45's
SINGLES 12”
During the 1970's and l980's with the emergence in popularity of "night-club" dj's and "mobile" dj's there emerged the 12" single. Usually this format is pressed at 45rpm, with one or two songs per record but with multiple mixes of the song. One album may have one song with a dj-mix, nightclub mix, radio mix, etc., all the same song, just different versions with different beats, etc. At The Record Man we have tens of thousands of 12" singles.
45-RPM SINGLES 7”
These evolved at the same time as the LP. In l948 RCA developed the 7" single to compete with Columbia's LP. It found instant acceptance for use on radio stations, jukeboxes and individual consumers just wanting the "song." 45's were issued in both generic sleeves and picture sleeves. Most record dealers as well as collectors value the picture sleeves on their own – separate from the disc. At the Record Man we currently have almost 250,000 - 45-rpm singles and EP's.
78's
Were manufactured basically from 1900 to the late 1950's. Made from shellac these records were heavy and cumbersome and broke easily. There is a collectors market for these records. They reflect all the popular music of the day – early jazz, blues, country, rock and R&B are the more popular areas of collecting. At the Record Man we currently have approximately 80,000~100,000 78- rpm records.
33 1/3
LP's – 12" 33 1/3 rpm records, have been available commercially since 1948. There are 33 1/3 recordings going back into the early 1940's and the 1930's but these are, for the most part, radio shows (transcriptions). Radio Transcriptions are special pressings made for radio airplay and are generally found in a 16" format
In the early days the LP format was on both ten-inch and twelve-inch records. Although some "labels" pressed 10" LP's through the 1950's the format failed to survive and the 12" LP became the industry standard.
At The Record Man we have hundreds of thousands of 12" LP's. We also have thousands of 16" transcriptions.
