PocketDisc
Encyclopedia
Pocket Disc were a type of flexidisc, made by Americom Coperation and experimented with in the late 1960s by 28 major record labels, (but some major labels such as Columbia Records
, RCA Records
, Motown Records
, and MCA Records
chose not to participate) and included popular artists of the era such as The Beatles
, Aretha Franklin
, The Beach Boys
, Steppenwolf
and Jimi Hendrix
, that were small enough (four inches in diameter) to be carried in one's pocket or shipped in an envelope and not be as fragile as a standard record, but could still be played on the standard manual-only phonograph
or record player (at 33 RPM).
Philco
manufactured these types of disks under the name "Hip Pocket Records" and sold them to be played on portable record players, which were specially created for the disks. Artists who appeared on these disks included Neil Diamond
, The Five Americans, The Doors
, Sonny and Cher, Merrilee Rush
, and Joan Baez
. The disks were sold in vending machines for 50 cents or counter displays at stores for 49 cents and could hold a capacity of about 3.5 minutes of music, due to this reason songs like, The Beatles' Hey Jude
, which was 7 minutes long could not be played in their entirety They later dropped to 39 cents.
They were officially released on September 15, 1968 and test marketed in several major cities in the United States, but did not catch on or become a standard music format, like their creators and marketers had hoped. They were discontinued in 1969.
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
, and MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
chose not to participate) and included popular artists of the era such as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, that were small enough (four inches in diameter) to be carried in one's pocket or shipped in an envelope and not be as fragile as a standard record, but could still be played on the standard manual-only phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
or record player (at 33 RPM).
Philco
Philco
Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
manufactured these types of disks under the name "Hip Pocket Records" and sold them to be played on portable record players, which were specially created for the disks. Artists who appeared on these disks included Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, The Five Americans, The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, Sonny and Cher, Merrilee Rush
Merrilee Rush
-Career:As a girl, Merrilee studied classical piano for 10 years. In 1960, Rush auditioned for a band, directed by her first husband, that played sock hops. Next, she was part of Merrilee and Her Men, doing covers of male pop hits. Then she joined a Seattle rhythm and blues group called Tiny Tony...
, and Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
. The disks were sold in vending machines for 50 cents or counter displays at stores for 49 cents and could hold a capacity of about 3.5 minutes of music, due to this reason songs like, The Beatles' Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
, which was 7 minutes long could not be played in their entirety They later dropped to 39 cents.
They were officially released on September 15, 1968 and test marketed in several major cities in the United States, but did not catch on or become a standard music format, like their creators and marketers had hoped. They were discontinued in 1969.