June 7, 2009: Vogue Vinyl Records

[xoxoxoBruce]

Long ago and far away, they made recordings on vinyl records.
I've seen a lot of them, in my lifetime, all sizes, speeds, and colors, but I've never seen any like these.

VOGUE PICTURE RECORDS ARE PHONOGRAPH RECORDS on the “Vogue” label which have a picture (an artist’s illustration) embedded in the transparent vinyl of the record. ~snip~ The most common Vogue picture records are 10-inch, 78 RPM records, although a few 12-inch, 78 RPM Vogue picture records were also produced.

Between May of '46 and April of '47, they released 74 different records.

Vogue picture records were of a very high quality, with little surface noise. The records were produced using a complicated process whereby a central core aluminum disc was sandwiched between the paper illustrations and vinyl.

When Sav-Way entered into receivership all remaining stock was liquidated through distributors. ~snip~ It is reported that many of the left-over records were melted down to recycle the aluminum used in the core of the record.

With all the war materials being scrapped at the time, they couldn't have gotten much money for that aluminum.
They probably burned the vinyl off, letting the smoke/fumes go up the stack.

link

spellcheck wants me to change disc to disco... now that is sick.

[Alluvial]

Huh. I remember seeing records that were all one color, but none with artwork like that on them.

[Cyber Wolf]

When I was a pup I had a record that had an adaptation of the 1978 story of Puff the Magic Dragon on it. The record itself was one big illustration, just like those, with Puff and Jackie on the front. I remember it confused the heck out of me when I first got it... up until then, all records were black with colored stickers in the middle.

[SPUCK]

I had an album that was transparent red. It was.. special.

I think it might have been a Christmas one.

[ZenGum]

The gender politics of those pictures is rather striking. Maybe this is not a representative sample, but the next time someone complains about the scantily clad hos in rap videos, I'll think of this.

Where can I get some of those heart-shaped hand-cuffs?

[capnhowdy]

Vinyl is supposedly making a comeback. A couple years ago I gave away about 300 LPs. Big mistake.

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

The gender politics of those pictures is rather striking.

Now add this: the artist, Marion Mann, was a woman.

[Clodfobble]

Sure, the singer was a woman. But the producer, agent, publicist, and guy who drew the art for the album were almost assuredly male. I'd estimate the singer had zero say in what pictures went on her album. Though of course we're all products of our environment--she probably didn't have a problem with what went on them anyway.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

snip--
Where can I get some of those heart-shaped hand-cuffs?

They're available at jewelry stores everywhere, usually sold in sets, but contrary to the illustration, are most commonly worn on ring finger of the left hand.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The pictures reflect the lyrics of the song, her lament, on that side of the record. I'd have to know the lyrics to know if it's an accurate depiction, but I'll bet it is.

[Gravdigr]

I still have a purple "Purple Rain" 45 rpm single.

When I was a kid I discovered this contraption in my G-mother's attic: It was a TV type thing that played special 45's and showed a related story on the screen (black & white, btw) while the record played. Kinda like music videos. There may have been a book to go along with the record. I spent untold fascinated hours with this thing.

I had forgotten completely about this contraption until reading this post. Thanks Bruce for rekindling a fond memory.

[sweasel]

Huh. Wikipedia never hoid of her: Marion Mann (born March 29, 1920) is an American physician and pathologist. He was a Dean of the College of Medicine at Howard University from 1970 to 1979.

[capnhowdy]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

I still have a purple "Purple Rain" 45 rpm single.

When I was a kid I discovered this contraption in my G-mother's attic: It was a TV type thing that played special 45's and showed a related story on the screen (black & white, btw) while the record played. Kinda like music videos. There may have been a book to go along with the record. I spent untold fascinated hours with this thing.

I had forgotten completely about this contraption until reading this post. Thanks Bruce for rekindling a fond memory.

I remember those things, too. I can't for the life of me remember what they were called.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by capnhowdy

I remember those things, too. I can't for the life of me remember what they were called.

I racked (wracked?) my brain trying to remember what that thing was called. I gave up when my head started hurting.

[capnhowdy]

My first thought was give a show projector, but that was the one you slid the film through.

The one I'm thinking of was like a mini TV with a record player on top. The film was synched to the record. And there was a book, too. My little sis had one.

I bet xoB knows......