Pocket Disc was a type of
flexidisc
The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a Gramophone record, phonograph record made of a thin, flexible Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral Phonograph pickup, stylus groove, and is ...
, made by
Americom Corporation and experimented with in the late 1960s, small enough ( in diameter) to be carried in one's pocket or shipped in an envelope and not as fragile as a standard record, but playable on the standard manual-only
phonograph
A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
or record player (at
rpm
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines.
One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
). The PocketDisc was cheaper than the Hip Pocket Records manufactured by
Philco
Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchase ...
that sold them to be played on portable record players, which were specially created for the disks.
Twenty-eight major record labels participated in the trials, not including
,
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
,
Motown Records
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
, and
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...
.
Artists who appeared on these disks included
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
,
Steppenwolf,
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
,
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time.
He has written and ...
,
The Five Americans,
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...
,
Sonny and Cher
Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector.
The pair first ac ...
,
Merrilee Rush
Merrilee Rush ( Gunst; January 26, 1944) is an American singer, best known for her recording of the song " Angel of the Morning", a top-10 hit which earned her a Grammy nomination for female vocalist of the year in 1968.
Early life and caree ...
, and
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...
. The disks were sold in vending machines for 50 cents or counter displays at stores for 49 cents,
was later reduced to 39 cents. Each disk had a capacity of about 3.5 minutes of music per side. This meant songs like The Beatles' "
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' fir ...
" could not be played in their entirety.
[http://www.rfidvidensbank.dk/sw30567.asp ]
The disks were first released on September 15, 1968
and
test marketed in several major cities in the United States, but did not catch on.
They were discontinued in 1969.
See also
*
Pocket Rockers
Pocket Rockers was a brand of personal stereo produced by Fisher-Price in the late 1980s, aimed at elementary school-age children. They played a proprietary variety of miniature cassette (appearing to be a smaller version of the 8-track tape) whi ...
*
Minidisc
MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, or 80 minutes of digitized audio.
Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year for sale i ...
References
{{reflist
External links
A Philco "Hip Pocket Record" of "Western Union" by the Five AmericansRemembering Hip Pocket Records"The Revolutionary Pocketdisc" RPM Magazine, December 2, 1968, page 2
Audio storage
Flexi discs