Between 1916 and 1949 a few other companies offered colored shellac discs, including a blue-shellacked series from Columbia during the 1930s and chocolate colored pressings from a budget label “Perfect Records” prior to the 1930s.
In 1949 when RCA Victor launched their 45-RPM format they began color-coding their records based on genre calcification. They classifications are as follows:
Black Vinyl – Pop Pressings (Prefix 47)
Green Vinyl – Country Music (Prefix 48)
Red Vinyl - “Red Seal” Classical Pressings (Prefix 49)
Orange-Rose “Cerise” Vinyl – R&B (Prefix 50)
Sky Blue – International Vinyl (Prefix 51)
Midnight Blue – Light Classics (Prefix 52)
Opaque Yellow – Children’s Vinyl (Prefix WY)
RCA only continued this practice up until they ceased manufacturing of colored vinyl 1953 as for it became too costly to offer these variations.
Although colored vinyl did continue to be available throughout the 1950’s and 1960s, the widespread use of colored vinyl rebounded in full force during the 1970s. During this time, album artwork was the primary visual expression. Introducing colored discs increased the visual artistic aspect of the album. Most commonly available record colors during the 70’s included clear, transparent white, …show more content…
First you start off with an aluminum disc that runs through a machine coating it with the nitrocellulose lacquer, a substance very similar to nail polish. Rollers with scrapers remove the runoff and excess lacquer from the disc and the surplus lacquer is caught in a basin for reuse. The disc hardens fairly quickly similar to nail polish. Often with this process there can be some flaws. At the quality control stage lacquers with any pits, bumps or dirt must be removed. The rejected lacquers are recycled. Discs that pass the quality control stage are placed under a hole puncher and a hole is punched into the center. The lacquer is then packaged carefully and shipped off to the
In 1949 when RCA Victor launched their 45-RPM format they began color-coding their records based on genre calcification. They classifications are as follows:
Black Vinyl – Pop Pressings (Prefix 47)
Green Vinyl – Country Music (Prefix 48)
Red Vinyl - “Red Seal” Classical Pressings (Prefix 49)
Orange-Rose “Cerise” Vinyl – R&B (Prefix 50)
Sky Blue – International Vinyl (Prefix 51)
Midnight Blue – Light Classics (Prefix 52)
Opaque Yellow – Children’s Vinyl (Prefix WY)
RCA only continued this practice up until they ceased manufacturing of colored vinyl 1953 as for it became too costly to offer these variations.
Although colored vinyl did continue to be available throughout the 1950’s and 1960s, the widespread use of colored vinyl rebounded in full force during the 1970s. During this time, album artwork was the primary visual expression. Introducing colored discs increased the visual artistic aspect of the album. Most commonly available record colors during the 70’s included clear, transparent white, …show more content…
First you start off with an aluminum disc that runs through a machine coating it with the nitrocellulose lacquer, a substance very similar to nail polish. Rollers with scrapers remove the runoff and excess lacquer from the disc and the surplus lacquer is caught in a basin for reuse. The disc hardens fairly quickly similar to nail polish. Often with this process there can be some flaws. At the quality control stage lacquers with any pits, bumps or dirt must be removed. The rejected lacquers are recycled. Discs that pass the quality control stage are placed under a hole puncher and a hole is punched into the center. The lacquer is then packaged carefully and shipped off to the