Collecting R&B Group Picture Discs
One of the joys of collecting vinyl records is that each record is a visual as well as audio work of art. Many of our fellow record collectors. specialize in R&B and Doo Wop vocal groups. One often overlooked sub-category of this is collecting R&B vocal groups on picture discs. In spite of the fact that most were made in very limited quantities, they seem to still be out there at reasonable prices and there aren’t very many different ones that you can complete your collection relatively easily. Unlike streamed or downloaded songs, you can hold picture discs in your hand and look at them and even play them (though we don’t recommend that as picture disks wear out faster than regular vinyl records). Anyway, let us give you a primer on what’s out there.
A Short History of Picture Discs
The concepts of picture discs (playable phonograph records with the grooves over a photograph) go back a long time. The earliest picture records were not discs but rectangular picture postcards with small, round, transparent celluloid records glued onto the illustrated side. These were in use by about 1909. Later, the recordings were pressed into a transparent coating that covered the entire picture side of the card. Our Classic Urban Harmony Archives does not have any of these, which does not bother us, as there are no picture postcard records with vocal groups, that we know of. This same concept of clear plastic coating records over cardboard has existed through recent times, resulting on records in the backs of cereal boxes. Motown did a series of these on Post cereal boxes in the late 60’s. Our CUH Archives does archive these (see article farther below) but they are not as prized as our true picture discs. True picture discs, 78 RPM’s, originated in the 1920’s but their peak came in 1946 with the Vogue picture discs. Vogue Records were a well-made product with a core of aluminum featuring artwork done in the styles typical of 1940’s illustration art. The audio quality was very good and they featured professional talent, though not well known names. Vogue records sold for fifty percent more than ordinary 78 rpm records. The colorful discs attracted interest at first, but success proved elusive and Vogue went out of business in 1947 after issuing fewer than 100 picture discs. Most if not all of the Vogue artists were white. An interesting Vogue recording from our Archives is shown above. The rarest of the Vogue recordings are ones by Kenny Roberts & the Downhomers. A young Bill Haley played with this group in the 1940’s and it’s possible he is the guitarist on these recordings.
The Maybellene label 7″ picture discs
Probably the most prolific of the picture disc labels was Maybellene out of Denmark. In 1987, Maybellene pressed 101 different 7″ 45 RPM picture discs, mostly of 1950’s and early 1960 popular recording artists. Most releases can still be found on EBay and other sources for very reasonable prices. It’s surprising because Maybellene only pressed 1000 copies of each in limited edition runs. Discs have a photo of the artist on at least one side. Their picture discs include releases by Paul Anka, the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Johnny Otis, Little Richard, Jackie Wilson and many others. Of interest to vocal group collectors are the following:
008 – Danny & the Juniors – At The Hop / Rock & Roll Is Here To Stay
011 – Drifters – Save The Last Dance For Me / There Goes My Baby
024 – Frankie Lymon – Why Do Fools Fall In Love / Jailhouse Rock
031 – Platters – Great Pretender / Twilight Time
040 – Shirelles – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow / Dedicated To The One I Love
074 – Platters – Only You / My Prayer
099 – Dion & Belmonts – Teenager In Love / I Wonder Why
The Lightning label 7″ picture discs
Perhaps not as exciting as some other 7″ 45 RPM picture discs, the series on the Lightning Records label featured the word “Cruisin” along with the record titles on a light blue background on one side and the photo of an antique car on the flip side. I say not as exciting, as I would have preferred a photo of the artist somewhere on the picture disc. This said, we’ll only show both sides of one Lightning picture disc here, the Drifters one, These came out in 1979. We know of 10 Lightning picture discs, including:
9012 – Casinos – Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
9013 – Del Vikings – Come Go With Me / Whispering Bells
9014 – Drifters – Save The Last Dance For Me / When My Little Girl Is Smiling
9019 – Earls – Remember Then
Crystalaires 7″ picture disc single
Here’s an interesting 7″ doo wop picture disc single. The Crystalaires are a doo wop group out of Germany. They’ve been singing since 1988. We had a chance to see them in one of their rare visits to the U.S. I believe it was at UGHA in the early 2000’s. In 2001, the Crystalaires released a 7″ picture disc of the single, Love You Too Much” / “Winter On Kanada.” It came out on the Part label from Germany but was distributed by Crystal Ball Records in the United States.
Collectables label 12″ picture disc albums
Back around 1982, I (Charlie) was writing liner notes for a number of albums Jerry Greene was issuing on his Collectables label. Jerry decided to press a limited number of picture discs on a few of the albums. The picture on the 12″ discs is the same as the album cover. Released were picture discs on both Del Vikings albums (# 5001 and #5010), the Crests (#5009) and the Castelles (# 5002). All have group photos on them except the Castelles disc. That’s because no photo exists of the original Castelles group. At the time, I was also helping promote the acappella group, Neighbor’s Complaint. (They made me and my co-host, Don Leins, honorary members of the group. I still have my Neighbor’s Complaint jacket.) Anyway, Collectables released an album on Neighbor’s Complaint and ran a limited number of copies of a picture disc of it (#5013). To the best of my knowledge, it’s the only picture disc of an acappella group.
Mills Brothers 12″ album picture disc
Another interesting 12″ album picture disc is this one on the Mills Brothers. It was released on the ATP label out of Germany in 1981. The album is called “Memories of the Mills Brothers.” We don’t know of any other picture discs released by this short lived label.
The Golden Gate Quartet 12″ album picture disc
Below is a Golden Gate Quartet 12″ album picture disc manufactured by the Music Dist. label out of Hamburg. Germany. [Some people say that Music Dist. is a subsidiary of Happy Bird Records and we wouldn’t doubt it because the number series is the same as a regular vinyl Golden Gate Quartet album that we have.] We believe this record was issued in 1984, as the members seen pictured on the record are Orlandus Wilson, Clyde Riddick, Paul Brembly and Calvin Williams.
The Platters 12″ album picture disc
This is an interesting one. It’s a 12″ picture disc album out of Denmark in 1982. It was release by the NCB label without any mention of who the group is or what the sing titles are. This must have really hurt sales, so the picture disc was reissued the next year with the word “Platters” and the song titles listed on one side. To the best of our knowledge, thus is the only picture disc that has been reissued. Below are the original first pressing and the reissue.
The Jackson Five records on the back of Post Cereal boxes
Records on the back of cereal boxes have been around for a while. We don’t really consider them the same as picture discs but we do file the following in our Classic Urban Harmony Archives. During the early 1970’s Post Cereals had the Motown group, the Jackson 5 on the back of Alpha Bits, Super Sugar Crisp and Frosted Rice Krinkles Cereals. You could cut them out with a scissors and have the Jackson 5’s hits like “ABC”, “I’ll Be There” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.” We believe there were about ten different ones. We have copies of “ABC,” “Sugar Daddy,” “I Want You Back” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.” At the time, the Jackson 5 appeared in commercials for Alpha Bits.
If anyone know of any additional R&B vocal group picture disc, please let us know. Our email is [email protected]. We’ll be adding to this page in the future.