| Vinyl
Years | 1940's | 1950's | 1960's | 1970's | 1980's | 1990's |
A
history of the music industry : 1940's
 |
| Carole
Landis performing for the AFRS |
|
We begin our journey into the vinyl years as World War
II rages and the shortage of shellac halts production of
records. However with demand high for recordings by troops
wanting memories of home, an alternative to shellac was
soon found and vinyl became the material on which all future
records would be made.
During the war the development of the Magnetophone by the
German company AEG was dramtically improved and when
the magnetophone technology was discovered in 1945, by the advancing Allied
forces, the German patent rights were seized by the U.S.
Alien Property Custodian's Office. Information on the production
of tape recorders and tape were published by the U.S Department
of Commerce.
Bing Crosby used a captured magnetophone for
broadcasts on ABC. The Ampex Corporation of California was commissioned to build
a tape recorder by the U.S Government. Originally intended solely for government
use, by 1950 several American companies had introduced tape recorders onto the
commercial market, and the first catalogue of recorded music on tape was released.
 |
| An
Early Magnetophone |
|
So in addition to discovering the
device later to become commonly known as the tape recorder
and introducing the vinyl record, what else happened in
the 40s? Well, lots actually.
New standards were created for recording playing speeds
for vinyl records with the introduction of the 33-1/3 rpm,
12 inch recording and the 45 rpm, 7 inch recording.
The
two speeds introduced by Columbia in 1948 continue
as the standard recording speeds of albumns and singles
recorded on vinyl to this day. So, even though the vinyl
recording has long since disappeared from the world of
mainstream record sales, and only really still survives
in the niche areas of music, and in the hearts of collectors
everywhere, the standard created in 1948 existing throughout
the lifespan of this medium of music recording.
And just when you thought that the 40s had made a big enough
contribution to the development of music distribution,
Todd Storz decides in 1949 to introduce a Top 40, the forerunner
of our modern day charts!
On
to the 1950's >>
| Timeline
of Events |
1940 |
Production of records
halted by World War II and the shortage
of shellac, due to the invasion of South
East Asia by the Japanese. The replacement
of the base material was discovered from
a plastic resin derivative of petroleum
called vinyl. |
| David Sarnoff of RCA
installed first secret recording devices
in the White House for 11 weeks, from June
to October, using the same optical Phonofilm
method used in RKO films. |
1941 |
The quality of the Magnetophone in Germany
dramatically improved with the use of high
frequency biasing developed by Weber and
Von Braunmuhl at AEG. |
1942 |
Armed Forces Radio Service created to
distribute programs to soldiers overseas. |
1943 |
The first V-Discs were shipped from
the RCA Victor pressing plant in Camden,
New Jersey. |
1944 |
3M Co. (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing)
began tape coating experiments in U.S.
under Ralph J. Oace. |
1945 |
Working tape recorders brought back to
the USA from Germany. |
1946 |
RCA Victor releases the very first commercial
vinylite record. |
1947 |
Roy Brown recorded one of the earliest "rock
and roll" songs Good Rocking Tonight on
DeLuxe label. |
1948 |
Columbia introduces the first 12-inch
33-1/3 rpm microgroove LP vinylite record
with 23-minute play-time per side it also
has a special turntable to play them on
made by Philco. |
1949 |
RCA Victor introduce the 7-inch 45 rpm
micro-groove vinyl single and compatible
turn table. |
| Capitol became the first major label
to support all three recording speeds of
78, 45, 33-1/3 rpm. |
| Todd Storz from the KOWH radio station
sets up a Top 40. |
Music
Development during the 1940's |
|
