Colored Vinyl

[Cdnbob]

I've often wondered what was the reason record companies issued records in colored vinyl. Was this limited to 12 inch singles or done to both singles and albums? I've seen red, yellow, blue, rose, and rose with kind of a beige swirls in it.

[KEN]

Record companies issued special color and picture vinyl 12 inch and LPs as a promotional gimmick. In their thinking, a DJ might be more likely to play and promote a new dance song if it was a pretty color or contained a picture of some sort. The record companies also issued a limited number of color and picture vinyl to the retail market. The color and picture vinyl did not alter the sound quality when compared to a normal color vinyl record. Some collectors believe that a color or picture vinyl release is worth a slight premium over a normal colored vinyl record. I personally didn't care. It was and still is always about the music, not the phycial appearance of the recorded medium.

[drlove]

regarding Ken's statement of:

It was and still is always about the music, not the phycial appearance of the recorded medium.

* * * * * * * * * *

I wholeheartedly agree, though record pricers may often feel the novelty value of colored vinyl requires a higher premium, but I agree the music contained therein should be the determining factor as to price. Let's face it, just because Dolly Parton's and Charo's had 12-inchers issued in pink vinyl doesn't necessarily translate to superior quality of disco . . . though I would have to admit that a rainbow of colored vinyl on a shelf would look pretty damn cool !!!

[Dayna]

pink vinyl

Oh My..It's like Crack if you were a crack addict"of which I NEVA was" just the sound of it ...PINK VINYL..sigh..

[BrunoRepublic]

As KEN says, it was a marketing gimmick. Butterfly released a lot of their records on coloured vinyl... many sellers charge a premium for these, but they really aren't very rare. There are a few singles out there that have only been released on coloured vinyl.

As for sound quality, I find most are as good as regular, with the exception of clear vinyl, which is obviously used for picture discs. Some clear vinyl seems very brittle and has more surface noise. I have a 12" by The Grid on clear vinyl and it sounds worse every time I play it.

[shives]

I prefer black vinyl over colored when mixing -- it's just easier to see and work with for me. Opaque colored vinyl isn't so bad, but transparent is not so good if you're trying to see the grooves.

[Disco Funk]

I prefer basic black. I really hate the transparent kind. I have the 12" for U2's Lemon, which was a clear yellow colour, and you can barely make out where the tracks of the various mixes begin.

I have a few coloured opaque vinyl records, and I haven't noticed them sound any worse than the black. Ole Ole by Charo is pink. And I think my copy of one of the Eastside Connection 12"s looks like someone grabbed some random colours of plasticine and pressed it into a record. I can't remember what other coloured 12"s I have.

Disco Funk

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

With regard to colored vs. picture-disc v. black vinyl...

Back in '91, when I produced my first record for Vicki Shepard, I took the first couple mixes to a Mastering / Pressing plant in Miami, to have acetates cut for testing-out in the clubs. While we were walking back to the Disc-Cutting room I asked the engineer about the buckets we passed, that were full of little plastic beads. One bucket filled with blue, one with yellow, one with red, and the biggest was black. Here's how it was explained to me...

The beads are the vinyl, before melting and feeding into the press. Recording vinyl starts out as clear and the color is added to it. Clear, or Custom-colored vinyl is preferable because it's guaranteed pure. Black vinyl can be (and often was...) used for "re-press", without anyone knowing. You can tell when you hold it up to light. (Even black vinyl should be slightly transparent, and without much swirling.) Or by the amount of surface flaws. (Pitting, warps, hairline cracks that show-up on the dead-wax under halogen lights.)

The most blatant example would be any of the US Polydor labels, in the 70's. (Casablanca included.) Polygram/US would take the returned, or defective LPs and melt them down to make new, black beads. Then press new LPs with the recycled vinyl. Smaller labels, as well, could buy the recycled black vinyl beads, for less than virgin vinyl. Problem being though... The recycled vinyl contained ash, was more brittle and cooled differently in the press, which caused the warping, cracking and pitting of the vinyl. (My copy of Carol Lloyd's 1979 "Score" LP, on EarMarc, is horribly pitted and, when held up to light, and has no opaque quality.)

This is also why the 'RCA-RED SEAL" and COLUMBIA-MASTERWORKS" pressings were such a big deal in the 60's, 70's and 80's. They were guaranteed virgin vinyl. (It's also why they cost more.)

If you hold up those 1990's Unidisc pressings, you'll see the clarity of the vinyl and a slight, but even, transparency to the vinyl. They went through a period, for the SPEC Series, where they only used virgin vinyl. And the surface noise on those pressings is reduced to next-to nothing. The same with DiscoNet's label, "IMPORTE/12". Only virgin vinyl used. And of course, the Remix Services. (It's no accident that Razor Maid was always on colored vinyl. I believe Joseph Watt wouldn't have EVER pressed a record on anything but the best vinyl he could get!) So, if you've got a crap sounding colored, or clear vinyl, it's because the Master plate was crap. Or it wasn't EQ' properly, in the mix. Not because of the vinyl, itself.

Finally, pictured-discs are typically the worst pressings because the amount of solid vinyl on a record, after you've cut your grooves into both sides, isn't much at all. And the paper, for the picture disc, sometimes takes-up more space than the press will allow. The grooves are cut more shallow and the surface noise increases. I have the Butterfly In-Store Promo Disc, and the grooves cut through the vinyl, and into the paper of the picture, on the end of the first side. It sounds like a nasty abrasion on the record But it's actually, the sound of the groove passing though the paper. One of my Donna Summer "Live & More" picture discs is, virtually unplayable, because of this. The needle barely has any groove to hold onto and the surface noise is like a train running through the studio!

My Non-US picture discs are infinitely better, because UK, Euro and Japanese companies press with a higher amount of vinyl. Thicker records have deeper grooves, less surface noise and can handle losing some space to a piece of paper. For example, have you ever noticed that your Italian pressings can look like someone roller-skated over them, but they still sound great, once the music kicks-in? The grooves are so deep, and the vinyl's not brittle, so the playback easily drowns-out the flaws.

[BrunoRepublic]

So, if you've got a crap sounding colored, or clear vinyl, it's because the Master plate was crap. Or it wasn't EQ' properly, in the mix. Not because of the vinyl, itself.

I have at least one exception to that. The Grid 12" I mentioned has excellent mastering, but the vinyl is so brittle that there's a steady hiss that gets louder with every play. When I take off the tonearm, I can see a clump of ultra-fine clear vinyl shreddings on the stylus. I've played it about six times, and it's almost unlistenable now.

Did I mention I use cartridges that track at under a gram and a half?

[Disco Funk]

Thanks for that very informative reply, Stephen!! I had no idea that records were made using recycled pieces, and the purity of the vinyl could determine whether the pressing was better than a less pure version.

Disco Funk

[Teddybear]

In Discogs.com you can find a brief discussion with some opposing opinions: Discogs General / Colored Vinyl vs. Black Vinyl

For me, the difference lies in the sentimental value, coz when I see or think of the colored ones, it immediatly brings me back to those glory days: friends, parties and that precious feeling of youth and freedom... Similar memories fill me when I look at the label Casablanca or T.K. on a black vinyl.

In either case, I feel cool/chévere .

[Mixmachine]

there was a Youtube video posted here that details the process of vinyl pressing.

Maybe VideoS can find it again?

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

When I take off the tonearm, I can see a clump of ultra-fine clear vinyl shreddings on the stylus. I've played it about six times, and it's almost unlistenable now.

That's wild! What company is the recording from?

[BrunoRepublic]

That's wild! What company is the recording from?

Virgin, shortly after the EMI buyout. The Grid: Crystal Clear, The Orb remixes VSTX 1442. The a-side tracks were released on CD single, but the b-side tracks are exclusive to this release.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Virgin, shortly after the EMI buyout. The Grid: Crystal Clear, The Orb remixes VSTX 1442. The a-side tracks were released on CD single, but the b-side tracks are exclusive to this release.

So you really have to baby this piece, huh?
Can't hear the b-side mixes if you don't play it.
Can't play it cause it self-destructs.

Dance version of a Catch-22!