When Did They Stop Using CD Smooth Cases?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Winston O'Boogie, Nov 20, 2019.

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  1. Winston O'Boogie

    Winston O'Boogie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    When did they stop issuing CDs with smooth cases? Was it 1986?
     
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  2. anorak2

    anorak2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    What is a "smooth case"?
     
  3. Odysseus

    Odysseus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    When it got rough
     
  4. Winston O'Boogie

    Winston O'Boogie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    The smooth cases didn't have the ridges in the plastic along the top and bottom of the CD case.
     
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  5. GoodKitty

    GoodKitty FloydM

    Location:
    Pacific
  6. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Different countries and different labels made the transition at their own pace, but the first ridged edges that I saw were around 1985.
     
  7. Winston O'Boogie

    Winston O'Boogie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Thanks. I've got a Japan for US CD that I know was pressed in 1986 and it has a smooth case. The first CDs I bought new (1987) all had the ridged cases.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2019
  8. anorak2

    anorak2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    I'm still not sure what you mean. The standard packaging for CDs in the 1980s was the jewel case. It is as such neutral, the booklet and back sleeve will be inserted into the clear door and back. There is only this one form factor. It is still the default until today, even though it's becoming rarer.

    [​IMG]

    Another popular form that came in the 80s was the digipak. The artwork is printed onto the packaging, so it's not as such neutral. Could this be what you mean?

    [​IMG]


    Simple LP-like cardboard sleeves are quite widespread for cheap re-releases these days. The artwork is printed on, but there is no space for a booklet.
    [​IMG]

    Then there are all sorts of special and gimmicky packaging types.
     
  9. Winston O'Boogie

    Winston O'Boogie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    [​IMG]

    The cases used up until 1985 or 1986 were jewel cases that didn't have the ridges in the plastic along the top and bottom edges of the cases.
     
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  10. A store near me has a new age CD that appears new (cellophane, not shrink wrapped) that is from the 90's and is in a smooth sided case. Was tempted to pick it up for the oddity of it but didn't (yet).

    Also, many years ago, I picked up a brand new in the longbox version of Jackie McLean's "Jackie's Bag" CD on Blue Note, disc made by Capital Jax USA (circa 1987) and it came in a smooth case, albeit one that seemed somehow a little cheaper and less sturdy than ones from the early 80's.

    -s1m0n-
     
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  11. Mbe

    Mbe Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    The 1987 German Sonopress of Obscured by Clouds was also a smooth case (6 booklet tabs + 2 bullet stops).

    Edit: Also Joy Division Still (M by Nimbus) - not sure on the month though.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2019
    Winston O'Boogie and c-eling like this.
  12. The most recent CD I know that has it was Van Morrison's Enlightenment, released in October 1990.
     
  13. Never seen one, but I know one thing.
    I hate digipacks and LP cardboard sleeves.
    HATE THEM
     
  14. Mark B.

    Mark B. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Concord, NC
    It's always a plus for me if I find a smooth case on an older CD I'm interested in buying. It's not necessarily a true selling point (I'm usually only looking for Japan or European pressing), but it is a box I like to tick when I can. I wasn't really aware of the smooth/rough diffference until I saw it mentioned in these boards a few years ago. Although it feels as though they're getting more and more scarce, they are still out there. I've picked up ten or twelve over the last month or so, even while passing on several US pressings.
     
  15. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    87 could be right in certain markets. Depending on left over stock.
     
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  16. Mbe

    Mbe Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Obscured by Clouds
    is my original 1987 purchase.
    Still would be 1990
     
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  17. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Some really..... old stock then :laugh:
    One's I don't see very often are the clear not frosted smooths.
     
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  18. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    I prefer jewel cases to digipacks and LP cardboard sleeves.
     
  19. Boyan

    Boyan Forum Resident

    I have a Santana S/t frosted smooth case from 86, made in Holland. I like those better than the nowadays cases.
     
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  20. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    'Patent Pending's' are pretty neat :)
    [​IMG]
     
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  21. vinylrec

    vinylrec Senior Member

    Location:
    Delaware, Ohio
    1986
     
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  22. kevin5brown

    kevin5brown Analog or bust.

  23. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    I did once see a copy of Richard Clayderman & James Last - Together at Last in a smooth sided case. No obvious evidence it had been recased. Before that one, Elton John - Sleeping with the Past. Both of these has cases with six tabs holding the booklet and round stoppers.

    I did see a late (post 1987?) DADC Austria copy of Billy Joel's An Innocent Man in a smooth case. I wasn't impressed.
     
  24. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Very rare in these parts. I only have a handful.
     
  25. lastdamdown

    lastdamdown Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hillsboro, OR
    My Ian McCulloch Candleland is in a smooth case. Released in Sept. '89.
     
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