RECORD SEQUENCES

Most people do not realize that record albums were made in several different sequences of sides, to accommodate different users and record changers. It is instructive here to use the RCA Victor labeling of the sequences on the album covers, since RCA made all of the sequences:

CDs are a lot easier, because each one has only one side.


It is interesting to understand why an LP or a CD with a collection of songs on it is called an "album." With popular songs on 78-rpm records, each song was on one side of a 10" record, and a standard sized album consisted of 8 songs on 4 records, sold in a book of record-holding pockets that looked like a photo album. Classical albums, with longer musical works, were recorded on 12" 78-rpm records and packaged in books containing the necessary number of sides to contain the entire work. Often they contained two classical works, with one work played on each side of the stack of records. With the advent of the LP, the 8-song album continued for a while, with 8 songs on one 10" 33. Classical music was recorded on 12" 33s. But soon the 12-song album on a 12" 33 became more popular, and the 10" record was abandoned. At the same time, the 7" 45 replaced the 10" 78 for popular singles.

It is also interesting that a few albums were made in slide-automatic sequence during periods when no slide-automatic record changers were being made.


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