Who wants to compile a list of pressing plant initials?

First, in answer to your question, it tells me a lot about what specs different pressing plants employed. Secondly . . . bring 'em on! I was wondering who else besides Bert-Co did label copy type for Monarch.

 

Can you give me some examples?
If wheather is not too bad ( very hot at the moment) I wil start scanning today.

 

First, Bert-Co's typesetting was on Monarch pressings through the 1960's; on 1970's pressings there were two different label copy typesetting variations - hot metal letterpress typesetting and another group of fonts (with typefaces from IBM) that were done in offset. The former group were also on pressings from Rainbo Records (the ones with the 'R-xxxx' codes on the dead wax).

 

Thanks for the info.Attached are some Monarch label scans.
The maroon Atco is from january 1957. Stax 129 is from Oct 1962. Stax 164 is from Jan 1965. This is the first one with this typesetting etc.Stax 0027 is from 1969.
Same questions as from Plastic Products.
Next time some album scans.

Rene

 

That pressing employed label copy typesetting from Queens Litho in Long Island City, NY; their label copy type was predominant on pre-January 1965 MGM pressings - as well as some early 1967 pressings (i.e. Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally," Atlantic 2365, from a plant I know not of; and a various artists compilation on "The Atlantic Group," apparently from Presswell).


The label copy type on this and the next two 45's (Stax 164 and 0027) are definitely from the same typesetting firm, but it pains me that I cannot pinpoint which one. Nonetheless, the label copy typesetting on those last three examples are definitely synonymous with Monarch pressings. Some of the fonts changed over the years, and the emphasis on use likewise changed, but those typefaces are definitely recognizable. As I said, I saw Rainbo-pressed 45's with that group of typefaces.

I know that with the Monarch layout for Stax 0027, it differed greatly from that of Columbia from Pitman, NJ, where the artist was on the top; catalogue number, matrix number, publisher and time on the right; and song title (with quotes around them), composer and producer on the bottom, as below:

 

And who would be Robin?
JG

 

Thanks once again for the info. Do you know the fonts type of those 45's?
Before I will send you the album scan here are the Stax 0079 from Specialty and from Plastic Products. Note the different date on the PP one.
I don't have the Monarch one.
Do you know if Monarch had printing/typesetting facilities like Plastic Products?

 

The 1957 Atco 45 used 10 point Vogue Heavy for the catalogue number and title; 10(?) point Futura Bold Condensed for the artist, and 6 point Trade Gothic Condensed with Bold Condensed for the text type. Except for the last named fonts which were Linotype, everything else was Intertype.

I truly don't know . . . maybe for some labels which used offset fonts. I seemed to detect on a few promo copies on Tower pressed by the Rainbo Records pressing plant in L.A. (the ones with the R-xxxx designation on the dead wax) c.1966-67, the same typefaces as on the Monarch pressings of the time. They were similar to the fonts as on Stax 129, 164 and 0027. Also, prior to the later 1960's Monarch also used typesetting from Bert-Co Press which also typeset West Coast Capitol "swirl" labels (among others). The closest I could see to an "in-house" Monarch typesetting style came from this release:

 

You are correct in that the Z stands for 7". However, the P does not stand for "pressed in New York;" in fact, you should have looked at the "SP" (yes, both of them are used together, in this case). The SP means 45 RPM standard-play single. (Columbia seldom used their Chicago studio for mastering their own releases; it is used mostly for 45 RPM singles released by their custom clients - any masterings made by the Chicago studio issued on 45 by Columbia's own labels would have used the same ZSP-series numbering as their NY-mastered contemporaries. And they used their Nashville studio for recording some of their own releases, but any masterings coming out of that studio issued on 45 by their own Columbia/Epic/Okeh labels used the same ZSP number as their New York-mastered counterparts.) And the 59257 is a mastering job number, NOT the master number, in this case - the master tape numbers for Columbia in New York have completely different numbers (in the CO ##### range) than the ZSP 59257 matrix number. (Columbia in Hollywood, back in 1962 when your single was recorded, used HCO ##### as their master tape numbers, and their 45 RPM matrixes used the same number as the HCO ##### range but with the RZSP prefix instead of the HCO prefix.)

The '1H' and '1J,' IINM, are the lacquer/metal master cuttings - where the '1' is the first tape or mix made for that mastering studio (usually NY or LA), and the 'H' or 'J' indicates the actual cutting (the 'H' is the eighth cutting; the 'J' is the very next cut, often made minutes after the 'H' cutting - Columbia has NEVER used 'I').

As for the small 'J' which appears before the 'ZSP' or 'RZSP,' this signifies a pressing made for DJ promo copies of the single - and some stampers designated as such are used to press commercial copies of that same single.

Hope this helps.

 

And the CO and HCO systems used for master tapes were leftovers from the 78 RPM era, going as far back as the 1920's when the Plaza Music Company began a matrix series beginning with 5000. The "CO" dated from American Record Corp.'s acquisition of Columbia Phonograph Co., created a year after same in 1933. (B was their designation for Brunswick masters.) You also forgot CCO ####, signifying master tapes originating from Chicago. (In 1963, a year after Columbia acquired Owen Bradley's Film & Recording Studio on 16th Avenue South - now Music Square East - in Nashville, and transformed it into Columbia Studio B, they created a new tape mastering system, NCO #####; in 1970-71, when Columbia opened new studios in San Francisco, they created yet another code for tape masters, FCO ######.) I have a 78 of Johnny Mathis' "Wonderful! Wonderful!" (40784) which designated the matrix as CO 56636, in contrast to the 45 RPM 4-40784 release where the track was assigned ZSP 39295.

Also, it was beginning in 1969 that Columbia began using the Chicago studios for mastering of their own releases. They started using Hollywood on a regular basis for original lacquers beginning around 1966, Nashville in 1967, and San Francisco in 1971. Except for Chicago and San Francisco, later lacquers on hit singles were cut in New York (which cut lacquers for all releases prior to the years mentioned in terms of the other recording hubs, except for pre-1970 Frisco recordings which were cut in Hollywood).

The earliest example of ZSS for stereo 45's was 1966, when a special DJ-only promo was issued of Barbra Streisand's "Sleep In Heavenly Peace (Silent Night)" / "Gounod's Ave Maria." (Though some DJ promo 1968 stereo 45's used ZSM for Columbia and ZSB for Epic.)

And sorry . . . I only do New York City shows. The commute would be prohibitive cost-wise. It's one thing to go to Fest for Beatles Fans shows in Secaucus every March or April; it's another to commute constantly. Besides, people in the New York shows have benefited from my knowledge as it is . . . but thanks for the offer.

 

Thanks for the further info!

 

One other thing: The RZSP for Hollywood recordings was a holdover from the days when their West Coast recordings were made at the Radio Recorders Annex. That 45 code was first employed in 1951, when they went to the 10000 block of numbers; the 78 RPM equivalent was RHCO, first used in October of 1949 (recordings-wise). By the time Columbia settled in its own Hollywood studios in 1961, the tape master prefix was shortened back to HCO, but as the block of numbers was still compatible (70000 by that point), they still used the RZSP prefix for 45's. Amongst the last to use that block of numbers: Tony Bennett's "Love Theme From 'The Sandpiper' (The Shadow Of Your Smile)," RZSP (HCO) 72782, issued on 4-43431. Shortly after that, the HCO tape master series adopted a block of numbers starting with 87501, and Columbia resumed using 45 RPM matrix numbers (from New York) with ZSP prefix.

 

The indication of the actual cutting (A, B etc ) is also an indication to which pressing plant the lacquer was sent to. However, you cannot tell which one went to which plant (unless you see the record).
Also I have copies pressed at different plants but with exactly the same handwriting etc in the dead wax. So the plating was done at the same "plating plant".(same system was used by Long Wear). As the mastering number start with ZTSB, meaning Columbia Bradley 7"x45 rpm mono, I guess the plating was done at Nashville Phono Matrix.
By the way does anyone know master number ZTSP 22774-5 (probably on Fraternity)?

Rene

 

Thanks again for the fonts info.
Hope to get some info regarding typesetting facilities at Monarch.
Attached are some Monarch album scans.
I notice a lot of differencies in typesetting during a small period.
Also, Monarch had a lot of label mistakes. Did you notice that also?
Volt 412 is from enf 1965. Stax 723 is fro 1967. Stax 2010 is from Febr. 1969. Volt 6018 is from end 72 and Stax 3012 is from April 1973.
Same questions as usual.

Rene

 

Again, I'm as interested as you in who did the typesetting for Monarch, given what I'd said about which other pressings I indicated used them. As far as fonts go . . .


This used 8, 10 and 12 point Intertype Futura Medium, 12 point Intertype Franklin Gothic, and 10 point Linotype Trade Gothic Bold Condensed (a.k.a. Gothic No. 20). The Futura fonts were famous in use on East Coast Capitol LP "rainbow band" labels of the 1960's.


The fonts here included the aforementioned sizes of Franklin Gothic and Trade Gothic Bold Condensed; plus Intertype News Gothic Bold (probably 8 point, as used for years for dialogue along with the lighter version by Mad magazine) and 6 point Intertype News Gothic Condensed.




Besides the Franklin Gothic and Trade Gothic Bold Condensed sizes previously mentioned, these examples also used 18 point Spartan Black Condensed and 6 point Spartan Heavy. STS-3012 also used 14 point Trade Gothic Bold Condensed for the album title, 6 point Intertype News Gothic Condensed for the production et al. credits, and 6 point Linotype Trade Gothic Extra Condensed for the (P) notice; those added fonts are pretty much the only difference between that and STS-2010, typesetting wise.


Other than the fonts previously described, the 'STEREO' is set in what looks like 18 point Intertype Cairo Extra Bold Condensed; the album artist/title line appears to be 12 point Linotype Trade Gothic Bold Condensed.

Now, if you describe the horizontal and vertical lines around the hole area as a "mistake," I can see what you mean . . . that and the "Change Gonna Come" song title on the Redding album instead of "A Change Is Gonna Come."

I know of at least two other plants in the West Coast that used the 2⅞” circular indent as on these Monarch pressings. One of them was the H.V. Waddell plant in Burbank, CA that pressed most famously for MGM as well as some other labels.

 

Apparently, they had a lot of fonts at their disposal. I've seen all types of fonts on Monarch pressings of A&M LP's and 45's over the years.

I know that the lacquers were mastered by Mastercraft Studios in Memphis, which also cut lacquers for the Monument label, Sammi Smith's "Help Me Make It Through The Night" on Mega, Al Green records on Hi, and Detroit Emeralds releases on Westbound.

I can't wait . . .

 

Probably you will see HC : that's Howard Craft. Mastercraft was first called Pepper than transferred to Auditronics in 1968 (A.I.).
Attached are some Bestway label scans.
The first one (146) is from March 1967. The label color is different from the usual red color :it's more orange.
The second one (150) is from May 1967. Note the differnt fonts for artist and song title.
The third one is from June1975.
Finally, the album is from September 1974.
Same questions as usual.
Did Bestway had typesetting/printing facilities?

Rene

 

The group of fonts as on these pressings first originated from a printing company in Newark called Co-Service Printing Co., which handled label copy for Decca's East Coast pressing plant from about the 1940's through to 1955, and for RCA's Rockaway, NJ plant from later that year through early 1959 (their labels were the ones with the straight line above the "black label, dog on top" on 45's issued through 1957) - and for a gallery of indie labels in-between. The typefaces were first used on Bestway pressings in 1964 when they began using paper labels after years of printing directly on the record itself (the ink that fades with time and use). One avid collector once told me at a convention I frequent that Co-Service had been acquired by Bestway, transformed to the Mountainside facility and renamed Shell Press - but I've no way of independently proving or disproving that. Just to indicate that the group of fonts by this time associated with Bestway disappeared from "other" pressings thereafter.

The small (text) font used was 6 point Trade Gothic Extra Condensed with Bold Extra Condensed. The Volt 150 example used 14 point Gothic No. 13 for title (also used for title and artist on Stax 0246 and artist on Stax STS-5522) and 14 point Cheltenham Bold Condensed for artist; as used by them, the fonts were combined. 8 and 10 point Spartan Medium with Heavy (Spartan was Linotype's equivalent of Futura, and as such is today no longer available in any computer font library) were also used (as was a 12 point size through at least the 1960's); the earlier examples used the bold font while the later ones used the lighter. The line "The Best of Johnnie Taylor" was set in 14 point Erbar Bold Condensed. I've long beaten my head over the proverbial brick wall trying to find out the origin of the "Circle P" (6 point) variation used not only by Bestway on the last two labels, but also Columbia in Pitman, NJ from 1972 to 1974 when they switched to phototypesetting; the company that did label copy typesetting for United Artists (as on most of their 45's) in the 1970's; and a few others (Linotype? Intertype?). With a few other changes in typefaces over the years, these fonts were used up to c.1982.

Even with these fonts at their disposal, Bestway occasionally used label copy from Brooklyn, NY-based Progressive Label Co.; as they would full-time after c.1982.

I also noticed that on Bestway-pressed LP's, the circular indent around the label was 2¾”.

As for the Volt 146: Columbia used a bit more orange on their Volt pressings of that period, as well, along the lines of either Pantone 165 or 172 (though I've yet to encounter a Columbia pressing of Otis' "Dock of the Bay"). Probably that Bestway influence?

 

W.B.,

I have just spoken to Jack Berman about typesetting facilities at Monarch. He told me that Monarch as well as Bestway had no facilities.
Also, he told me that in a lot of times the record companies delivered the labels to the pressing plants.
Thanks again for your information. I am really impressed about your knowledge regarding printing companies. How did you find that out as it's hard to tell which company printed what label.
Next time Specialty.

Rene

 

Hi all,

While this is only slightly related to the topic. You guys might wish to know that Intertype was Harris Intertype Corporation. They purchased Gates Radio Company and then mainly went to electronics thereafter. Good thing since typesetting was becoming a dying art the old way! Harris now mostly makes broadcast equipment.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I suspected it would've been the case with Monarch; but I apprecitate your pointing out about Bestway, as well. I do second, however, that the fonts the latter used on post-1964 paper labels, were applicable to other labels pre-'64 and emanated from the old Co-Service Printing Co. of Newark.

I know one printing company that could've done typesetting for Monarch was Alco Printing in L.A.; but I would like to get specifically who along with Bert-Co typeset for them.

As for how I found out what I found out who printed what: Studying old Billboard International Buyer's Guides didn't exactly hurt. On some occasions they actually had some of the typefaces as on the labels, used to lay out the text in their ads offering their respective services for the proverbial right price. Keystone Printed Specialties of Scranton (which did label copy for the Specialty pressing plant as well as Capitol's Scranton factory, and for Savoy Records in the 1940's and '50's) was just one example. Bert-Co was another.