Happy 56th birthday to the vinyl LP!

[NightTrain]

June 21, 1948: Columbia Records first demonstrated the 33-1/3 RPM long-playing vinyl microgroove record, later christened the "LP," as a replacement for the 78RPM shellac record. Within a few years, the LP became the dominant music album format for the next four decades.

Happy birthday, LP! :toast::party::bounce::yourock:

[oregonjen]

1. We just gave my hubby a record player

for Father's Day. We've been listening to records we haven't heard in over 15 years! Yesterday was a complete transformation back to our youth.:)

[Philostopher]

2. It's pretty funny to buy vinyl from current bands.

Some of them -- mostly, bands relying on a certain 'retro chic' cachet, no doubt -- are actually still pressing full vinyl LPs. I have to wonder if they've thought it out to the point they know people who listen to their stuff probably do still own turntables because they still own massive vinyl collections, but I don't know if it's that calculated. It may just be that some of the bands we listen to are frustrated by the limitations of packaging on CDs and like to have a big album cover to show off their chops on promotion. I don't care why -- I love the fact that a month ago, we were able to buy most of one band's catalog on vinyl.

[wtmusic]

3. Vinyl has a sound

just like Ampex 456 recording tape has a sound (in particular a low end), which can't be duplicated by digital recording technology.

Vinyl mastering engineers use a "brick wall" limiter to keep the needle from jumping grooves at program peaks, which imparted it's own characteristic flavor. And then you have the wonderful rumble and dust noise...

Hard to tell to what degree it's just sentimentality, or an ineffable warmth that analog added to music.

[stopbush]

5. Limited, compressed, totally unrealistic.

Yes, vinyl did have a sound all its own.

[wtmusic]

6. Well now it's part of the vocabulary

so that kind of makes it "real", doncha think?

[BlackVelvetElvis]

4. I was cleaning out my cousin's house this weekend

and I found tons of vintage vinyl albums: Little Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Otis Redding, The Beatles, The Supremes, Jackson 5, The Rolling Stones and many, many more. I even found a couple of adult party albums by the Hot Nuts and Redd Foxx.
I turned on her stereo intending to listen to a few and realized that there wasn't a needle on it. Utter disappointment.