''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972).

Background

The magazine was first published on 8 February 1958, with the main competition being ''

''. It gained a reputation for its emphasis on

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

as reflected in the music charts, in comparison with its more music-industry-focused rivals ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' and ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

''.Jon Savage, ''The magazine explosion''
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 6 September 2009Rock's Back Pages magazine archive
/ref> Its pop music charts were based on its own sample of shops, initially no more than 25 in number, but expanding to about 100 by the mid-1960s. It also awarded silver discs (for UK sales of 250,000) from 1959 until 1973. Silver records were awarded after professionally audited sales data was provided by record companies. In 1973, ''Disc''s awards were superseded by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI). It was renamed ''Disc Weekly'' between 5 December 1964 and 16 April 1966.The British pop charts at SixtiesCity
/ref> In 1966, it was incorporated with ''Music Echo'' magazine, which had itself previously taken over ''

Mersey Beat ''Mersey Beat'' was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College. The paper carried news about all the local Liverpool bands, and ...

''. The new magazine was known as ''Disc and Music Echo'' (with the name "Disc" shown more prominently on the masthead), from 23 April 1966. Unlike the other weekly magazines of the time, it featured colour photos on its front and back pages. According to journalist

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage, 2 September 1953) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'' (1991). Early life and educati ...

, it featured "bang-up-to-the-minute news stories on the front page, race-track-style chart rundowns ... a contentious readers' postbag... and incisive singles reviews by the great Penny Valentine". In June 1966, it was the first magazine to feature, in colour, the notorious "butcher" cover for

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' US album '' Yesterday and Today'', under the headline "Beatles: What a Carve-up!" Contributors to the magazine included Jack Good, in the early 1960s and, later in the decade,

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

. A cartoonist in the 1970s was J Edward Oliver, who continued in ''Record Mirror'' from 1975 to 1977. ''Disc'' dropped the name ''Music Echo'' from its title in 1972, and continued to be published until 30 August 1975, when it merged with ''Record Mirror''. Musicians

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex (band), T. Rex. Bolan strongly i ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, and conductor. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Batt created the novelty pop band T ...

and others wrote them personal notes lamenting their closure.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=917123971786207&set=gm.2045659882348763&type=3&ifg=1

References

{{Reflist 1958 establishments in the United Kingdom 1975 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1958 Magazines disestablished in 1975 Defunct music magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London British record charts