[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [ARSCLIST] Stereo records.
On Thursday 15 June 2006 18.44, Lou Judson wrote:
> For example, this article says the 60s Beatle era was the golden age of
> the 45 - yet they were on their way out in the USA beginning in 1962 or
> so... But I was just 12 then, so I might be a bit off...
Considering that the Beatles didn't hit the mainstream until 1963, I'd say
you're just a wee bit off. :)
>From "archeological evidence" I've seen I'd guess that 45s started climbing in
popularity with the birth of rock-n-roll in the mainstream marketplace,
hitting a plateau about 1957 and crusing until the mid 1970s when albums
started to gain in importance.
No solid data to back that up, just formulated from people's collections I've
seen through the years, plus my observation that during the 1950s and 1960s,
most artists released singles as 45s, the best of which were collected into
long-playing albums. By the late 1970s that was beginning to reverse itself -
now the artists were selling albums, and selected tracks from the albums were
released as singles.
One UK phenomenon that didn't really achieve the same popularity in the US was
the extended play 45. An album of fourteen cuts might have the four (or
eight) "best" tracks released on one (or two) EP(s), which in Britain were
considered a "poor man's album".
Michael Shoshani
Chicago