Today is the 60th anniversary of the humble, yet mighty, 7-inch 45 rpm single. It was developed by RCA, at the same time CBS had come up with the 12-inch 33.33 rpm LP.
Originally there was competition to see which format would dominate, but each found its best use — singles were for kids, and albums were for adults, although that changed after The Beatles made albums the thing to have for anybody over 13. Stereo came along in the late 50’s, but mono would still prevail for nearly another ten years after that, until the rise of alternative FM radio crushed AM for music, and transistors made stereo record players cheap.
The combination of magnetic recording and vinyl records was a huge advance in audio technology. It replaced 78 rpm shellac disks and dominated home music listening for the next forty years.
Bismo recently asked me to convert a couple of 45’s to MP3, and this is them. First, the flip side to the Blue Brothers 1978 single, “Soul Man”…
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/MAR/Excusez_Moi_Mon_Cherie.mp3]… and a real rarity, Stars on 45, featuring The New Sam & Dave Revue.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/MAR/New_Sam_Dave_Revue.mp3]
Yup, Jake & I saw Sam D. and the original Dave back in the mid-80s back in Cambridge, at the height of our blues clubbing days… Of course I finally got to see Sam Moore at the Boston House of Blues opening in February, such a treat!
You’re welcome, but I’m shocked — shocked! — that Dave was working with an ersatz Sam:
(thanks to tastewar for the tip)
And thank you so much!