Not entirely. While it is true that Sony's Norio Ohga was heavily into classical music (he was a trained opera singer and often conducted orchestras around the World), it seems that the story about the Ninth was simply a delaying tactic on his part to allow Sony to catch up with Philips in terms of disc production capability. Philips had everything in place to make 11.5 cm discs. Sony then scuppered that with a change to 12 cm to apparently accommodate a long version of the Ninth.
Maybe I thought that all the CD players decoded pre-emphasis properly because the Sony CDP-101 actually was my first player in 1983!
Friends, if I'm right the clue to obtain the first 50 titles released by Columbia/Sony, are the 35DP catalog numbers, I only know a few, help wanted to complete the list: 35DP-1 Billy Joel-52nd Street 35DP-2 Billy Joel-The Stranger 35DP-3 Boz Scaggs-Middle Man (?) 35DP-4 Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here 35DP-5 Toto-Turn Back 35DP-6 Journey-Escape 35DP-7 35DP-8 35DP-9 35DP-10 35DP-11 35DP-12 35DP-13 35DP-14 35DP-15 35DP-16 Miles Davis-The Man With The Horn 35DP-17 35DP-18 Billy Joel-Glass Houses 35DP-42 Toto-Hydra All the rest are missing.
It seems from this site: http://translate.google.com/transla...en&lr=&safe=off&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-22,RNWE:en that there were other series among the first 50 titles. 35DP-7 - Barbra Streisand - Guilty 35DP-8 - Weather Report - Night Passage 35DP-9 - Al DiMeola/John McLaughlin/Paco De Lucia - Friday Night In San Francisco 35DP-10 - Bob James/Earl Klugh - One On One 35DP-11 - Boz Scaggs - Hits! 35DP-12 - Toto - IV 35DP-13 - Simon & Garfunkel - Collection 35DP-14 - Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 35DP-15 - Earth, Wind & Fire - Gratitude (?) 35DP-17 - The Herbie Hancock Trio With Ron Carter And Tony Williams (?) The ? indicate where I'm not 100% certain of my ability to decipher the Japanese to English translation.
Good information, Kent! I swear I remember CD's being a bit closer to $30.00, however (at least here in Portland). Regardless of exact price, however, I SPECIFICALLY remember my sophomore year of H.S. (1983 / 1984) saying "No one will ever buy these, they're too expensive. I can get a cassette tape for $6.99 and it sounds just as good." I do remember all of the early pressings being housed in longboxes and or blister packs (damn those were difficult to open)!
IIRC, the "35" prefix indicated a suggested list price of 3500 Yen. This was at a time when LPs retailed for 2500 Yen. And the US Dollar was worth 200-250 Yen. Why oh why didn't I buy more Japanese target CDs when I was in high school? COdy
35DP 21 is Bruce Springsteen Born to Run. To erase innercircle's doubt, 35DP 3 is indeed Boz Scaggs Middle Man.
Some more: From http://homepages.tesco.net/~alan.bunting/cdtracks.htm 35DP-48 LATIN HIT SOUNDS (Compilation CD) 35DP-50 SCREEN MUSIC SPECIAL (Compilation CD) From http://shop.seesaa.jp/pages/search?category_id=&keywords=%89%CC%82%A4 35DP-49 GREENFIELDS 青春を歌う (sorry, but my kanji reading has mostly gone bye bye) From Google cache 35DP-47 Andy Williams - Love Standard 35DP-46 Weather Report - Procession 35DP-45 Journey - Frontiers 35DP-44 Earth Wind and Fire - Powerlight from http://keithhirsch.freeservers.com/custom4.html 35DP-25 Asia - Asia 35DP-26 Karla Bonoff - Wild Heart of the Young 35DP-30 Al Di Meola Electric Rendezvous 35DP-41 Al Di Meola Tour de Force -- Live Whew! Cody
It was mentioned that the first CD produced in the U.S. was Bruce Springsteen Born in the U.S.A. Specifically, the original U.S. edition has red text on the disc instead of black. This version is extremely rare. (I'm still looking for a copy.) CBS/Sony produced another disc in the U.S. at the same time, The Edison CD Sampler. It is a promotional CD of historic sound recordings. Like the "red" version of Born in the U.S.A., the Edison disc is very rare. Both discs were given to attendees of the commemoration of the DADC plant in Terre Haute in September 1984. I've heard it said that some red copies of Born in the U.S.A. made it into stores, but I do not know if that is true. The Edison disc was never sold commercially. As a final note, a similar Edison disc was also produced for the commemoration of the DADC plant in Austria in 1987. This second version has one fewer track than the one produced in 1984 at the U.S. DADC plant.
Maybe I'll start a spreadsheet of 35DP titles. I've been meaning to do that for awhile. A few higher-number 35DP discs that immediately come to mind: 35DP 32: Bob James Hands Down 35DP 62: Miles Davis Kind of Blue 35DP 64: Miles Davis Someday My Prince Will Come 35DP 65: Miles Davis My Funny Valentine: Miles Davis In Concert 35DP 66: Miles Davis "Four" & More: Recorded Live In Concert 35DP 67: Miles Davis Miles in Tokyo: Miles Davis Live In Concert 35DP 68: Miles Davis Miles in Berlin 35DP 69: Miles Davis E.S.P. 35DP 70: Miles Davis In a Silent Way 35DP 71: Bob James The Genie (Themes & Variations from "Taxi") 35DP 72: Electric Light Orchestra Secret Messages 35DP 80: Asia Alpha 35DP 82: Herbie Hancock Future Shock 35DP 93: Bob James Foxie 35DP 93: Bob Dylan Infidels 35DP 99: Bob Dylan Greatest Hits 35DP 103: Irene Cara What a Feelin' 35DP 105: Earth, Wind & Fire Electric Universe 35DP 109: Billy Joel Piano Man 35DP 110: Billy Joel Streetlife Serenade 35DP 111: Billy Joel Turnstiles 35DP 200: Soundtrack to the XXIIIrd Olympiad
35DP-37 Annie - Soundtrack 35DP-36 Third World - You've Got the Power 35DP-35 Bertie Higgins - Casablanca 35DP-34 Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain 35DP-32 Bob James - Hands Down 35DP-31 Herbie Hancock - Lite Me Up 35DP-38 Willie Nelson - You Were Always on My Mind "... and I'm spent!" Cody
The first CDs were classical music. CBS/Sony Japan may have issued Billy Joel's "52nd Street" first, but it's not the first compact disc.
The 35DP 1 release of 52nd Street is widely held as the first CD sold commercially. CBS/Sony released it when it launched the format on October 1, 1982 in Japan. That's what I've read many times.
More info please. I have only hearsay information that Denon produced/recorded/manufactured the earliest classical CD back in '82.
A few more... 35DP 58 Santana - Abraxas 35DP 77 Billy Joel - An Innocent Man 35DP 148 Steve Perry - Street Talk 35DP 164 Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA 35DP 888 Billy Joel - Kohuept
Last list compiled: 35DP-1 Billy Joel-52nd Street 35DP-2 Billy Joel-The Stranger 35DP-3 Boz Scaggs-Middle Man 35DP-4 Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here 35DP-5 Toto-Turn Back 35DP-6 Journey-Escape 35DP-7 Barbra Streisand - Guilty 35DP-8 Weather Report - Night Passage 35DP-9 Al DiMeola/John McLaughlin/Paco De Lucia - Friday Night In San Francisco 35DP-10 Bob James/Earl Klugh - One On One 35DP-11 Boz Scaggs - Hits! 35DP-12 Toto - IV 35DP-13 Simon & Garfunkel - Collection 35DP-14 Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 35DP-15 Earth, Wind & Fire - Gratitude 35DP-16 Miles Davis-The Man With The Horn 35DP-17 The Herbie Hancock Trio With Ron Carter And Tony Williams 35DP-18 Billy Joel-Glass Houses 35DP-19 Billy Joel-Songs In The Attic 35DP-20 Boz Scaggs-Silk Degrees 35DP-21 Bruce Springsteen-Born To Run 35DP-22 35DP-23 35DP-24 ELO-Discovery 35DP-25 Asia-Asia 35DP-26 Karla Bonoff-Wild Heart of the Young 35DP-27 35DP-28 35DP-29 35DP-30 Al Di Meola Electric Rendezvous 35DP-31 Herbie Hancock - Lite Me Up 35DP-32 Bob James Hands Down 35DP-33 35DP-34 Billy Joel - The Nylon Curtain 35DP-35 Bertie Higgins - Casablanca 35DP-36 Third World - You've Got the Power 35DP-37 Annie - Soundtrack 35DP-38 Willie Nelson - You Were Always on My Mind 35DP-41 Al Di Meola Tour de Force-Live 35DP-42 Toto-Hydra 35DP-43 35DP-44 Earth, Wind & Fire-Powerlight 35DP-45 Journey - Frontiers 35DP-46 Weather Report - Procession 35DP-47 Andy Williams - Love Standard 35DP-48 Latin Hit Sounds (Compilation CD) 35DP-49 Greenfields-????? 35DP-50 Screen Music Special (Compilation CD) 35DP-51 35DP-52 35DP-53 35DP-54 35DP-55 Miles Davis-Star People 35DP-56 Santana-Havana Moon 35DP-57 35DP-58 Santana - Abraxas 35DP-59 35DP-60 35DP-61 35DP-62 Miles Davis-Kind of Blue 35DP-63 35DP-64 Miles Davis Someday-My Prince Will Come 35DP-65 35DP-66 Miles Davis "Four" & More: Recorded Live In Concert 35DP-67 Miles Davis Miles in Tokyo: Miles Davis Live In Concert 35DP-68 Miles Davis Miles in Berlin 35DP-69 Miles Davis E.S.P. 35DP-70 Miles Davis In a Silent Way 35DP-71 Bob James The Genie (Themes & Variations from "Taxi") 35DP-72 Electric Light Orchestra Secret Messages 35DP-73 35DP-74 35DP-75 35DP-76 35DP-77 Billy Joel - An Innocent Man 35DP-78 35DP-79 35DP-80 Asia Alpha 35DP-81 35DP-82 Herbie Hancock Future Shock 35DP-83 35DP-84 35DP-85 35DP-86 35DP-87 35DP-88 35DP-89 35DP-90 35DP-91 35DP-92 35DP-93 Bob Dylan Infidels 35DP-94 35DP-95 35DP-96 35DP-97 35DP-98 35DP-99 Bob Dylan Greatest Hits 35DP-100 There are only a few missing.
I always assumed that 'D' stood for disc and 'P' for pop. Granted that many jazz titles were released in the 35DP series, but I still believe that the 'P' is for pop. Note that classical titles were released in the 38DC and 35DC series. As a side note, 35DP discs say "DIGITAL MASTERING". 38DP discs (3800 yen) say "DIGITIAL RECORDING".
The 35 8P discs are all Epic titles. I have no idea what the significance of the 8 is, but I believe Japanese Epic LPs of the era also have an 8 in the catalog number prefix.
35DP 19 is Billy Joel Songs in the Attic. As was stated here by another member, 35DP 44 is Earth, Wind & Fire Powerlight.
Well, we must make the distinction between commercial, promotional and test CDs. I recall reviewers critiquing classical CDs just before the introduction of the format to the world.