45 RPM: The History, Heroes, and Villains of a Pop Music Revolution [Paperback]

Jim Dawson (Author), Steve Propes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

In the 1950s and '60s, those shiny 45-rpm records with the big hole in the middle were the primary delivery system for popular American music, especially rock 'n' roll. Cheap to manufacture and available to even fly-by-night record operations, the "donut disc" changed the way popular music was written, recorded, promoted and marketed, and it broke - at least for a time - the iron-fisted dominance of the major record corporations. This book traces the 7-inch single's origins back to the 1880s, and explains the personality conflicts that led an eccentric genius to develop the 45 into one of postwar America's most popular consumer products. It explores how the jukebox, the autonomous disc jockey, and payola and artist rip-offs kept the 45 at the forefront of rock for 20 years. There are also chapters on the most valuable (and legendary) 45s of all time, as well as the oddities, oddballs and freak hits that make listening to 45s so much fun. With over 80 illustrations - many in full color.

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Praise for "What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record?: " Manages to capture the fun of it all."

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879307579
• ISBN-13: 978-0879307578
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,009,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For a narrow audience, August 19, 2004

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Robert - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 45 RPM: The History, Heroes, and Villains of a Pop Music Revolution (Paperback)

This book is worth more like 4 stars for record collectors, and two stars for most everyone else.

The title promises something different than the book delivers. It was weak on the subject of the role of the 45 in pop culture or on the evolution of music. It didn't ignore the subject entirely, but the observations were commonplace and lacked in-depth analysis.

What the book does offer is pages and pages of trivia that has little to do with "heroes and villains." You will learn that such and such single was initially pressed with a bad stamper and the corrected version has bolder type on the label, or which hit songs were originally intended to be B-sides. This stuff was of minimal interest to me although I can see that it would be to certain types of collectors.

Another problem -- and this is unforgiveable -- is that information about the development of other media contains preposterous errors. To cite a few examples, the Edison cylinder was a "failed format" that "went extinct in the early 1900s" (it lasted until the Great Depression and the basic technology continued in use into the 40s for office dictation); 78 speed was a standard in 1901 (it was not standardized until decades later); and, the pre-recorded cassette came out in 1975 (came out in the 60s and was widely available, if not a big part of the market, prior to 75).

The book contains many interesting photos of labels and sleeves. There was some interesting information about how the recording industry operated and promoted records during the early days of rock & roll. Recommended for these aspects.

For those less interested in record collecting and more interested in the format itself and the record players, I highly recommend "The Fabulous Victrola 45" by Vourtsis, which is very well researched and has tons of photos of rare 45 players.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For all the real-life Shrevies out there, February 22, 2005

By 

David A. Bede (Singapore) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 45 RPM: The History, Heroes, and Villains of a Pop Music Revolution (Paperback)

Shrevie, the obsessive record collector in the movie "Diner," gets a well deserved mention in the introduction to this book. And it's the perfect book for those of us who are like him. You know who you are - you know the subtle logo variations on your favorite record labels and the years they occurred, the B sides and the hits that started as B sides (a list of which is included here), the imperfections in the vinyl on your copy and maybe even how they got there. This is for you!
The title and cover of the book are slightly misleading. This is not a cultural history of the 45 or of rock and roll music, although it touches on both at some length. It's more of a technical guide to various topics, such as the 45's place in the music business, the circumstances that led to its debut in 1949, and its role in the rise of small independent labels and of rock and roll. There are also chapters on how 45s are made and how they have changed in the past half-century, as well as the stories behind some of the more unlikely hits of the rock era. Newer collectors will definitely want to read the chapter on the "holy grail of 45 collecting," the Five Sharps' "Stormy Weather" (no known copies on the 7" format and maybe there never were any, but hope springs eternal!), a story some of us know by heart.
There are shortcomings, as other reviewers have pointed out. Besides the historical gaffes regarding other musical formats, the final chapter is overly pessimistic in its account of the 45's demise as a cultural icon. (Quite a few new records are still available if you know where to look.) And, as noted above, the appearance is somewhat deceptive. But it's still a great introduction to the minutae of the 45 for the serious record lovers among us.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as it might have been, December 3, 2003

By 

Paul Tognetti "The real world is so much more... (Cranston, RI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 45 RPM: The History, Heroes, and Villains of a Pop Music Revolution (Paperback)

Perhaps I was expecting too much here, but as someone who has been collecting 45's for nearly 40 years I found this book to be a bit disappointing. The first half of the book, covering the early history of this format, was somewhat long winded and poorly written. Many of the sentences seemed to just ramble on and on. Things seemed to pick up a bit in the second half of the book, however, and I was able to glean a lot more information from the latter chapters. The book is liberally sprinkled with photos of rare and interesting 45 rpm labels and picture sleeves. As a collector, I saw many items I had never come across before. The authors also provide us with any number of fascinating stories about individual releases and the unscrupulous practices of some of the record companies. For the reader who is too young to remember what all the fuss was about during the heyday of the 45, this book would certainly be a good place to start. For the serious collector, this is not a bad book to add to your library but I would not consider it essential. I did not learn as much from it as I had hoped. At the halfway point in the book, I was prepared to rate the book just 2 stars. But as I stated earlier, the authors seemed to hit their stride later on and thus the three star rating.