June 7, 2009: Vogue Vinyl Records

Long ago and far away, they made recordings on vinyl records.
I've seen a lot of them, in my lifetime, all sizes, speeds, and colors, but I've never seen any like these.

Huh. I remember seeing records that were all one color, but none with artwork like that on them.

When I was a pup I had a record that had an adaptation of the 1978 story of Puff the Magic Dragon on it. The record itself was one big illustration, just like those, with Puff and Jackie on the front. I remember it confused the heck out of me when I first got it... up until then, all records were black with colored stickers in the middle.

I had an album that was transparent red. It was.. special.

I think it might have been a Christmas one.

The gender politics of those pictures is rather striking. Maybe this is not a representative sample, but the next time someone complains about the scantily clad hos in rap videos, I'll think of this.

Where can I get some of those heart-shaped hand-cuffs?

Vinyl is supposedly making a comeback. A couple years ago I gave away about 300 LPs. Big mistake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum The gender politics of those pictures is rather striking.

Sure, the singer was a woman. But the producer, agent, publicist, and guy who drew the art for the album were almost assuredly male. I'd estimate the singer had zero say in what pictures went on her album. Though of course we're all products of our environment--she probably didn't have a problem with what went on them anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum snip-- Where can I get some of those heart-shaped hand-cuffs?

The pictures reflect the lyrics of the song, her lament, on that side of the record. I'd have to know the lyrics to know if it's an accurate depiction, but I'll bet it is.

I still have a purple "Purple Rain" 45 rpm single.

When I was a kid I discovered this contraption in my G-mother's attic: It was a TV type thing that played special 45's and showed a related story on the screen (black & white, btw) while the record played. Kinda like music videos. There may have been a book to go along with the record. I spent untold fascinated hours with this thing.

I had forgotten completely about this contraption until reading this post. Thanks Bruce for rekindling a fond memory.

Huh. Wikipedia never hoid of her: Marion Mann (born March 29, 1920) is an American physician and pathologist. He was a Dean of the College of Medicine at Howard University from 1970 to 1979.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravdigr I still have a purple "Purple Rain" 45 rpm single. When I was a kid I discovered this contraption in my G-mother's attic: It was a TV type thing that played special 45's and showed a related story on the screen (black & white, btw) while the record played. Kinda like music videos. There may have been a book to go along with the record. I spent untold fascinated hours with this thing. I had forgotten completely about this contraption until reading this post. Thanks Bruce for rekindling a fond memory.

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnhowdy I remember those things, too. I can't for the life of me remember what they were called.

My first thought was give a show projector, but that was the one you slid the film through.

The one I'm thinking of was like a mini TV with a record player on top. The film was synched to the record. And there was a book, too. My little sis had one.

I bet xoB knows......

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravdigr I racked (wracked?) my brain trying to remember what that thing was called. I gave up when my head started hurting.

I did some googling trying to come up with the record/movie player but had no luck. However, I've found some vintage toy sites (I love old toys) and have gone on a journey that only the internet can provide!

I tried too some time ago when something reminded me of this, but couldn't find it. This time, for some reason, the name floated up out of the flotsam and jetsam of my brain. Of course, knowing the name made it much easier to find!! Behold, the Show 'n' Tell. (After I remembered the name, it took still longer to find a photo. There apparently aren't many, and the nature of the words make it hard to narrow the search. The attachment is actually the cover of one of the record/filmstrip sets, but it shows the player and a filmstrip.)

Based on the Wikipedia article, my older brother had the GE version. It was still around and functional by the time I came along (seven years later), but none of the films were in good shape. I was vaguely conscious of 78's as an "older" record that wasn't made any more in favor of 33's and 45's, but I had a couple WTF moments at the 16RPM setting. One Christmas my sister & I received the updated version mentioned in the article. It was hot stuff for the time!

Great work, Steve!

Now, the gender politics of THAT picture ... I ain't going there!

Any "gender politics" in that, or the original post pictures, is in your dirty mind.

Yeah ... wanna share? :p

That's it! Thanks, Steve. When I googled "show and tell" all I got was a bunch of lyrics for the song. (Which was killer). Guess I should have kept digging.

My mom had one, I think the song was titled "I Guess I'll Get the Papers and Go Home" and was about some lonsome lovesick guy who lost his girl.

There is a website for collectors: http://www.voguepicturerecords.org/

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum Now, the gender politics of THAT picture ... I ain't going there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Any "gender politics" in that, or the original post pictures, is in your dirty mind.

If you go to the website I mentioned and click on discography you get all of the titles and who performed the songs. Some of the groups names are pretty amusing. In those days anyone with a band called it an orchestra!

Here are a few good ones:

The King's Jesters and Louise
The Don Large Chorus
Shep Fields and His Orchestra
Lulu Belle and Scotty
Patsy Montana
The Hour of Charm All-Girl Orchestra
The Down Homers
Dick La Salle and His Society Orchestra
WOWO Hoosier Hop Gang

I love the literal interpretation of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea!
I'd love to have seen the album cover for something like Georgia on my Mind.

Show & Tell

I quite possibly have killed the brain cells associated with the Show&Tell, as those words don't ring a bell.
That said, it almost has to be the same item, doesn't it?

I distinctly remember black & white pictures, though, perhaps the little strips we had were of the cheapie variety.

Great work finding this!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravdigr I quite possibly have killed the brain cells associated with the Show&Tell, as those words don't ring a bell. That said, it almost has to be the same item, doesn't it? I distinctly remember black & white pictures, though, perhaps the little strips we had were of the cheapie variety.

Nah, its just that everything in the olden days was black and white. I saw it on TV.

And here I thought that picture-discs were a fresh and new thing in the 70s and 80s.

I know I have at least one, it's the story of Star Wars, narrated by Anthony Daniels. I have a vague thought that there's another one in the pile of vinyl, but I can't remember what it might be.

Not the same thing, but I've got a Raiders of the Lost Ark read-along story book that has an accompanying 45. Every time you are supposed to turn the page, Indy cracks his whip.

Move at the crack of the whip? Ahhh, preparation for marriage.

I had an LP of The Story of Star Wars.. but I don't think it was a picture disc. (Thanks to that record, I can replay the audio of the entire Battle of Yavin, down to the last R2-D2 beep, in my head.)

The soundtrack LP from Superman II was not a picture disc, but it did have the Superman logo imprinted several times in a circle on each side in some kind of colored hologram-type material that was the same color as the LP till you angled it to the light just so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum Nah, its just that everything in the olden days was black and white. I saw it on TV.

Let's not forget "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". Boy was I stoned back then....

I was talking to a guy at work who is a serious collector of old Victrolas and records. He said he has some of those vogue records and the biggest problem with them was moisture would cause the vinyl to peel off the aluminum disc.