#flexi-discs

[mikeladano]

A Lot 'O BLOTTO! Collected Works of Vinyl And CDs

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Bonus Episode A Lot ‘O BLOTTO! Collected Works of Vinyl And CDs A real treat for you today, with a special 17 minute bonus episode!  Today we’ll go through my entire, still growing, Blotto collection.  This will include all my vinyl, CDs, VHS, and more.  There are stories to go with each, and a ton of show and tell.  Included in this episode is…

A Lot 'O BLOTTO! Collected Works of Vinyl And CDs

[therecordchanger62279]

File this one under "Museum Pieces." Once upon a time when vinyl records were the musical currency, music, and audiofile magazines wanted to find ways to provide readers a sort of audio supplement to go along with the visual experience their publication provided. So the "flexi-disc" was invented. What is a flexi-disc? Wikipedia defines it this way:

The flexi disc  is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable.

And they worked, too. My favorites were a series of 27 titles to be found in subscriber-only issues of Trouser Press magazine, debuting in issue #69, dated January 1982. Adam Ant was the cover boy, and the first disc was by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. They're collectibles now, and, who knows? With the resurgence of vinyl, who's to say we won't one day see the flexi-disc return? Assuming, of course, that there are any magazines left in which to put them.

Here's the complete list of Trouser Press flexi-discs:

#1   1. New Stone Age 2. Bunker Soldiers – Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark

#2   1. Poster Boy 2. Medley: I Wanna Go Home/Miles Away/Tell That Girl To Shut Up – Holly & The Italians

#3   Life Without Buildings – Japan

#4   1. Blame The Weather 2. Tissue Tigers (The Arguers) – XTC

#5   1. Fade Away 2. On TV – Buggles

#6   1. Doll Hospital 2. Some Fun Now – John Hiatt

#7   1. Who’s Landing In My Hangar? 2. Saturday’s Girl – Human Switchboard b/w 1. Grey Turns To Black 2. P Spell – Alex Gibson

#8   See Those Eyes – Altered Images b/w Daytime Logic – Peter Baumann

#9   Personality Crisis – David Johansen

#10 1. Get Up and Go 2. End In Tears – Positive Noise

#11 1. L5 2. Public Places – Fools Face b/w 1. Happy Boy 2. Fun Type – Gleaming Spires

#12 Wolves, Lower – R.E.M. b/w Russian Roulette – The Lords of the New Church

#13 Masquerade – Berlin

#14 Jimmy Jimmy – Ric Ocasek

#15 1. Boys In Town 2. Science Fiction – Divinyls

#16 The Walls Came Down – The Call

#17 1. Pockets of Pleasure 2. A Space Traveler’s Manifesto – Phil ‘N’ The Blanks b/w 1. Istanbul 2. Iron Hand – The Wild Stares

#18 1. Sing 2. Harmonax – The Pool b/w In Your Head – Moev

#19 Excerpts from his album Fighter Pilot – Barry Diamond

#20 Barricade Beach – Insect Surfers / Workin’ On A Dream – The Source

#21 Whispering Your Name – Jules Shear

#22 Coney Island Whitefish – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

#23 In A Big Country – Big Country

#24 Barbarella (Live) – Bongos / Passion Killer – One The Juggler

#25 Forgive & Forget – Blue Zoo

>Note: #24 & #25 are on the same Flexi-Disc

#26 Acceleration – Bill Nelson

#27 Boy’s Life – TV Toy / Not Even For A Minute - Design

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Blast from the past

Although they’re not totally unknown today, the flexidisc has become rather uncommon. You still have the occasional musical group doing one as a promo, but they are rarely used as commercial promotions. From 1982 comes this very rare item that I still have. I picked it up at a department store for free. It was a promotion for Data Age Mindscape, a line of cartridge-based video games for the Atari 2600 console, and it featured a 3-minute-long surreal audio drama of sorts dramatizing moments from these games. Without a doubt, the mental images that come from hearing this far outstripped what the actual games could deliver back in 1982!

I loved being able to get these free records, made out of flexible plastic (this one came mounted on a card but most weren’t) and listen to them on my turntable. The sound quality left something to be desired, but who cared?

Anyway, for those interested in what this actually sounded like, someone uploaded it to YouTube years ago ... so here ya go!