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The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl (
polyvinyl chloride or PVC)
gramophone record
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...
that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compared to
LPs (long play) which have several songs on each side. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the mastering engineer, which in turn gives a wider
dynamic range
Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base-1 ...
, and thus better sound quality. This record type is commonly used in disco and dance music genres, where
DJs use them to play in clubs. They are played at either or 45 . The conventional
7‐inch single usually holds three or four minutes of music at full volume. The 12‐inch LP sacrifices volume for extended playing time.
Technical features
Twelve-inch singles typically have much shorter playing time than full-length LPs, and thus require fewer grooves per inch. This extra space permits a broader dynamic range or louder recording level as the grooves' excursions (i.e., the width of the groove waves and distance traveled from side to side by the turntable stylus) can be much greater in
amplitude
The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of amplit ...
, especially in the bass frequencies important for
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
. Many record companies in the 1970s began producing 12-inch (30 cm) singles at rpm, although 45 rpm gives better treble response.
History
Pre-vinyl period
Gramophone records had been introduced in the latter portion of the 19th century, with several pioneers involved in sound reproduction development such as
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
and
Emilie Berliner. Berliner along with
Eldridge R. Johnson
Eldridge Reeves Johnson (February 6, 1867 in Wilmington, Delaware – November 14, 1945 in Moorestown, New Jersey) was an American businessman and engineer who founded the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901 and built it into the leading A ...
merged their efforts within the industry to form the
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, USA and perfected the use of 5 and 7-inch rotating
shellac
Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...
discs for sound replay from 1889, with 10-inch records appearing in 1901. In 1903 12-inch discs were introduced by Victor, on their Deluxe label, these able to play for up to four minutes, so increasing what were non-achievable times of the length of a song or speech on the earlier formats. These first twelve-inch releases were all by the Victor Grand Concert Band, led by
Frederick W. Hager
Frederick W. Hager (December 31, 1874 - March 3, 1958) was an American musician, recording artist, composer, and music director active between 1895 and 1923.
Biography Early life and recording and bandleader
Hager was born in New Milford, Penn ...
. During the 1910s discs became the standard sound reproduction format, although the speeds used could vary between manufacturers until 78 rpm became the norm from around 1925. An album would consist of several of these single discs packaged together. These brittle shellac discs remained a popular medium through the first attempt to introduce vinyl records in 1931, the subsequent move towards microgroove formats from 1948, and would survive until the early 1960s.
Vinyl and microgroove formats
In August 1931,
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
launched the first commercially available vinyl long-playing record, marketed under their Program Transcription series. These revolutionary discs were designed for playback at 33
1⁄
3 rpm (the speed first used on 16‑inch
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...
soundtrack discs from 1926) and pressed on ten and twelve-inch diameter flexible Victrolac discs, using a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compound called
vinylite which was licensed from
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...
. It was marketed initially as being more robust than shellac, with a duration of up to twenty minutes playing time per side. The first twelve-inch LP (containing only one track per side), was Beethoven's ''
Symphony No. 5 In C Minor'' by the
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...
conducted by
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appeara ...
. RCA's early introduction of a long-play disc was a commercial failure for several reasons including the lack of affordable, reliable consumer playback equipment and consumer wariness during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Because of financial hardships that plagued the recording industry during that period (and RCA's own parched revenues), Victor's long-playing records were discontinued for public sale by early 1933.
Vinyl as a material for records sold to the public was reintroduced after World War II, first for 78s in 1945 (the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus's ''Prince Igor'' a 12‑inch 5-record set from
Asch Recordings catalog number M-800), with 12‑inch 33
1⁄
3 rpm LPs (with a narrower "microgroove") and 7‑inch 45 rpm singles being marketed by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
and
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
respectively in 1948 and 1949. Intriguingly, although there is a scientific basis behind 45 rpm being an ideal speed for sound quality which was touted by RCA, conveniently the 45 rpm number is also derived by subtracting the then common 78 rpm speed from the then newly introduced 33 rpm LP speed.
Jamaican roots
The gramophone records cut especially for dance-floor DJs came into existence with the advent of recorded Jamaican
mento
Mento is a style of Music of Jamaica, Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It is a fusion of African rhythmic elements and European elements, which reached peak popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. ...
music in the 1950s. By at least 1956 it was already standard practice by Jamaican
sound systems
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
owners to give their "selecter" DJs acetate or flexi disc dubs of exclusive mento and Jamaican
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
recordings before they were issued commercially.
Pre-disco
In March 1970, Cycle/
Ampex Records
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
test-marketed a twelve-inch single by jazz-pop guitarist Buddy Fite, featuring "Glad Rag Doll" backed with "For Once in My Life", both from his self-titled debut album issued in 1969. Subtitled 'The world's first 12-inch single!', the experiment aimed to energize the struggling singles market, offering a new option for consumers who had stopped buying traditional singles. The record was pressed at 33 rpm, with identical run times to the seven-inch 45 rpm pressing of the single and album, but with a large runoff area. Several hundred copies were made available for sale for 98 cents each at two
Tower Records
Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...
stores in California.
Shelter Records
Shelter Records was a U.S. record label started by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell that operated from 1969 to 1981. The company established offices in both Los Angeles and Tulsa, Russell's home town, where the label sought to promote a "workshop ...
evidently liked the format enough to use it a few times to promote artists in the US and Australia - they serviced a test pressing of
Leon Russell
Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...
's "It's A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" backed with "Me And Baby Jane" to radio stations in July 1971, the first track from his ''
Leon Russell and the Shelter People
''Leon Russell and the Shelter People'' is the second solo album by the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Leon Russell. Released in 1971, it peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 200 in the United States. The album has gold certificat ...
'' album, with the flip side from his
''Carney'' album. Shelter later issued another promotional single "Lowdown in Lodi"/"Me and My Guitar" by
Freddie King
Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Mos ...
in 1972 with the tracks taken from his ''Texas Cannonball'' LP.
= First instrumental side
=
This was released by Scepter to the
flip side of the Ultra High Frequency "We're on the Right Track" seven-inch single in 1973. This issuing of the backing track enabled DJ's to use two turntables and mix between the vocal and instrumental versions of popular dance records, seguing them so that dancing patrons could enjoy the overall song for longer. A key reason of the time was that very few
varispeed
A variable speed pitch control (or vari-speed) is a control on an audio device such as a turntable, tape recorder, or CD player that allows the operator to deviate from a standard speed (such as 33, 45 or even 78 rpm on a turntable), resulting i ...
turntables existed, so DJ's would only blend into a track with the same drum tempo or
BPM, which the instrumental naturally was. This was in comparison to the then occasionally found 'Part 2' B-side of a record, while similar, tended to be the latter half of a lengthy album track, split for seven-inch release, but in many cases this wasn't the full instrumental, so could be more awkward to use. Scepter, from this single onward began to regularly add a non-vocal side, helping to make it an industry standard practice, with several other labels following suit particularly for dance records, and DJs embracing these as a useful tool during their sets.
= First extended edit
=
While not his very first production work (his first mixing effort was the
northern soul track by
the Carstairs
The Carstairs were an American group of the 1960s and 1970s whose 1973 single, "It Really Hurts Me Girl" is credited with starting the modern soul music scene and genre.
Modern soul
A male vocal group from the U.S., The Carstairs releases met wit ...
"
It Really Hurts Me Girl
"It Really Hurts Me Girl" is a song and single by American group, The Carstairs.
In the UK, DJ Ian Levine, having heard this song played on radio in Miami, acquired a copy and played it during a Northern soul event at the Blackpool Mecca
T ...
" in 1973), in early 1974, during his quest to adapt songs beyond the radio-friendly three-minute mark for his
mixtape
A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
s, soon-to-be famed disco mixer Tom Moulton went to record labels for material. At Scepter Records, Cheren recalls playing Tom a previously released Scepter single by singer Don Downing called "Dream World". He had an extra copy of the master tape and let Moulton take it home to experiment. When Moulton brought it back a few days later, Cheren writes, "We were amazed: a so-so record was suddenly snappy, upbeat, and ten times better". But the biggest surprise, Cheren continues, was something "so radical I could hardly believe my ears". Moulton had stretched the original track, not even three minutes long, to almost double its time, and in the process debuted what would become known as the disco break. This innovation would eventually be issued on the song's re-release on a 7-inch 45 in July 1974,
and earn Scepter a
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''Trendsetter of the Year'' award in December 1974 for 'being the first label to make specialized mixes for discotheques'.
= First segued mixes
=
The first was created by Tom Moulton, for the A side of the
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...
''Never Can Say Goodbye'' album, released in January 1975 on
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...
. As a development from his mixtapes, three songs (Honey Bee/
Never Can Say Goodbye
"Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by The Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. It was the first s ...
/
Reach Out, I'll Be There
"Reach Out I'll Be There" (also formatted as "Reach Out (I'll Be There)") is a song recorded by the Four Tops from their fourth studio album '' Reach Out'' (1967). Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, ...
) were not presented as separate pieces of music, but as an uninterrupted, 18-minute-plus, side-long composition optimised for dancing. There were previous albums that had side-long tracks or suites, and
medleys
Medley or Medleys may refer to:
Sports
*Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles
* Medley relay races at track meets
Music
* Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together
People
*Medley (surname), list of people with this na ...
which were usually cover versions or re-recordings, but here was a new piece of music composed out of already recorded pieces of music (albeit containing two
cover songs
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or Sound recording and reproduction, recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referr ...
), making it the very first "DJ mix" committed to vinyl, with Moulton admitting it was conceived as a tool for dancefloors.
A followup was the Motown compilation ''Disc-O-Tech'' series, released mid May 1975.
= Early acetates 10-inch and 12-inch
=
The first large-format single made specifically for discotheque DJs was a ten-inch acetate used by a
mix engineer
A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...
(José Rodríguez) in need of a Friday-night test copy for a remix created by Tom Moulton in 1974. The song was "
I'll Be Holding On
"I'll Be Holding On" is a 1974 song by Al Downing. "I'll Be Holding On" was written by Downing, Lance Quinn, and Andrew Smith and produced by Tony Bongiovi, Meco Monardo, and Jay Ellis.
"I'll Be Holding On", went to number one for three weeks on ...
" by
Al Downing, brother of Don Downing. As no 7-inch (18 cm) acetates could be found, a 10-inch (25 cm) blank was used.
Upon completion, Moulton found that such a large disc with only a couple of inches worth of grooves on it made him feel silly wasting all that space. He asked Rodríguez to re-cut it so that the grooves looked more spread out and ran to the normal center of the disc. Rodriguez told him that for it to be viable, the level would have to be increased considerably. Because of the wider spacing of the grooves, not only was a louder sound possible but also a wider overall
dynamic range
Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base-1 ...
(distinction between loud and soft) as well. This was immediately noticed by them to give a more favorable, 'hotter' sound which would appeal to
discothèque
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
play. It also meant that these extended versions being created by Moulton could be given to fellow DJs and tested within a nightclub environment to see how well it worked the dancefloor, with adjustments subsequently made to the remix.
[
Moulton's position as the premiere mixer and "fix it man" for pop singles ensured that this fortunate accident would instantly become industry practice. This would perhaps have been a natural evolution: as dance tracks became much longer than had been the average for a pop song, and as the DJ in the ]club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
wanted sufficient dynamic range, the format would likely have enlarged from the seven-inch single eventually. Ironically, Moulton's mix of Downing would be eventually released by Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
for sale to the general public, but only on a standard-issue 7-inch record for sale in October 1974.
An acetate twelve-inch test pressing single hailed as being a first by Moulton was South Shore Commission
South Shore Commission were an American Soul/ funk band from Washington D.C. that released a stand-alone single called "Right On Brother" on the Atlantic Records label in 1970. A self-titled album followed in 1975 on Wand records. Members include ...
"Free Man
''Free Man'' is a studio album by Jamaican reggae singer Burning Spear, released in 2003.
It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004.
Track listing
#"Trust"
#"We Feel It"
#"Ha Ha"
#"Not Guilty"
# ...
". Again, it was a disco mix prepared by Moulton, pressed by Rodríguez, with only a handful (around 10) cut and handed out to local DJs. These would have plain white labels, or very sparse printing or typed text. In many cases there would be no logos, and many contained handwritten text only. Test pressings being tried out at discos were reported on in Moulton's weekly column in Billboard during early April 1975. Moulton's effort was eventually issued for commercial release by Scepter in June 1975, but on seven-inch vinyl as a 5:35 min mix. Moulton subsequently created a lengthier 7:15 min mix for the album which appeared in late October.
Another record remixed by Moulton was the Philly Devotions "I Just Can't Make It Without You" on Columbia. Mentioned in his Billboard column in mid April as being 'out soon', a known 10-inch acetate had a date of 8 May 1975, with twelve-inch acetates and promos also appearing at some stage. It eventually was issued commercially in August on seven-inch 45 only.
A sometimes mentioned candidate among these first acetates is Moment of Truth "So Much For Love", but this effort was commercially released a year later, the band having been signed to Salsoul Records
Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch releases, ...
in June 1976, and the song only appearing in disco charts at the end of July of that year.
= Promotion through media and DJs
=
Many of the above disco era timelines were driven by the DJ necessity to give a better nightclub dancefloor experience to patrons, and as the scene grew, it began to be chronicled in trade press publications such as ''Billboard'' and ''Record World
''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...
''. Tom Moulton began to write for the former from 26 October 1974 in the ''Disco Action'' column (which changed name as time went on), while Vince Aletti
Vince Aletti (born 1945) is a curator, writer, and photography critic.
Career
Music industry
Aletti was a contributing writer for ''Rolling Stone'' from 1970 to 1989. He was the first person to write about disco in an article published by the m ...
wrote ''Disco File'' in the latter from November 1974.
Record pools were established, the first in New York in June 1975 for better distribution of pre-release records to bona fide DJs as record labels began to appreciate their role in breaking and selling records. A further development began to see the labels tailor the records specifically towards DJs as a result, with for example Scepter Records publicly announcing via both publications that they were to start servicing '12-inch 45s' to DJs in pools and their national promotional mailouts from June 1975. promoting the format earlier in distributor roadshows they hosted in late May, citing a key benefit of high volume levels being maintained with lengthier tracks. Billboard magazine reported that Atlantic Records were the first major label to issue 12-inch 33 rpm vinyl promos to DJs in July, under the watchful eye of a DJ as their promotions director Doug Riddick, who took up the post in May 1975.
= Early vinyl test pressings 12-inch
=
An early test pressing was Bobby Moore "(Call Me Your) Anything Man", on Scepter. Twelve-inch acetates for this single were pressed in April 1975, and was subsequently produced as twelve-inch vinyl promotional singles with typed labels in June. Moulton, now a regular in-house remixer for the label, was again given label credit for the remix. This was released commercially on 7-inch in May 1975.
= First wide scale promotional 12-inch
=
A very early disco prototype vinyl 12-inch pressing was a Midland International promo distributed by RCA - this was a Carol Douglas
Carol Douglas (born April 7, 1948) is an American singer whose hit " Doctor's Orders" (1974) was a pioneering track in the disco genre.
Early life and acting career
Carol Douglas was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, United ...
one sided EP with 4 tracks from ''The Carol Douglas Album.'' This was issued in mid February 1975 and was subtitled 'Specially Prepared For Disco Use', but it held same length versions of the selected album tracks.
The very first wide-scale record company promotional twelve-inch single according to Moulton (considering his then position with Billboard at the time as disco product reviewer, and that most of the very limited 12-inch records up to this point involved his own remixes), was Frankie Valli
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice.
...
" Swearin' To God", issued by Private Stock Records
Private Stock Records was a record label that operated from 1974 to 1978.
The label was founded by Larry Uttal after he was ousted from Bell Records. The label primarily focused on pop music and had numerous hit records, many of them one-hit wo ...
in June 1975 with a 10:32 min running time. Bob Crewe
Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. He was known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Season ...
, co-writer and producer, personally presented 10-inch test pressings to DJs in April 1975 after high pre-release demand. It was then issued commercially as a 7-inch at the end of April/start of May 1975.
Barrabas "Mellow Blow" became the first 33 rpm Atlantic promo to be released in July, but eventually commercially only on an 7" in September. Warner-Spector's Calhoon "(Do You Wanna) Dance, Dance, Dance" had a 10-inch acetate from May, given out as a one sided 10-inch vinyl promo in the same month, and as a 12-inch promo in July 1975.
At first, these special remixed or extended versions were only available as promotional copies to DJs, either given directly to them or issued by record pools who obtained these from record companies' A&R departments. Examples of these promos, released from spring/summer 1975, include:
= First 12-inch retail singles
=
Motivation for public sale
As time went on, a growing number of record labels became aware of the 12-inch format as a useful promotional tool, the benefits it gave for sound fidelity, and started to issue product in response. However, into early 1976 none considered them at first as suitable for sale to the general public. Companies came to appreciate the place of the nightclub and how they helped to break a record, but still considered an extended remix to ultimately facilitate sales of the original 7-inch single version or the artist's album, and not as a sale item in its own right. Pop orientated labels began to use the format to promote commercial artists with dance elements to their music, but not necessarily lengthening their tracks, concentrating instead on its novel aspects instead. The costs for the format were also still prohibitive; one label reported 12-inch singles cost more than it did to press an album.
However, demand was being driven by record shops, particularly those serving disco product, with feedback from buyers. It was particularly noticed that many of the previously released promotional 12-inch singles were attracting a premium in the resellers marketplace, with them in some cases changing hands for the price of an album. Along with research done by labels to get a feel of the interest for the proposed format, a push was finally made by a self-proclaimed 'pioneer' label of the disco business.
Releases
The first song found on a twelve-inch single commercially issued for public purchase from the disco era onwards was "Ten Percent
''Ten Percent'' is the debut studio album recorded by American male vocal quartet Double Exposure, released in 1976 on the Salsoul label.
History
The album features the title track, which peaked at No.2 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, No. 54 on ...
" by Double Exposure
In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be ide ...
on Salsoul Records in mid May 1976. This was due to the label co-owner Ken Cayre's decision to release the Walter Gibbons
Walter Gibbons (April 2, 1954 – September 23, 1994) was an American record producer, early disco DJ, and remixer. He helped pioneer the remix and 12" single in America, and was among the most influential New York DJs of the 1970s.
Career
Gi ...
remix for dancers who would hear that version in nightclubs but not be satisfied with the shorter versions sold on the 7-inch vinyl or the album. The seven-inch edit had been released a month earlier but sales of this were slow. With renewed interest and high sales weeks after the release, Salsoul were presented with Billboard awards at the 1976 Disco Forum event for disco disk sales to consumers and best record label as a result of the push into the marketplace with the new format. The issue did not contain the 3 min 5 secs 7-inch edit or the 6 mins 51 mins album version; the A side contained the Gibbons 9 min 43 secs remix, while Cayre himself created an extended 7 min 31 secs mix for the B side.
The second twelve-inch release was the double artist single Jesse Green
Jesse Green (born 1971) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and record producer. He has recorded three albums as a leader, all released by Chiaroscuro Records.
Early life
Green is the son of trombonist Urbie Green and vocalist Kat ...
" Nice And Slow" / Sweet Music "I Get Lifted" on Scepter/Wand in mid June 1976.
Third was a disc containing two George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
sides " Summertime 2001" / " Theme From Good King Bad" in late June 1976 on CTI Records
CTI Records (Creed Taylor Incorporated) is a jazz record label founded in 1967 by Creed Taylor. CTI was a subsidiary of A&M before becoming independent in 1970. Its first album was '' A Day in the Life'' by guitarist Wes Montgomery in 1967. T ...
.
Salsoul's second 12-inch record for retail was by Moment of Truth "So Much For Love" / "Helplessly" released in early July 1976.
Amherst Records
Amherst Records is an American independent music label, founded in 1957 by the late Leonard Silver, who later on founded Buffalo-based music store Record Theatre. In 1984, Amherst acquired the back catalogs of Avco Records.
Notable artists
* S ...
released a double headed single by the Chicago Gangsters "Gangster Love" / "Feel Like Making Love" in early July 1976 on their Gold Plate subsidiary.
A clutch of releases including Jakki "Sun... Sun... Sun" and Four Below Zero "My Baby's Got E.S.P.", amongst others on Pyramid/Roulette Records
Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed direc ...
was sold from mid July 1976.
Australia
Two twelve-inch promotional vinyl issues for rock/folk Shelter Records
Shelter Records was a U.S. record label started by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell that operated from 1969 to 1981. The company established offices in both Los Angeles and Tulsa, Russell's home town, where the label sought to promote a "workshop ...
artists were serviced to radio stations in April 1972 by local distributor Tempo Records:
France
Early titles first appeared in 1976 on the Pathe Marconi EMI and Disques Vogue
Disques Vogue was a jazz record company founded in France by Léon Cabat and Charles Delaunay in 1947, the year after the American Vogue label ceased.
They originally specialized in jazz, featuring American performers such as Sidney Bechet, D ...
imprints, these included pop releases such as Paul McCartney's first ever extended single internationally, credited as Wings "Let 'Em In"
Jamaica 'discomixes'
Although as previously mentioned regarding the Jamaican dub influence on the use of 10-inch acetates, the 12-inch single was only born once imports of US disco singles were established from 1976 onwards. The issued twelve-inch-single trend spread to Jamaica quickly, where hundreds of reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
singles were pressed in this format, and commercially issued as "discomix A discomix, or simply a disco, is an extended reggae 12-inch single that typically features the vocal track followed by a dub version or a deejay version of the same track.Heath, ML (2010)Joe Gibbs: 12" Reggae Discomix Showcase Volumes 4 and 5, Pop ...
es" to catch on the disco hype. An early 12-inch pressing, reputedly the first was by the Jayes "Truly" in 1977 on the Channel One label, which was run by the Hoo Kim brothers from their Channel One Studios
Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica.Campbell, Howard (2014)Making magic at Channel One, ''Jamaica Observer'', 17 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014 The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and h ...
.
United Kingdom
The Jamaican reggae and US disco trend also hit London, reggae being popular along with uptempo forms of music such as Motown and northern soul, the seven-inch record being the primary medium in the early 1970s for this material, with the UK following up a little later than the US with 12-inch singles. The reasons were different, the UK jocks did not have the same need to extend records like the US pioneers who wanted longer records for the dancefloor. Although the use of larger temporary singles (primarily 10-inch) started from the Jamaican influence and before (such as the pre-Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
band the Quarrymen
The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quar ...
with the one-off "In Spite of All the Danger
"In Spite of All the Danger" is the first song recorded by the Quarrymen, then consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, pianist John Lowe, and drummer Colin Hanton.
McCartney wrote the song and Harrison provided the guitar so ...
" in 1958), acetates were also used by the record labels to quality control the eventual product, and not for servicing single songs or exclusive remixes, and then not in the 12-inch format. The usage of the 12-inch vinyl as a medium followed the US promos introduction but was initially seen as a marketing tool to help promote an artist more uniquely. Another emphasis with the new format was the louder sound and better audio quality afforded to the release. It therefore was not exclusively used for disco songs but included pop artists, however it eventually came into its own in the later 1970s with the lengthened versions of US disco songs being promoted in the UK.
Promo UK 12-inch releases
Atlantic Records was an early front runner with two 12-inch promo singles: Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later i ...
" Supernatural Thing" backed with Osiris "Warsaw Concerto", along with Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (incl ...
"Hijack
Hijack may refer to:
Films
* ''Hijack'' (1973 film), an American made-for-television film
* ''Hijack!'', a 1975 British film sponsored by the Children's Film Foundation - see Children's Film Foundation filmography
* ''Hijack'' (2008 film), a Bol ...
" b/w Jimmy Castor Bunch
James Walter Castor (January 23, 1940 – January 16, 2012) was an American funk, R&B, and soul musician. He is credited with vocals, saxophone and composition. He is best known for songs such as "It's Just Begun", "The Bertha Butt Boogie", and ...
"The Bertha Butt Boogie
"The Bertha Butt Boogie" is a 1975 song by the Jimmy Castor Bunch. It achieved a No. 16 placing on the US pop chart and reached No. 22 on the US R&B chart. It was also a top 40 hit in Canada.
The record was a follow-up to the band's 1972 top ...
", both at 33 rpm and issued in approximately June 1975 (based on the catalogue numbers used), but rumoured to be as late as October. Robert Palmer "Which of Us Is the Fool" was released by Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
also in October 1975. Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
started a line of 12-inch promos in November 1975, with the first being Ruan O'Lochlainn "Another Street Gang". Disco singles started to appear in earnest months later, Brass Construction "Changin'" was promoted around March 1976 by United Artists. A later 12-inch promo issue was a double sider the Moments "Nine Times" / the Rimshots
The Rimshots were an American funk and disco band, popular in the late 1970s
History
The group started out as the house band for the record labels All Platinum Records and in particular, Stang Records in the early 1970s. The then nameless rhythm ...
"Do What You Feel" on All Platinum Records
All Platinum Records was a record company started in 1967 by singer/writer/producer Sylvia Robinson and her husband, businessman Joe Robinson, who had previously worked in the recording industry.
All Platinum and its subsidiary labels, includin ...
via Phonogram
Phonogram may refer to:
* A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention
* ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
* Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phone ...
in the middle of April 1976, however both were released commercially and individually on seven-inch 45s only, in April 1976. Candi Staton
Canzetta Maria "Candi" Staton (, ) (born March 13, 1940) is an American singer–songwriter, best known in the United States for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's " Stand by Your Man" and her 1976 disco chart-topper "Young Hearts Run Free". In E ...
followed with "Young Hearts Run Free
"Young Hearts Run Free" is a disco song written by David Crawford and originally recorded by American soul singer Candi Staton in 1976. In 1996, it was covered by American house music singer Kym Mazelle for the triple-platinum selling soundtr ...
" in the middle of May from Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
. These early issues usually containing the original 7-inch edit, It took a little later for lengthened versions to begin appearing, with 1970s UK club DJ Greg Wilson recalling promotional 12-inch product being mailed out from August 1976, Lalo Schifrin
Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...
"Jaws" being his first one, which was in extended form. This was followed by disco acts such as James Wells, the Originals, Ultrafunk, Mass Production
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
, Deodato and the Undisputed Truth
The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with ...
, however some of these were not UK pressed vinyl but US promos sent over to the UK and distributed through club promotions businesses and record company A&R departments.
First UK 12-inch retail singles
The first commercially released twelve-inch vinyl was Ernie Bush "Breakaway" / Banzaii "Chinese Kung Fu" both as Tom Moulton mixes, along with another disc containing the Armada Orchestra "For the Love of Money" / Ultrafunk "Sting Your Jaws (Part 1)". Bush and the latter two acts had Gerry Shury
Gerald Roland Shury (11 August 1944General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 17; Page: 0919 – 24 May 1978)England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), page 7395 was a British songwriter, arranger, an ...
production involvement, and these two releases were issued by John Abbey's Contempo Records from 8 October 1976, these songs having been previously released in either 7-inch format or as album tracks. Abbey likely had the nod from Scepter Records about the use of the twelve-inch single format, as both had released all these titles on their labels and Contempo had cross-licensed the tracks with Moulton mixes. This was closely followed with a single containing re-issues of the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's " Substitute" with "I'm A Boy
"I'm a Boy" is a 1966 rock song written by Pete Townshend for the Who. The song was originally intended to be a part of a rock opera called ''Quads'', which was to be set in a future in which parents can choose the sex of their children. The ide ...
" / "Pictures of Lily
"Pictures of Lily" is a single by the British rock band the Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. In 1971, "Pictures of Lily" was included in the Who album '' Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy'', a compilation of previousl ...
" on the flip, all originally from 1966 and 1967 by Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
on 22 October 1976.
Later developments
Core sales period
Decline and ongoing interest
Singles have followed wider vinyl format sales, withstanding competition from the 1960s and 70s reel-to-reel tape
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...
, the 8-track cartridge
The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, whi ...
, and the compact cassette
The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...
formats. The widespread popularity of Sony's Walkman
Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term for ...
was a key factor that contributed to vinyl's lessening usage in the 1980s. In 1988, the compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
surpassed the gramophone record in unit sales. Vinyl records experienced a sudden decline in popularity between 1988 and 1991, when the major label distributors restricted their return policies, which retailers had been relying on to maintain and swap out stocks of relatively unpopular titles. Record companies also deleted many vinyl titles from production and distribution, or simply did not make 12-inch singles for many pop artists, further undermining the availability of the format and leading to the closure of pressing plants. This rapid decline in the availability of records accelerated the format's decline in popularity, and is seen by some as a deliberate ploy to make consumers switch to CDs which were at the time more profitable for the record companies, and more latterly, streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
.
12-inch singles have continued for sales of dance acts or for dance remixes of commercial artists as there was a continued high regard of the format from DJs into the 2000s and 2010s. A growing number of DJs eventually began to use CDJ
A CDJ is a specialized digital music player for DJing. Originally designed to play music from compact discs, many CDJs can play digital music files stored on USB flash drives or SD cards. In typical use, at least two CDJs are plugged into a DJ ...
s for their convenience, and later along with a crossover period where turntables could be combined with laptops
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
and used with encoded 12 inch discs and DJ software, which could manipulate MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
or WAV
Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Win ...
music files but still allow for a turntablism experience. DJ controller
DJ controllers are devices used to help DJs mix music with DJ software using knobs, encoders, jog wheels, faders, backlit buttons, touch strips, and other components.
Overview
DJ controllers are microprocessor-based control surfaces used to prov ...
all-in-one decks have in later times become the norm which take up less space than a pair of turntables, reducing DJs dependence on the physical format even further. There is however, a dedicated DJ sub-community that maintain their usage of the format, with retro styled 'vinyl only' nights being a unique selling point. Also, there are some new titles being pressed on the format and available at physical record shops, although many sales take place online. There is also a notable second-hand trade business on online sale and auction marketplaces for collectors, of which some titles are still in demand and can be of some value.
References
{{Music industry
Audio storage
Single types
12 (number)
fr:Disque microsillon#Douze pouces (30 cm)