Friday 15 June 2018

The LP is 70 Years Old


Long before the MP3 download and way back further than the compact disc, many old crusties like myself used to listen to our favourite music on vinyl records.

As far back as 1941 CBS Laboratories (Columbia Records) began research into developing a phonograph record that could last at least 20 minutes on each side. 

After a break during World War II, work was resumed at the end of hostilities and on 18th June 1948 at a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, the long-playing record (LP) was unveiled to an amazed public and press.

Two formats were initially released. The first was just 10 inches (25cm) in diameter and played for a total of 35 minutes while it’s sister platter being 2 inches wider at 12 inches, contained a further 10 minutes of sound.

Columbia’s long-playing record became the standard LP format until well into the 1980s, when it was overtaken by the compact disc. However in the early part of the 2010s, vinyl made a comeback reigniting the debate of which format was the best.

So what is your choice of sound? Are you a traditionalist enjoying the hiss and crackle of vinyl? Or is the supposedly perfect sound of the CD for you? Or maybe you are a download dolly and are never seen without a set of earbuds plugged into your trusty iPod?