought maybe you guys would enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBgC7A2C4ZY

[TC Chris]

Interesting sales pitch. They are right about inner-groove distortion, but I doubt most people could hear it on equipment of the time. They're also right about speed fidelity. The higher the speed, the better the high-frequency response. There are nigh-end reissues now on 12", 45 rpm discs. But the 7" size doomed the format. Large-scale works do not always (or often) break up into 7"-length sections. The 12" LP combined reasonable fidelity, length, and probably even better storage size.

Chris Campbell

[stbasil]

A great example of thinking "inside the box", assuming what the customers wanted, without considering that a longer playing record would be a more desirable feature. People were already used to the 12" records. 20-20 hindsight, of course. In my youth, 45s were kids and teenage records, 12" were for grownups!

[electra225]

Columbia introduced their 12" long-playing 33 1/3 rpm record in 1948. RCA had to come up with a system to compete with it, so their solution was the 7", 45 rpm record. The theory was that the 45 changer could handle 10 records, with two tracks per record, for a total of 20 tracks. Columbia's 12" LP record was good for ten or twelve tracks total. The first RCA 45 changer would lift the tone arm, drop the record, then set the tone arm back down in one revolution of the turntable, approximately the same amount of time as between tracks on a 12" LP. The intent was for the 45 to hold as much information as the 10" 78 did, which was pretty close. Of course, the 45 wasn't the best medium for certain music, such as classical that had longer selections than the 45 would accomodate. RP-168 was the first RCA 45 changer. I have one and find it amazing to watch in operation. The platter and the spindle are basically the entire changer mechanism. There is linkage associated with that, but the main changer action is accomplished in the turntable. Very simple mechanism. The downside is that it takes an act of God to replace the needle if you aren't using the original cartridge. I limit mine to six records. I know RCA probably wanted to come up with their own system to avoid paying Columbia for the use of their system. Eventually, RCA made 33's and Columbia made 45's, so a meeting of the minds must have taken place in the interim.

[TC Chris]

Maybe RCA assumed that people who had tolerated discs changes in the middle of movements of large-scale music would not mind the same interruption on the 45s. Big mistake.

Interesting how technology affects creativity. The 3-minute popular song was created by the recording medium, the three-minute duration of a 10" 78. We have over a century's worth of great pop music composed within the confines of the medium. Later, we had the "concept album," the set of LP tracks conceived of as a whole, by groups like the Beatles and others of the era. Again, they made these unified creations withing the time limits of a 12" LP. The other day I saw a mention of the problem that pop artists have filling longer-timed media like CDs. The 12" LP seems to have hit a sweet spot for pp bands.

Chris Campbell