Picture These Discs

Introduction

I was reading the Taschen "1000 Record Covers" to enjoy the images and maybe get some inspiration for my writing. In the middle of the 1970s section, I saw the pages that I used to head this article. I had always assumed that Picture Discs were first produced in the nineteen-sixties, and I thought I had a copy of the first one, but no, apparently the first ones appeared in the nineteen-forties:

The picture disc was actually introduced in the forties, as these two examples show. The seventies and eighties found many records released on colored vinyl or with full picture discs.

• Art Kassel And His Orchestra "Sweetheart (Picture Disc)" Vogue, 1940
• Joan Edwards And The Vogue Reconding Orchestra "Ge West, Young Man, Go West (Picture Disc)" Vogue, 1940

These were both 78 rpm vinyl records. Hopefully, you can see the videos. I know YouTube can be awkward about licensing.

What Have I Got?

I will show you what I have, some don;t appear in the video, but I will share a track and a little information about the disc.

The Instagram video above is to show the effect of some of the picture discs in my collection. The thing is, picture discs usually come with a degraded sound quality, but some look impressive, and some look a bit rubbish and would have been better on decent black vinyl.

The "Halucinations" disc was what I believed to be the first picture disc, until I read about those forties seventy-eights. This is a German Elektra sampler with a few recognisable names, so I will share "Five To One" from "Waiting For The Sun" by The Doors, which is a great call to action.

Until I found the "Hallucinations" album, I, and most people, believed this was the first picture disc. "Air Conditioning" by Curved Air. If features in the video I shared and it is one of those where parts of it appear to go anti-clockwise as the record plays clockwise. One of the pieces is Daryl Way's seven-minute"Vivaldi" and brilliant violin assault, which was released as a side of a single, and I always put it on the jukebox if I found it. The worst reaction was from a bunch of ignorant young farmers, but I thought it was funny.

This is "Magical Love" by Saturnalia and features in the video. Shall I say the disc visuals are a lot better than the music, which could be described as a fourth-rate Curved Air? I still think it looks impressive. I've included "Winchester Town", which is OK.

I'd heard of Sam Fender, who was a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, so I didn't take much notice, then I heard "The Borders" and knew I had to have the record. I got a signed copy from Beyond Vinyl, and it's now worth about three hundred pounds, but it's not going anywhere, except possibly to my granddaughter Alexis, who is a big Sam Fender fan.

I think the pictures are bloody awful, but the music is bloody brilliant.

These are both sides of the Pendulum "Elemental" EP, and it is included in the video. Here is an example of what it does.

If you play the Pendulum EP at 33 rpm, shine a bright light on it and record at 25 fps, each ring has a cool animated effect! Here it is in action.

Conclusion

I have many other unusual discs, some heart-shaped and some with holograms etched into the vinyl, which you can see in this article I wrote:

Thank you so much for your support.