The message from Chris Topham rises higher:
 CR>  C>Also, this is the first time I'd ever seen UK singles.  They are
 CR>  C>different than U.S. singles in that the labels aren't stickers, but
 CR> are
 CR>  C>rather painted onto the vinyl.  What's more, they don't have that big
 CR>  C>hole in the middle.  Well, it's sort of there, it's just not as thick
 CR>  C>as the rest of the vinyl, and the hole is the size of an LP hole.
 CT> Actually very few UK singles have the info printed directly; most have
 CT> a sticker just like in America.
So, does that make the directly printed label singles more valuable?
 CT> In Britain singles are/were primarily for record decks, and the
 CT> multi-players allowed you to stack up 10 or so to play one at a time;
 CT> the spindle held them in place through the small hole and the ridgeing
 CT> just outside the label was meant to ensure that the singles didn't
 CT> slip over each other and screw up the sound.
I've got a few singles on the Apple label with those ridges, but the
singles have the big American hole (heh, some phrasing, eh?).
 CT> I believe in America
 CT> single production was geared more towards the Jukebox, where having a
 CT> large hole meant that the mechanics of picking up a single and
 CT> threading it onto a center spindle requires less accurate setting up
 CT> with a bigger hole to aim for.
OK, that makes sense.
 CT> I guess y'all use a plastic gizmo to
 CT> play singles on your player at home?
Yep.  Red, yellow, black, green, etc, colored little plastic thingies to
put inside the 45.  Also, turntables came with (and still do) little 1/4
inch high cylinders to put in the middle of the turntable.  My parents
had a 6 inch high cylinder that would allow you to stack 45s on top of
each other and then allow them to be smacked down onto each other and
played (ouch!).
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- Clark Ray                                                  -
- email: clarkray@psnw.com                                   -
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... yet in the darkness of my mind Damascus wasn't far behind
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