The History of Compact Disc thread. Information wanted.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by innercircle, Jul 8, 2006.

  1. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    I guess no one looked at this link that I posted earlier in the thread:

    http://translate.google.com/transla...en&lr=&safe=off&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-22,RNWE:en

    According to it, the 50 CDs available in Oct. `82 had the following break down:

    CBS/Sony Classical - 38DC-1 to 38DC-15
    CBS/Sony Pop - 35DP-1 to 35DP-17
    CBS/Sony Japanese artists - 35DH-1 to 35DH-9 and 38DG-1
    Epic/Sony Pop - 35 8P-1 to 35 8P-5
    Epic/Sony Japanese artists - 35 8H-1 to 35 8H-3
     
    Dan Steele likes this.
  2. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    Correct, the first commercially available CD single was 'Angeline' by John Martyn, Island CID 265, released in 1986. See:

    http://members.home.nl/johnmartyn/sgl14.htm

    Note the comment on the bottom of the above link about the Dire Straits promo single that was also mentioned earlier in this thread!
     
  3. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    The Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" CD single I mentioned came first, and I do not believe it was a promo copy. There are no promo markings on it whatsover, and the back insert has a barcode.
     
  4. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    Those devious bootleggers!!! :laugh:

    I don't know what to say. I remember all the hoopla, advertisements, etc. with regard to the John Martyn single. I don't remember anything about Brothers other than the album being pushed by Philips/PolyGram to help sell the CD format at the time. Looks like innercircle has more mysteries to unravel!!! :)
     
  5. I'll be happy to provide scans/track listings for these:

    ASK 1734 - CBS Records Compact Disc Demonstration - no date
    ASK 1951 - CBS Records Compact Disc Demonstration II - 1984
    + seven more CBS promo compilations from 1987-1989

    Denon [Japan] 33C39-7441 - Denon Digital Audio Check CD - 1985

    Elektra 60303 - The Digital Domain - 1983

    Polygram 816 054-2 - Hear The Light Volume I - 1984 (comes with an early Polygram catalog of available CDs printed in the liner notes)
    Polygram 816 055-2 - Hear The Light Volume II - 1984 (same catalog)
    Polygram 811 337-2 - Sampler U.S.A. Popular Repertoire - 1983

    Realistic 51-5001 - Pure Classics - no date
    Realistic 51-5002 - First Class Jazz - no date
    Realistic 51-5003 - Big Screen Sound - no date
    Realistic 51-5004 - Laser Rock - no date
    Realistic 51-5005 - Great Classics - no date

    Silver Eagle OPCD-4512 - Dancin' The Night Away - 1988 (the first disco compilation; I found an article from Billboard that says so!)

    Warner Special Products OPCD-4523 - After Hours - 1990 (I believe this 3-CD set may be the first decade-spanning all-'80s pop set anywhere)

    CMJ Presents Certain Damage Vols. 1, 2, 9 and 10 - 1987+ (the first of of an extremely long-running modern rock promo series)

    Atlantic PR 2187-2 - Atlantic's Year In Review: 1987 (first? of yearly year-end pop promo compilations, running until at least 1998)

    Chrysalis ABCD 1 - Audio Buffet - 1987 (Chrysalis's first label promo compilation)
    Chrysalis ABCD 2 - Audio Buffet 2 - 1987 (Chrysalis's second label promo compilation)

    Virgin PRCD 2019 - Son Of Singles Scene - 1987 (Virgin's second label promo comp; don't have the first one)

    Mercury 818 273-2 - Hits On CD - 1984 (first of commercially-available European comps; these go up to Vol. 10)

    If you need pictures of old CD players, I'd be happy to take some of my Philips CD202 (no sliding drawer - door pops up), Sanyo DAD 8 (manuf. Apr '83, disc slips in vertically and motorized door shuts - crazy! - and plays vertically), Sylvania 303 (extremely rugged drawer, row of green LEDs on front panel for the tracks; the 7th LED is lit when the the 7th track is playing, etc.), or Toshiba XR-P9 (the first portable-sized CD player I've seen; manuf. June '86, comes with a neato stand that also acts as a plug-in power supply). They all still work, and they'll probably outlast everything else I own...

    BTW, I got my PhD working on focus/tracking systems for optical discs, so I've been snapping up any CD-related hardware I can find.

    Hope this helps.
     
  6. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Thanks for all the information. I could add others to the list, but I don't have the time to do it right now. :( I have not found CBS Records Compact Disc Demonstration II, but I will keep my eyes open.

    I'd love to see pictures of those CD players! The first portable CD player made was the Sony D-5. It was not labeled a Discman. That name came later. The player itself is not too big, but the battery pack is huge!
     
  7. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley New Member

    Location:
    The Netherlands

    nice link with lots of info
    http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/digital.html
     

    Attached Files:

  8. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley New Member

    Location:
    The Netherlands
  9. KennyG

    KennyG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    Abba: The Visitors, reputed to be the world's first pop CD and definitely the first Polygram pop CD.
     
  10. KennyG

    KennyG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    You missed one, Polar, Abba's label, which had all its CDs pressed under contract by Polydor.

    1st design: Blue text on light blue coating
    2nd design: Blue text on clear coating
     
  11. todd33rpm

    todd33rpm New Member

    Stereo Review reported that the first one to appear in all three formats in the U.S. was Bryan Adams' Reckless in 1984, if I recall, though the info may have come from a press release sent to them and the event never came to pass.

    Where does Ray Charles' 3-inch CD single of "America the Beautiful" come into being? I thought that was the first CD single in 1986, though it may have just been the first as a 3-inch.

    Others to consider: the 3-inch for Frank Zappa's "Peaches en Regalia" and the entire Rhino "Li'l Bit of Gold" series of 3-inchers...and I think Chess did something similar with 3-inch singles in the mid-to-late 1980s (I used to have one with Bo Diddley's "You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover"...which has since turned up missing when I've gone to look for it).
     
  12. progmog

    progmog Senior Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Yes, there were also the following:

    P35D - Island
    P35P - Polydor
    38XB/38XP - A&M/Warner
    R32P - RCA
    33PD - Mercury/Vertigo

    Of the ones you have already listed:

    35.8P - Epic/Sony
    50DP - CBS/Sony
    32VD - Virgin/Charisma
    32XD - Warner-Pioneer

    I have also read that the first ever CD was Billy Joel's 52nd Street, but I'm not convinced. My understanding was that in Japan, the first CDs ever issued cost 3800 Yen, which would make the 38XB/P series the first CDs issued.
     
  13. progmog

    progmog Senior Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    This is correct, although the first CDs tended to have just the one date - the date of issue. It is widely reported that the reason that end dates began to be added is to stop retailers selling CDs at a discount. Retailers are not allowed to sell CDs at a discount to the list price until the end date has lapsed. A prime example of "price-fixing", I guess. A consequence of this is that import CDs in Japan are actually cheaper than domestic issues. This is why, in order to encourage the Japanese to buy the domestic issues rather than the imports, the domestic issues tend to have "Japan only" bonus tracks.
     
  14. Claude

    Claude Senior Member

    Location:
    Luxembourg
    Sorry, I couldn't go through the whole thread. Just a few things:

    - When naming the "first CD release", you have to consider the different markets. In the US, Europe and Japan, different titles were released for CD launch. I could post the list of titles that were available in Germany when CD launched in March 1983.

    - AFAIK, "Brothers in arms" was the first album to be launched on CD, i.e. the CD was available immediately at release date of the album, whereas all the other CDs which preceded "Brothers in arms" were previously already available on LP.
     
  15. progmog

    progmog Senior Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Just to add to what Keith has already stated, the 32VD series was released around about the same time as the CP32 series. Both were manufactured by Toshiba but the 32VD series consisted of albums from the Virgin and Charisma label, whereas the CP32 series carried EMI, Chrysalis and Capitol label releases. The early CDs of both series had the distinctive "black triangle" design.
     
    bluelips likes this.
  16. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    That's right. I knew I wouldn't catch every Phonogram label.
     
  17. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Thanks. Absolutely correct. :)

    Where do the blue-triangle discs fit in? As I recall, most, if not all of those releases are of Japanese artists. I do have a Toshiba demonstration disc with a blue-triangle that is a sampler of Japanese artists. These discs have a TEC catalog number prefix.

    There are also black-triangle discs of Japanese artists with a CA32 catalog number prefix. I don't recall if there are CA35 black-triangles. We would have to pull up Aaron's black-triangle thread.
     
  18. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    As a follow up to my blue-triangle/black-triangle post, I would love to compile a list of early CDs with common design but alternative colors. For example, we all know that the earliest Japanese CBS/Sony releases (35DP, 35 8P, 38DC, etc.) have a black coating over three-quarters of the disc. I have an early CBS/Sony sampler that is identical except that the coating is royal blue.

    In the same vein, I have a Japanese Denon movie-theme sampler that has a red coating instead of black. Thus, the disc has a red coating on the left and right thirds instead of the typical black.

    I can post scans if anyone is interested. Are there other early discs with alternative colors?
     
  19. innercircle

    innercircle Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Monterrey, Mexico
    You're right I was thinking the same:

    Taken from here:http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=44853
     
  20. innercircle

    innercircle Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Monterrey, Mexico
    I have another CD that it seems is an early release, but not sure:

    David Bowie-S/T
    Deram P25L-25027

    I haven't seen this catalog number before, the date on rear cover states that belongs to the 1983. And there are no bar code on it.
     
  21. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    I belive the P25L series came along in the late '80s. It was preceded by the P33L series. The first Japanese Rolling Stones CDs were released in the P33L series, followed by reissues in the P25L series.

    The P25L Bowie disc could be the original Japanese release, as I do not know if there is a P33L version.
     
  22. gener8tr

    gener8tr Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver, WA USA
    I've been told by a good source that the 35PO titles are some of the very earliest as well?
     
  23. innercircle

    innercircle Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Monterrey, Mexico
    I'd like to hear some titles from that catalog, if you have'em.
     
  24. innercircle

    innercircle Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Monterrey, Mexico
    At this point we were talking about the earliest CD's realesed in Japan, for their own market, and we talked about Born In The USA was the first CD pressed in the USA, coincidence? However at what moment Japan started to press CD's for the USA market? Someone has a reference to find those first titles?
     
  25. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    The earliest CDs released in the U.S. going back to 1983 were pressed in Japan and West Germany. I don't know what the actual first U.S. release was. It could be that one label released multiple titles simultaneously.
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine