Vinyl 45 rpm records and the cases that held them

I couldn’t wait to buy the 45 for Jr. Walker & the All-Stars’ new record. I don’t recall  where I had heard it, probably on the radio, but I knew that it was a record I had to have.

It was the saxophone intro that enthralled me. How could you not want the song after hearing it. (I didn’t know then that Jr. Walker was on tenor sax).

The song was “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love For Me),” and I can still hear him playing the sax and then singing those earnest lyrics. That single became one of the group’s most successful hits in 1969, and I was one of the people who helped push its sales to one million.

I remember holding that round black vinyl with the purple label in my hand like it was a 50-dollar bill. Money was scarce in my family those days, so this record was a treat. Back then, I wasn’t sure what label Jr. Walker was on (Motown); I was more into the music. As I recall, “These Eyes” was on the flip side of the record.

Vinyl records were what many of us grew up with and fell in love to. The 45s were the most popular for me because they didn’t cost a lot and I could get that one song I wanted. Back in the 1960s, they helped make powerhouses of some of the most famous record labels.

What is it about vinyl that makes us pine away for the songs they offered up? Whenever I set up at a flea market, one of the first questions I get from men is “Do you have any albums?” (Women always ask about jewelry.) I’m sure these are the same folks who have not a few albums at home but thousands in their basements. They just love vinyl.

At an African American history showcase last year, a James Brown record evoked memories similar to mine.

I still have some LPs that I decided to keep after weeding out my stash. The only 45s I have were purchased at auction for their historical value: Ethel Merman singing the ZIP-code song, a Show ‘N Tell record of a Joe Louis 1942 fight.

I got nostalgic for 45s recently when I came across several 1960s record-storage cases, along with some brass-plated metal racks. About a half-dozen cases had been placed on the lower shelf of a table, and the racks were on top of another table in an outside lot at an auction house.

Not far away on another table was a large group of 45s in a box, some still in their jackets. Nearby was a boxed set of Decca 45s for Bing Crosby, released in 1954. The company’s first 45 was Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters singing “Jingle Bells” in 1950.

These lightweight 45s were a far cry from how records were once made. In fact, records were first recorded on cylinders. In the late 19^th century, Thomas Edison created round cylinders for use on his phonographs, and this design continued into the 20th century. I have several cylinders from the early 1900s of dialect songs by African American composers James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson.

Also in the late 19th century, a German immigrant named Emile Berliner developed a flat 78 rpm disc made of heavy shellac for use on his gramophones. The 78s had recorded music on one side of the disc, but that changed in the early 1920s both here and abroad. Both sides of the disc were used, but they could play for only about five minutes each before the disc had to be changed.

Another change came in 1948 when Columbia Record Company reduced the rpms to 33 1/2 on a 12-inch long-playing vinyl disc, with less noise and longer playing time (about 22 minutes). In an intense rivalry, RCA Victor a year later created the 7-inch 45 rpm vinyl disc with much fanfare. Both eventually found their own niche: the 331/2 for long albums and 45s for short singles.

Vinyl became popular during the 1950s during the beginning of rock and into the 1960s (with soul music and more, I presume). Record companies found their biggest audience in teenagers who had little money to pay for albums. By the 1960s, the songs on 45s were three minutes long, and their sales were announced on Top 40 charts, on Billboard magazine’s list and other venues.

As the decade came to a close, 45s were on their way out but didn’t disappear altogether. As recording formats continued to change, as in the arrival of compact discs in the 1980s, vinyl purists still considered it to be the best way to enjoy music.

I was curious about whether there was a market for the record cases and racks. Checking eBay, I found that most were selling, an indication that a lot of somebodies may still have their 45s.

What are your “45” memories?