How 45 RPM Records Changed Music Forever.

The first records were on cylinders, the earliest of which were made by the inventor of the first ‘Phonograph’, Thomas Alva Edison in 1877. Attempts had been made of ‘recording’ sound much earlier than this, but none were capable of reproducing the human voice.

A 19th-century illustration of the first phonograph, devised in 1877 by US inventor Thomas Edison. It both recorded and recreated sounds using a foil-wrapped cylinder (center). A sound receiver (round) rested lightly on the foil by a needle (not seen). Sound waves made the receiver vibrate, leaving a trace on the foil as the cylinder was turned with the handle at right. The recorded sound could then be recreated by attaching the sound horn (upper right) to the receiver, adjusting the position of the needle to the start of the trace, and rotating the cylinder. Distorted but recognizable sounds were produced.

By 1887, another American, Emile Berliner (a German immigrant to the U.S.) filed a patent for a recording system based on a flat disc instead of a cylinder. This was a very significant development because the new discs were much easier to mass-produce than the cylinders that they replaced. This was important in making the technology available to a wide market.

On November 8, 1887, Emile Berliner, a German immigrant working in Washington D.C., patented a successful system for sound recording. Berliner was the first inventor to stop recording on cylinders and start recording on flat disks or records. The first records were made of glass. They were then made using zinc and eventually plastic. A spiral groove with sound information was etched into the flat record. To play sounds and music, the record was rotated on the gramophone. The "arm" of the gramophone held a needle that read the grooves in the record by vibration and transmitted the information to the gramophone speaker.

By the turn of the 20th century, the industry had begun to settle on a diameter of 10 inches for the new format. The rotational speed varied somewhat from one manufacturer to another, but most turned at between 75 and 80 revolutions per minute (RPM) and most ‘Gramophone’ machines were capable of some adjustment. The name ‘Gramophone’ began as a Trademark for Berliner’s new invention, but Europeans adopted it as generic while Americans continued to use the term ‘Phonograph.’ 

Emile Berliner's Gramophone. circa 1910

One popular theory for the choice of 78 RPM was chosen as the standard because of the introduction of the electrically powered synchronous turntable motor in 1925, which ran at 3,600 RPM with a 46:1 gear ratio, resulting in a rotation speed of 78.26 RPM. It is far more likely that a speed of around 78 RPM simply proved the best compromise from empirical results with the materials and technology available at the time.

Various materials were used for manufacturing the earliest discs, but shellac (a resin made from the secretions of the lac insect) was found to be the best. Shellac is a natural thermoplastic, being soft and flowing when heated, but rigid and hard-wearing at room temperature. Usually, a fine clay or other filler was added to the ‘mix’. However, by the 1930s the natural shellac began to be replaced by equivalent synthetic resins.

All of the earliest 78 RPM recordings were single-sided, but double-sided recordings were introduced first in Europe by the Columbia company. By 1923, double-sided recordings had become the norm on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 78 RPM disc reigned supreme as the accepted recording medium for many years despite its tendency to break easily and the fact that longer works could not be listened to without breaks for disc changes (at 5-minute intervals for 12-inch discs).

In 1948 the Columbia company had perfected a 12-inch Long Playing (LP) Vinyl disc. Spinning at 33⅓ RPM the new format could play up to 25 minutes per side. This new record medium also had a much lower level of surface noise than did its older shellac cousin. However, Columbia’s big rival, RCA Victor then produced the seven-inch 45 RPM vinyl disc that could hold as much sound as the 12-inch 78 RPM discs they were to replace but were much smaller, more attractive, and cost less to produce.

RCA came up with the number 45 from taking 78 and subtracting Columbia’s new 33 RPM format speed, which equaled 45. 

Around September of 1948, William Paley, at CBS had offered RCA’s David Sarnoff the rights to the 33⅓ technology at no cost because it would help boost 33⅓ format record sales for all. Sarnoff thanked Paley and told him he would think about it, but RCA had already perfected it’s secret 45 RPM project. Paley was shocked and more than a bit miffed when RCA rolled out their own 45s a few months later.

Record companies and consumers alike faced an uncertain future as to which format would survive. The two systems directly competed with each other to replace 78 RPM records, bewildering consumers, and causing a drop in record sales.

In 1949 Capitol, and Decca started issuing the new LP format, and RCA relented and issued its first LPs in January of 1950.

On a personal note: I owned a kick-ass component hi-fi stereo system in the 1970s and 80s. I would buy virgin vinyl, high-fidelity, albums whenever available (they cost a lot more). The largest selection of these Hi-Fi and Quaraphonic albums was at Rolling Stones Records in Norridge, Illinois. I bought Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in high-fidelity. I heard notes and accompanying instruments I never heard on the radio or listening to a mass-produced vinyl record.

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in High-Fidelity on White Virgin Vinyl.

RCA had announced the new format and introduced the record player in January of 1949, but it was months later until there was a use for it. The first 45, was released on March 31, 1949; it was the RCA Victor 45 label’s “Texarkana Baby” flip-side “Bouquet of Roses” by Eddy Arnold.

RCA Victor 45  - Eddy Arnold, Texarkana Baby (1949)

On May 7, 1949, the first 45 RPM record hit the billboard charts. The song was “You’re Adorable” by Perry Como. The next week, the year’s biggest 45 RPM hit appeared on the Billboard charts; "Riders In The Sky” by Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra.

'A' - You’re Adorable, by Perry Como,

with the Fontane Sisters, Orchestra. (1949)

Vaughn Monroe & his Orchestra

Riders In The Sky (A Cowboy Legend) (1949)

The 45 RPM was gaining in popularity, and Columbia issued its first 45 in February of 1951. The years from 1949 to 1951 were referred to as “the war of the speeds” years.

Soon other record companies saw the mass consumer appeal the new 45-format allowed, and by 1954 more than 200 million 45s had been sold at an average cost of 69¢ ($6.75 today).

Some record players had four speeds, which included 16⅔ RPM, beginning in 1953. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7-inches in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs, and, at that size, the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured in 9, 10, and 12-inch diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play.

So why didn't 16 RPMs catch on? At 16 RPM records were too slow for proper high fidelity sound, so they were not often used for music. They were mostly used as "talking books." Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. The hard to find 16s were manufactured for commercial use. 

Chrysler Corporation created Highway Hi-Fi, an audio format that enabled the 7-inch 16⅔ RPM records to be played in their cars from 1956 to 1958. The system employed a sapphire stylus with a ceramic pick up on a turntable that was installed below the instrument panel.

It took many years for the 78 to disappear because the new vinyl records needed new equipment on which to play them, but the two new vinyl formats were to dominate the recorded music industry until the advent of the digital compact disc (CD) in 1982. Even then, vinyl would take much longer to fall into oblivion than 78s did when vinyl recordings first appeared.

The 45 RPM records years of greatest success began with the onset of rock and roll. The new 7-inch format was favored by the young and in the UK sales of 45s overtook 78s early in 1958 as rock and roll established a boom in record sales. During the next few years, the UK was to become a major source of popular recorded music with the advent of British 'beat' groups which were exemplified in the 'Beatles'. 

This was the 'golden era' for the 45. Although sales of popular music were to grow dramatically during the following decades, buyers gradually transferred their purchases to the 12-inch LP as their affluence grew. Indeed, by the end of the 1960s sales of the 45 had even begun to decline. During the early years of the Beatles, a record would need to sell in excess of 750,000 copies to reach the coveted number 1 chart position. Such was the decline in this part of the market that by the 1970s only 150,000 copies could achieve the same result.

Vinyl records making a comeback after 30 years of being behind CDs. This trend has built up slowly. By July 2019, vinyl records generated $224.1 million selling 8.6 million units, opposed to CD’s which had made $247.9 million on 18.6 million units. 

Throughout its lifespan, vinyl has faced numerous challengers for the top spot for auditory medium, from cassettes to digital. The key driving force behind the resurgence is social media. Back in the day, you could show your friends your record collection, now you can show the whole world.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.