 |
In 1968, Americom Corporation of New
York introduced a new music format for singles called the pocket disc. Pocket discs were sold at counter displays for 49 cent and in vending machines for 50 cent. The vending machines had separate slots for ten different sections and could be stocked with up to 75 copies of each title. Some discs were packaged with 4 inch by 4 inch red and white or blue and white cardboard flip jackets. The front side of the red jacket calls the pocket disc "the sound for movin' around". Capitol was among the first companies to provide masters to Americom for the manufacture of pocket discs. Capitol's enthusiasm for the new format resulted in Americom receiving masters for the Beatles three singles issued in late 1968 and early 1969. ->> See "Americom Pocket Disc Record Player" |
|
|
TRACK LISTING
|
Side1 | Hey Jude (Lennon & McCartney) * 3:25 version | |||
| Side2 | Revolution (Lennon & McCartney) | ||||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
August 1968? | ||||
| SLEEVE:FRONT | SLEEVE:BACK | SIDE 1 --> Click! | SIDE 2 --> Click! | DISK --> Click! | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| SLEEVE: FRONT CLOSE UP | SLEEVE: BACK CLOSE UP | LABEL CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Credited to song writing "Lennon & McCartney" | The
pocket disc was assigned a Capitol number, 2276P (the number was the
same as the 45 single and the "P" was for "pocket disc"), but the disc
is marked M-221, which is its Americom catalog number. |
||||
| LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
 |
 |
 |
|||
| pocket disc logomark and the credit "BY AMERICOM" was printed at the bottom of thelabel. | The credit "MFD. BY CAPITOL RECORDS, INC., A SUBSIDIARY OF CAPITOL INDUSTRIES, INC. USA" was printed at the perimeter. | Capitol logomark was printed surrounded by "TM" and "MARCA REG" at the perimeter. | |||
|
OTHER ITEM
|
|||||
|
The inside of the red flap jacket boasts that
the discs "can give you many hours of enjoyment if used properly" and
contains instructions for their use.
|
|||||
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
M-221 (2276P) | ||||
|
LABEL
|
Apple label (line drawing) | ||||
|
MIX
|
Mono? | ||||
| MATRIX No. | Side1 | M-221- A | |||
| Side2 | M-221- B -1 | ||||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | ||||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
CAPITOL RECORDS, INC. | ||||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
Side1
|
Maclen Music Inc., BMI | |||
|
Side2
|
Maclen Music Inc., BMI | ||||
|
PRODUCER
|
George Martin | ||||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Came in a generic (red or blue)
Pocket Disc sleeve. |
||||
|
COMMENTS
|
The Pocket Disc was manufactured by
Americom, Inc. from 1966 to 1969. A former president of RCA, Lawrence
Kanaga, came up with the idea for the Pocket Disc. Americom, who had
previously pressed records for use in communications, pioneered the
format, marketing it to the record companies as an alternative single. After approximately two years piloting the format and arranging for record company partners, Americom formally began test marketing the discs in the Seattle area in Fall, 1968. Capitol/Apple was among several record companies which made an arrangement with Americom to release certain of its latest hit singles in the Pocket Disc format. These carry crude Capitol and Apple labels, with some of the Apple discs having the Capitol logo (just as the singles did). In the listings, the Americom catalog number is listed, along with the Capitol/Apple number. Americom's discs ran 33 1/3 RPM and were 3.75" in diameter. If a song ran over three and one half minutes, it was edited in order for the format to accomodate it. Apparently the editing was done at the record company level, and not by Americom. The discs were available via Americom vending machines -- with the idea being that the instance of theft would be reduced. Each came in a generic (red or blue) Pocket Disc sleeve. The side-1 has an full apple and the side-2 shows a sliced apple. The side-1 is edited to 3:25, instead of the usual 7:11 to fit within the time constraints if the format. According to; Mr. Frank Daniels's "Across the Universe" Mr. Mitch McGeary's "Songs, Pictures and Stories of The Beatles" |
||||
|
TRACK LISTING
|
Side1 | Get Back
(Lennon - McCartney) |
|||
| Side2 | Don't Let Me Down (Lennon - McCartney) | ||||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
May 1969? |
||||
| SLEEVE:FRONT | SLEEVE:BACK | SIDE 1 --> Click! | SIDE 2 --> Click! | DISK --> Click! | |
| Sorry, I don't have it. |
Sorry, I don't have it. |
 |
 |
 |
|
| LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
 |
"pocket disc ©" logo mark and the credit "BY AMERICOM" was printed at the bottom of thelabel. |  |
Credited to musician's name "THE BEATLES With Billy Preston" | ||
| LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
| SIDE-1 | SIDE-2 | The pocket disc was assigned a Capitol number, 2490P (the number was the same as the 45 single and the "P" was for "pocket disc"), but the disc is marked M-335, which is its Americom catalog number. | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
 |
 |
 |
|||
| The credit "MFD. BY CAPITOL RECORDS, INC., A SUBSIDIARY OF CAPITOL INDUSTRIES, INC. USA" was printed at the perimeter. | Capitol logomark was printed surrounded by "TM" and "MARCA REG" at the perimeter. | Matrix
number: Side-1: M-335- A Side-2: M-335-B |
|||
|
OTHER ITEM
|
|||||
|
-
|
|||||
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
M-335 (2490P) | ||||
|
LABEL
|
Apple label (line drawing) | ||||
|
MIX
|
Mono? | ||||
| MATRIX No. | Side1 | M-335- A | |||
| Side2 | M-335-
B |
||||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | ||||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
CAPITOL RECORDS, INC. | ||||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
Side1
|
Maclen Music Inc., BMI | |||
|
Side2
|
Maclen Music Inc., BMI | ||||
|
PRODUCER
|
George Martin | ||||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Came in a
generic (red or blue) Pocket Disc sleeve. |
||||
|
COMMENTS
|
The Pocket
Disc was manufactured by
Americom, Inc. from 1966 to 1969. A former president of RCA, Lawrence
Kanaga, came up with the idea for the Pocket Disc. Americom, who had
previously pressed records for use in communications, pioneered the
format, marketing it to the record companies as an alternative single. After approximately two years piloting the format and arranging for record company partners, Americom formally began test marketing the discs in the Seattle area in Fall, 1968. Capitol/Apple was among several record companies which made an arrangement with Americom to release certain of its latest hit singles in the Pocket Disc format. These carry crude Capitol and Apple labels, with some of the Apple discs having the Capitol logo (just as the singles did). In the listings, the Americom catalog number is listed, along with the Capitol/Apple number. Americom's discs ran 33 1/3 RPM and were 3.75" in diameter. If a song ran over three and one half minutes, it was edited in order for the format to accomodate it. Apparently the editing was done at the record company level, and not by Americom. The discs were available via Americom vending machines -- with the idea being that the instance of theft would be reduced. Each came in a generic (red or blue) Pocket Disc sleeve. The side-1 has an full apple and the side-2 shows a sliced apple. According to; Mr. Frank Daniels's "Across the Universe" Mr. Mitch McGeary's "Songs, Pictures and Stories of The Beatles" |
||||
|
TRACK LISTING
|
Side1 | The Ballad Of John And Yoko (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) |
|||
| Side2 | Old Brown Shoe (George Harrison) | ||||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
July 1969? |
||||
| SLEEVE:FRONT | SLEEVE:BACK | SIDE 1 --> Click! | SIDE 2 --> Click! | DISK --> Click! | |
| Sorry, I don't have it. |
Sorry, I don't have it. |
 |
 |
 |
|
| LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
 |
"pocket disc ©" logo mark and the credit "BY AMERICOM" was printed at the bottom of thelabel. |  |
Credited
to musician's name "THE BEATLES" and "Prod. by W. Miller" |
||
| LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
| SIDE-1 | SIDE-2 | The pocket disc was assigned a Capitol number, 2531P (the number was the same as the 45 single and the "P" was for "pocket disc"), but the disc is marked M-382, which is its Americom catalog number. | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||||
| LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
 |
The credit "MFD. BY CAPITOL RECORDS,
INC., A
SUBSIDIARY OF CAPITOL INDUSTRIES, INC. USA" was printed at the
perimeter. Capitol logomark was printed surrounded by "TM" and "MARCA REG" at the perimeter. |
||||
 |
|||||
|
OTHER ITEM
|
|||||
|
-
|
|||||
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
M-382 (2531P) | ||||
|
LABEL
|
Apple label (line drawing) | ||||
|
MIX
|
Mono? | ||||
| MATRIX No. | Side1 | M-382A | |||
| Side2 | M-382B |
||||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | ||||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
CAPITOL RECORDS, INC. | ||||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
Side1
|
Maclen Music, Inc. BMI | |||
|
Side2
|
Harrisong Music, Inc. BMI | ||||
|
PRODUCER
|
George Martin | ||||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Came in a
generic (red or blue) Pocket Disc sleeve. |
||||
|
COMMENTS
|
The Pocket
Disc was manufactured by
Americom, Inc. from 1966 to 1969. A former president of RCA, Lawrence
Kanaga, came up with the idea for the Pocket Disc. Americom, who had
previously pressed records for use in communications, pioneered the
format, marketing it to the record companies as an alternative single. After approximately two years piloting the format and arranging for record company partners, Americom formally began test marketing the discs in the Seattle area in Fall, 1968. Capitol/Apple was among several record companies which made an arrangement with Americom to release certain of its latest hit singles in the Pocket Disc format. These carry crude Capitol and Apple labels, with some of the Apple discs having the Capitol logo (just as the singles did). In the listings, the Americom catalog number is listed, along with the Capitol/Apple number. Americom's discs ran 33 1/3 RPM and were 3.75" in diameter. If a song ran over three and one half minutes, it was edited in order for the format to accomodate it. Apparently the editing was done at the record company level, and not by Americom. The discs were available via Americom vending machines -- with the idea being that the instance of theft would be reduced. Each came in a generic (red or blue) Pocket Disc sleeve. The side-1 has an full apple and the side-2 shows a sliced apple. According to; Mr. Frank Daniels's "Across the Universe" Mr. Mitch McGeary's "Songs, Pictures and Stories of The Beatles" |
||||
