Anybody On The Forum Like 7 Inch 45S?

[JoshWard]

I like 45s and often pick up 60s ones for use on my fleet of 60s turntables but rarely play them on the big boys' system.
I also find them a PITA for finding what to listen too as you have to flick through them all whereas LPs you just read the spine.

Still on a 60s autochanger deck they're hard to beat

[mysticfred]

would be nice to have a permanent thread on 45's called "45's and on.." or "seven inches of heaven" ?

What about a subforum called 'size isn't everything'

Regards,
JaS

even better

but may encourage the wrong sort of discussion...


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[philmch]

I've got a box of 7" 45s but only play them occasionally. Some of them sound very good particularly Focus' Sylvia and House Of The King.

I play in a band and we brought out a 7" in 2006. It was pressed by the GZ plant in Czechoslovakia and sounded very good indeed. Mind you, it was mastered from a CD.

Still got all my Tull singles which I collected as a teeneager but never got the first one:
[album]14458[/album]

[Dadimo]

Phil,
That is quite a collage of Tull there. I see boxes of 45s at some of the local used record stores sometimes at liquidation prices. I always have to give them a look, sometimes you find decent stuff in there.

[valerie_graunch]

I bought 45s as a child, before progressing to 12" singles later on. This was the late 70s/early 80s, and at that time I found a lot of 7 inch records were quite thin, and were easily broken if extreme care wasn't taken (and how much care is a small boisterous kid bursting with enthusiasm and energy going to take when playing his precious purchases?). I've since handled several sixties 7" pressings, and like the albums of the time, they were, I noticed, built to last.

The early 1980s brought 12" singles to the masses - Once strictly for DJs, these extended versions became available to all at most record shops. In those days, a twelve inch mix was, more often than not, just the basic song with an extended drum solo in the middle and extra repeats of the chorus before the fade. I had several such records in my collection back then. In the late 80s, when Chicago gave us House music, the dance/rave music craze gripped the nation (Britain, I mean, but the rest of Europe soon joined us), and suddenly 12" records were a must for every bedroom disc jockey.

Back to the topic: My early 7" purchases were played on an old Dansette record player, and the records were stacked on top of the turntable's "spindle" (as we called it), a thin metal stick about six inches high, with a little jaw-like hinge to keep the records in place. These devices were not completely reliable - sometimes, the mechanism would not function correctly, and instead of the singles dropping onto the turntable one by one as they should, the whole stack of six or seven records would come crashing down at once!

Great days....

[wintermute]

I've got maybe 6-7000 45's... they are OK, but damn, I hate the distortion they generally have. Sound like ass, but they were ok back when I was a cheap kid & couldn't afford the LP..

[Singlemania45]

I've got a box of 7" 45s but only play them occasionally. Some of them sound very good particularly Focus' Sylvia and House Of The King.

I play in a band and we brought out a 7" in 2006. It was pressed by the GZ plant in Czechoslovakia and sounded very good indeed. Mind you, it was mastered from a CD.

Still got all my Tull singles which I collected as a teeneager but never got the first one:
[album]14458[/album]

That is a fine lot. I think there are a few German/Dutch pic sleeves amongst them? I have always collected 45s but over the past 10 years i've been thinning down my collection with a few thousand still to sell .... many have gone to charity shops. The real gems that I dont think I could part with are my collection of 60s/70s rock and psych singles from Latin America.

[damnspynovels]

In those days, a twelve inch mix was, more often than not, just the basic song with an extended drum solo in the middle and extra repeats of the chorus before the fade.

Yeah there's that, but towards the late nineties the 12" kinda became the EP of a single, usually tracking four songs as opposed to a 7"s two, so was by far a greater value purchase. I also have a few 12"s where I also have the 7", and they're exactly the same single (Factory Records did this a lot), ie straight one song per side, exactly the same length - though the sound quality of the 12" is vastly superior, and sometimes the track might be a tiny bit long for the 7" so it might spin at 33rpm.

But I have about 600 7"s from the mid 90s - it was definitely still the format of choice for real indie labels of the era, many great records that have never seen the light of day on any other format despite often starring alumni that have since gone onto greater things.

[KentT]

I have over 5000 of the little rotters. I love 45 RPM singles vastly. And I seem to come home with more vinyl every trip if decent records are found. So count me in as the Czar of 45 singles.

[Dadimo]

I think its funny that back in the days making a "playlist" meant dropping a few 45s onto the changer spindle. Nowadays with many people using single play machines the 45s are viewed as an inconvenience by some.

[Matt Lynch]

hi, i love em
i have been buying all the white stripes and raconteurs 7 " singles i can get my mitts on and also all the beck Hansen (BECK) 7"s, they all have superb sound , although i do have a second arm (mission 774) on my tt set up to give best tracking with 7" singles only.

[Dadimo]

I guess the trade-off would be the higher RPM could result in higher resolution sound, but you will get more inner groove distortion, at least on the 7 " singles. I still spin mine a bit too.
I noticed they are still made, but I wonder if it is more of a nostalgia novelty. Most people go for the LPs, the singles were going for 6-8 $USD each. I would rather browse the used ones.

[Willem1671]

Back in the 60-70-80-s 45's were mainly bought by teenagers. So that's why you'll find almost only mainstream songs on them. B-sides are the interesting factor here. I hardly ever buy them, that is, in Holland where I live. But if I'm abroad, I do buy 45's. Because sometimes you'll find music on 7 inches never released ouside that specific country. And I'll take my time as yes, it takes much longer to search and find what you want.

These days, 7 inches are no longer for top 40 buyers only. They are now pressed in much smaller quantities and serve as a cheap method for publishing music. Indie groups are known for using the 45. Highly collectible! And sometimes the 45 is part of boxed release, like the Coldplay collection of hit singles. Too bad the quality of some releases is terrible. The one I mentioned is an example.........Many sides off centered. No excuses for that!

Willem.

[mysticfred]

^ all very true Willem - many of my singles i have for the B sides including some old ones, and many modern ones (Oasis, Stereopphonics) but luckily good quality.

time for a musical interlude, one of my favourite B sides


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MRDW9sEBkg


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