Twelve-inch single
Berliner along with Eldridge R. Johnson merged their efforts within the industry to form the Victor Talking Machine Company in New Jersey, USA and perfected the use of 5 and 7-inch rotating shellac discs for sound replay from 1889, with 10-inch records appearing in 1901.
These brittle shellac discs remained a popular medium through the first attempt to introduce vinyl records in 1931, the subsequent move towards microgroove formats from 1948, and would survive until the early 1960s.
[11] However, vinyl continued to be used, notably with broadcasters, on larger 16‑inch radio transcription discs, and later with the V-Disc program that sent records overseas to US troops during World War II to help boost morale.
While one to two short playing songs being sold to the public were more suited for the seven‑inch 45 rpm record, the LP could be anything from 1 track per side, and if in that simplistic configuration it technically could be classed as a twelve‑inch single.
[20] In March 1970, Cycle/Ampex Records test-marketed a twelve-inch single by jazz-pop guitarist Buddy Fite, featuring "Glad Rag Doll" backed with "For Once in My Life", both from his self-titled debut album issued in 1969.
This was in comparison to the then occasionally found 'Part 2' B-side of a record, while similar, tended to be the latter half of a lengthy album track, split for seven-inch release, but in many cases this wasn't the full instrumental, so could be more awkward to use.
[25] Scepter, from this single onward began to regularly add a non-vocal side, helping to make it an industry standard practice, with several other labels following suit particularly for dance records, and DJs embracing these as a useful tool during their sets.
[26][27] While not his first production work (his first mixing effort was the northern soul track by the Carstairs "It Really Hurts Me Girl"[28] in 1973), in early 1974, during his quest to adapt songs beyond the radio-friendly three-minute mark for his mixtapes, soon-to-be famed disco mixer Tom Moulton went to record labels for material.
[29] This innovation would eventually be issued on the song's re-release on a 7-inch 45 in July 1974,[30] and earn Scepter a Billboard Trendsetter of the Year award in December 1974 for 'being the first label to make specialized mixes for discotheques'.
[24][31] The first genre-themed set was created by Spring Records, as a commercial compilation of various artists licensed from a number of labels called Disco Par-r-r-ty, released in October 1974.
[34] The first large-format single made specifically for discotheque DJs was a ten-inch acetate used by a mix engineer (José Rodríguez) in need of a Friday-night test copy for a remix created by Tom Moulton in 1974.
It also meant that these extended versions being created by Moulton could be given to fellow DJs and tested within a nightclub environment to see how well it worked the dancefloor, with adjustments subsequently made to the remix.
This would perhaps have been a natural evolution: as dance tracks became much longer than had been the average for a pop song, and as the DJ in the club wanted sufficient dynamic range, the format would likely have enlarged from the seven-inch single eventually.
[36][37] Further 10-inch acetates featuring the extended versions would be created by Moulton and Rodriguez from late 1974 such as Moment of Truth's "Your Love" on Roulette in October[38] and the aforementioned Don Downing "Dream World".
[49] Many of the above disco era timelines were driven by the DJ necessity to give a better nightclub dancefloor experience to patrons, and as the scene grew, it began to be chronicled in trade press publications such as Billboard and Record World.
[50] The DJs would increasingly be expected to report back, much like with radio, with what songs worked on their dancefloors to the record company and mixers such as Moulton and others so that a strategic decision would be made whether to further fine tune or remix the music to enhance the reaction, typically a new edit would be repeatedly created, pressed on acetates and supplied until a good response was had from nightclubs, so creating a buzz which would drive the eventual commercial sales.
[51][52] A further development began to see the labels tailor the records specifically towards DJs as a result, with for example Scepter Records publicly announcing via both publications that they were to start servicing '12-inch 45s' to DJs in pools and their national promotional mailouts from June 1975. promoting the format earlier in distributor roadshows they hosted in late May, citing a key benefit of high volume levels being maintained with lengthier tracks.
[53] Billboard magazine reported that Atlantic Records were the first major label to issue 12-inch 33 rpm vinyl promos to DJs in July,[54][55] under the watchful eye of a DJ as their promotions director Doug Riddick, who took up the post in May 1975.
Examples of these promos,[72] released from spring/summer 1975, include: As time went on, a growing number of record labels became aware of the 12-inch format as a useful promotional tool, the benefits it gave for sound fidelity, and started to issue product in response.
[30] Pop orientated labels began to use the format to promote commercial artists with dance elements to their music, but not necessarily lengthening their tracks, concentrating instead on its novel aspects.
[93] The first song found on a twelve-inch single commercially issued for public purchase from the disco era onwards was "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure on Salsoul Records in mid May 1976.
[113] Atlantic Records was an early front runner with two 12-inch promo singles: Ben E. King "Supernatural Thing" backed with Osiris "Warsaw Concerto",[114] along with Herbie Mann "Hijack" b/w Jimmy Castor Bunch "The Bertha Butt Boogie", both at 33 rpm and issued in approximately June 1975 (based on the catalogue numbers used),[115] but rumoured to be as late as October.
These early issues usually containing the original 7-inch edit, It took a little later for lengthened versions to begin appearing, with 1970s UK club DJ Greg Wilson recalling promotional 12-inch product being mailed out from August 1976, Lalo Schifrin "Jaws" being his first one, which was in extended form.
[122] The first commercially released twelve-inch vinyl was Ernie Bush "Breakaway" / Banzaii "Chinese Kung Fu" both as Tom Moulton mixes, along with another disc containing the Armada Orchestra "For the Love of Money" / Ultrafunk "Sting Your Jaws (Part 1)".
[127][128] The broad visual spacing of the grooves on the twelve-inch records made it easy for the DJ in locating the approximate area of the "breaks" on the disc's surface in dim club light (without having to listen while dropping and re-dropping the stylus to find the right point).
Many DJ-only remix services, such as Ultimix and Hot Tracks, issued sets with deliberately visualised groove separations (i.e., the record was cut with narrow and wider spacings that could be seen on the surface, marking the mix points on the often multi-song discs).
[129] Motown were one of the first to "eye cue" their 12-inch disco discs, giving DJs the track's BPM and info on the exact length of the various sections of the song - one of the earliest examples of a record company recognising how important the DJ was to become by making their product more user-friendly.
[130] Following the lead of the US club DJs, using 12-inch extended versions in the UK as a mixing tool was advocated particularly by James Hamilton of the Record Mirror music weekly paper, with him notably indicating the approximate BPM of late 1970s disco tracks onwards.
Vinyl records experienced a sudden decline in popularity in the U.S. between 1988 and 1991, when the major label distributors restricted their return policies, which retailers had been relying on to maintain and swap out stocks of relatively unpopular titles.
[140] In addition, there have been some new titles being pressed on the format and available at physical record shops alongside an ongoing cultural vinyl revival, although many sales take place online.
