you may wonder why turntables have different speeds especially since
the only thing changing it seems to do is make your music sound funny
it dates back to the war of the speeds when Colombia introduced the 33⅓ RPM long playing
record in 1948 and then RCA Victor quickly followed it with their 45 RPM format in 1949
and then in 1950 Zenith thought it would be a good idea to introduce 16 RPM records
and for compatibility with older turntables 78 RPM
records remained in production for another decade beyond that
so for quite a while it was common to see record players with up to four different speeds on them
but 16 RPM records never really caught on in the
consumer market and eventually most people disposed of their old 78s
that left us of two remaining speeds 33 and 45 but what was so hard about
picking one of those two and sticking with it why couldn't the industry come together
and standardize on a single speed well the answer is they tried to but it didn't work
going back to the battle between Colombia's LP and RCA Victor's 45 in the late '40s both
companies proclaimed that their format was your one solution to all of your music listening needs
for example RCA Victor had 45 singles with one song per side extended play 45s with two songs
per side and box sets of 45 albums which you could stack up and play on your automatic record changer
33⅓ RPM LP records were originally only available in 10 and 12 inch sizes but
when RCA Victor introduced the 7-inch 45 RPM record Colombia hastily announced that
they were going to begin selling 7-inch LPs as well they claimed the timing was purely
coincidental and they had been planning it all along yeah I don't believe that either
they ran ads of Arthur Godfrey proclaiming that the Columbia
7-inch LP record completes the 33⅓ RPM one speed system the new standard for
convenient recorded entertainment now you can get everything from a three-minute
popular hit to a complete symphony each in its natural length on a single record
but this standoff between the two record industry giants didn't last
long and January 1950 RCA Victor announced that they were going to begin selling 33⅓
RPM LP records and in August 1950 Columbia announced that they were going to begin
selling 45s each of them claiming to have improved the other company's invention
so from then on it seemed like the standard had been permanently set that 7-inch 45 RPM records
were for singles at 12 inch 33⅓ RPM records were for albums and the album boxes of 45s were dropped
from the market while seven inch 33⅓ RPM records were relegated to promotional and educational use
that might seem like the end of the story but almost a decade later the
introduction of stereo brought forth both new opportunities and old rivalries in 1958 all the
major record labels began releasing stereo LPs including both Columbia and RCA Victor
and also in 1958 many record companies began releasing stereo 45s this web
site has a long list of them and you can find many different record labels
producing stereo 45s but noticeably absent from the list is Columbia
as the author of the website says Columbia was a big exception still stubbornly holding
on to the 33⅓ speed they introduced in 1948 and shunning their rival RCA's upstart 45 RPM speed
in July 1959 Columbia opted instead to resurrect the idea of releasing music on
7-inch 33⅓ RPM records this time exclusively in stereo which they referred to as Stereo
Seven. Colombia's reasoning was that the people who were buying and playing stereo LPs [Music]
would rather stick with the same spindle size and speed for playing seven inch records then
have to adjust their turntable speed and install an adapter to play a 45.
[Music] also many record changers of the era allowed different sizes of records to
be intermixed allowing you to stack up 7 and 12 inch records together and play them in sequence
without any adjustments necessary [Music]
you might think
the slower speed would make them sound worse than 45s but these discs are pressed on thicker and
heavier vinyl than 45s while retaining the raised center label that allows you to stack them on a
record changer without the grooves touching and they sound just as good as full size LP albums
[Music]
the first artist to be released on stereo sevens included Johnny Mathis
Duke Ellington Tony Bennett which you just heard Mitch Miller The Four Lads
Percy Faith and Ray Conniff and if you recognize any of those names you know
that none of them are even remotely what you would consider to be rock and roll
as Columbia president Goddard Lieberson explained we are aiming Stereo Seven at
what we think is a new and different audience for single records the adult audience which
has largely abandoned single record buying in recent years as consistent 33⅓ RPM buyers and
stereo fans and growing numbers we believe they will be attracted by a 33⅓ RPM single
they have obviously never been attracted to 45 RPM singles requiring spindle adaption
one of the staunchest supporters of the format was Seeburg in January 1960 they announced that
all of their new jukeboxes could play 33⅓ RPM 7-inch records and 4 45s too Seeburg's vice
president Jack Gordon even went so far as to proclaim the 45 is on the way out
those jukeboxes use the same method as this portable record player to
automatically detect the speed of the record being played the platter has a
spring-loaded spindle adapter so if a 45 with the large center hole is placed on the platter
it plays at 45 RPM [Music]
and if a record with the small spindle hole is placed on the platter it pushes down on
this adapter which engages the 33⅓ RPM speed you can hear it click as it changed the speeds
"the first reading on side two of this sample record is from the America listens to literature
record that accompanies the 10th grade America reads Anthology Exploring Life through literature"
in June 1960 Capitol Records got on board with the idea with what they called the Compact 33
although unlike Colombia's Stereo Sevens these were available in both stereo and mono you can
see the sales pitch right on the sleeve plays the album speed no special spindles no extra adapters
highest fidelity although I can't say much about the mass appeal of the music on this one
[Music]
as Billboard magazine explained Capitol is throwing its full weight in favor of the
record industry eventually returning to a standard one-speed basis It is
believed in some industry quarters that the singles market would enjoy
a substantial sales boost once the one speed goal is achieved
stereo took longer to catch on than they expected so in July 1960 Columbia announced
that they were going to begin releasing 7-inch 33⅓ RPM singles in mono as well
as stereo and this time they referred to them simply as 33s because if referring
to a format by its speed worked for 45s then it should work just as well for 33s
Colombia also announced that going forward all mono singles would be
released in both 45 and 33⅓ RPM speeds for example these two Columbia 45s both
have printed on their covers also available on single 33.
in addition to Colombia and Capitol Records you may be surprised to learn that RCA Victor
also announced they were going to begin making 33⅓ RPM 7-inch singles they announced that in
November 1960 this was their original promo record for what they called the Compact 33
they were available in stereo and mono or what they called regular this promo disc has both on it
and here they called it RCA Victor's neat new record the Compact 33 this is the great new
seven inch record everyone is talking about it plays on the same speed as your 12-inch LPs 33⅓
RPM and it fits right on your LP turntable just think what a blast this will be at parties you
can put both the Compact 33s and your 12-inch LPs on the same player and then get continuous
entertainment with hot new singles and your favorite albums no speed dials the switch no
need for adapters the Compact 33 makes record collecting more fun than ever and easier too
but RCA Victor's Compact 33s were not just available as singles with one song per side
but also as doubles with two songs per side and that wasn't just an attempt to one-up what
Colombia and Capitol were offering that was also because as you might have guessed by the fact that
you probably have never heard of these things before 33 RPM singles were not a great success
as Billboard magazine wrote in May 1961 a Columbia spokesman said last week that sales
of their 33 singles as against 45 singles are very poor and no other company is claiming any
great sales action on 33 singles this puts the industry in something of a quandary although
all branches of the industry would like to see a one-speed business almost every manufacturer
appears shy at the moment about putting out any of their artists on single 33s only they are
afraid of wasting a release and possibly hurting an artist if the sales don't come through thus the
attempt to test the the 33 market through the Compact Double as Victor and Cameo are doing
these Compact Doubles did not succeed in reviving interest in 7-inch 33 records so
several manufacturers tried releasing 7-inch 33 records with three songs per
side Cadence records called them Little LPs and Mercury called them Compact 6
because they had six songs total three on each side and those were a failure as well
but in 1962 Seeburg picked up the idea of the Little LP and began making them for
their jukeboxes also with three songs per side because Seeburg was still
fully in favor of 7-inch 33 records even if consumers had rejected them
in this press release announcing the Little LPs they said in 1960 Seeburg
virtually forced a reluctant and protesting industry to follow our adoption of the 33⅓
stereo record we actively championed the rising profit potential in 33⅓ stereo
but profit potentials were not rising on the consumer market and by 1964 the
record companies had given up on the idea of releasing music on 7-inch 33s
there were a couple reasons why the attempt to create a one-speed system for all records by
releasing 33 RPM singles was a failure the first is that it was a failure the first time around
and then Columbia tried to bring it back almost a decade later well if it was such a good idea
it would have been a success the first time and then almost 10 years later they tried to
bring it back this time exclusively in stereo when very few people had stereo record players
also I have to blame it on the decision to focus on the adult
market at a time when rock and roll was booming RCA Victor did release
some 33 RPM singles and doubles aimed at teenagers but it was too little too late
and despite the predictions of 45s being on their way out they ended up
becoming more popular than ever in the 1960s for example this portable record
player from 1967 has a clip built into the lid for holding them so even if you did own
some 33s they'd have to stay home while all your favorite 45s went to the party
so that's the story of how the entire record industry tried to cancel the 45 RPM speed
including the company who invented it but teenagers fought back and refused
to stop buying 45s so that's why all turntables still have at least two speeds today 33 and 45.
[Music]