What Was The First 12"

[Dave Thorley]

Hi All

Not sure if this has been covered before. People used to say the it was Double Exposure-Ten Percent. But over the years I have heard it sugested that there may have been others?

[John Al]

Hi All

Not sure if this has been covered before. People used to say the it was Double Exposure-Ten Percent. But over the years I have heard it sugested that there may have been others?

First one I was ever aware of was Chic -"Dance, Dance, Dance" - but I'm probably miles out mate.

Still, it's a start........

J.

[Rbman]

Mel ....something was the pioneer no?

https://www.westendrecords.com/staff/mel.php3

[Steve G]

Hi All

Not sure if this has been covered before. People used to say the it was Double Exposure-Ten Percent. But over the years I have heard it sugested that there may have been others?

Motown had one of the first ones I think. Early 1976 was the first year. Before then I know Tom Moulton for one had ben experimenting with extended mixes.

[Guest]

Mel ....something was the pioneer no?

https://www.westendrecords.com/staff/mel.php3

The first UK 12" was the release in 1977 , of " Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me " ( 9.13 ) by Peter Brown on TK STKR 6009 .

Malc Burton

[Guest Adrian]

Hi All

Not sure if this has been covered before. People used to say the it was Double Exposure-Ten Percent. But over the years I have heard it sugested that there may have been others?

Dave, Ive read its..

1st official promotional 12" single was Southshore Commissions Free Man

1st commercial 12" single was Double Exposure Ten Percent

but some say Dance, Dance, Dance by Calhoun was even earlier

Edited February 22, 2007 by Adrian

[Guest]

Wasn't it "Full Time Thing" - Whirlwind on US Roulette (commercial release) and there was a promo around same time of "You Plus Me" - Undisputed Truth on US Whitfield?

Neil

[ShorterSoul]

just found this article which mentions the Calhoun being one of the earliest..

https://suenomartino.net/btg.htm

The first promotional 12 Inch singles began to circulate in 1975 - while nobody seemed to know which one came out first, 'Dance Dance Dance' by Calhoun is mentioned as one of the earliest. The first commercially released 12 Inch single was 10 Percent' by Double Exposure on Salsoul. It was appropriately revolutionary for a genre that had just found its own medium.

[Simon M]

Wasn't Marboo 1975

[Guest]

Wasn't Marboo 1975

The first official promo 12" was " Free Man " by South Shore Commission , with the first official released 12" being " Ten Percent " by Double Exposure .

It is stated in some circles that the beginnings of disco began as early as 1969 , with the release of " Only The Strong Survive " by Jerry Butler .

Yowsah , Yowsah , Yowsah ......

Malc Burton

[Jim G]

The first UK 12" was the release in 1977 , of " Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me " ( 9.13 ) by Peter Brown on TK STKR 6009 .

Malc Burton

Gotta disagree there Malc. I bought Ernie Bush - Breakaway UK Contempo in mid 1976. Also out at the same time was Juggy's Inside America also on Contempo.

Were they first, can't remember but they were one of the first.

[Dave Thorley]

The first official promo 12" was " Free Man " by South Shore Commission , with the first official released 12" being " Ten Percent " by Double Exposure .

It is stated in some circles that the beginnings of disco began as early as 1969 , with the release of " Only The Strong Survive " by Jerry Butler .

Yowsah , Yowsah , Yowsah ......

Malc Burton

I have white 12" Scepter test pressing of Bobby Moore-Trying to hold on and The Secrets. But can't find their release dates

[pikeys dog]

According to The Music Master Price Guide For Record Collectors Edition 3.........its The Who.

"The 1976 reissue of 'Substitute' has the distinction of being the first twelve inch single ever made"

Edited February 22, 2007 by pikeys dog

[Dave Thorley]

According to The Music Master Price Guide For Record Collectors Edition 3.........its The Who.

"The 1976 reissue of 'Substitute' has the distinction of being the first twelve inch single ever made"

Clearly thats wrong cuz in the US a whole bunch came out in 1975

[pikeys dog]

Maybe they meant 'commercial' as opposed to 'promo'

[Jordirip]

The first UK 12" was the release in 1977 , of " Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me " ( 9.13 ) by Peter Brown on TK STKR 6009 .

Malc Burton

This can't be right Malc. I had T. Connection - Do Anything you wanna do on UK TK. That was dated '76.

Jordi

[Dave Thorley]

Maybe they meant 'commercial' as opposed to 'promo'

There must have been about 20 commercial releases in 1975 in the US

[Guest]

Gotta disagree there Malc. I bought Ernie Bush - Breakaway UK Contempo in mid 1976. Also out at the same time was Juggy's Inside America also on Contempo.

Were they first, can't remember but they were one of the first.

Hi Dave ....

I stand corrected ( puts dunces cap on ...... )

You are quite right with the Contempo releases . I will put stating PB as the UK's first 12" down to a long and mentally taxing day at t'mill .

I had a 12 " Island promo around the same time as EB & J , of " Police & Thieves " by Junior Murvin .

I could again be wrong , but was not " Blue Monday " by New Order , one of the first records to see release as a 12" in the UK ?

Malc Burton

Edited February 22, 2007 by Malc Burton

[Dave Thorley]

This can't be right Malc. I had T. Connection - Do Anything you wanna do on UK TK. That was dated '76.

Jordi

Also Banzai-Chinise Kung Fu/Ernie Bush-Breakaway-UK Contempo, came out in 75

[pikeys dog]

I could again be wrong , but was not " Blue Monday " by New Order , one of the first records to see release as a 12" in the UK ?

Malc Burton

Not by a mile, but it was the first record to sell massively on 12", which almost sent Factory records bust, as each one cost 50p more to manufacture than the retail price, due to having a complex die-cut card sleeve.

[Simon T]

Wasn't it "Full Time Thing" - Whirlwind on US Roulette (commercial release) and there was a promo around same time of "You Plus Me" - Undisputed Truth on US Whitfield?

Neil

I've never seen the Whirlwind 12", but I do have a Roulette 12" of Four Below Zero - 'My Baby's got E.S.P' c/w Gentlemen & their Lady - 'Like Her' from 1976

Also, from 1976 a promo Buddah 12" of Sins of Satan - 'Dance & Free you Mind'

Wasn't Marboo 1975

Marboo is 1974

[Jordirip]

Also, from 1976 a promo Buddah 12" of Sins of Satan - 'Dance & Free you Mind'

Nice tune Simon.

Jordi

[Guest]

Also Banzai-Chinise Kung Fu/Ernie Bush-Breakaway-UK Contempo, came out in 75

Here's a poser as a sideline to the 12" debate ....

The first 12" in the US , is stated to have actually been a 10" acetate , mixed by sound engineer Jose Rodriguez , of a recording made by producer Tom Moulton :

Has anyone any idea what that recording was ?

Malc Burton

Edited February 22, 2007 by Malc Burton

[Dave Thorley]

I can remember there being a big rush of 12's being played at Wigan. Keith Minshall's set changed from 45's to 12" over night. One night he did his whole set from 12"

Whirlwind, Jobell, Gentlemen & Their Ladies, Four Below Zero, Lalo Schifrin ETC

Edited February 22, 2007 by Dave Thorley

[Guest Awake 502]

Nice coloured vinyl.....

[Guest Awake 502]

I can remember there being a big rush of 12's being played at Wigan. Keith Minshall's set changed from 45's to 12" over night. One night he did his whole set from 12"

Whirlwind, Jobell, Gentlemen & Their Ladies, Four Below Zero, Lalo Schifrin ETC

Barbara Pennington / 24 hours a day

[Guest Awake 502]

Barbara Pennington / 24 hours a day

oh and Patti Brookes / This is the house

[Steve G]

Here's a poser as a sideline to the 12" debate ....

The first 12" in the US , is stated to have actually been a 10" acetate , mixed by sound engineer Jose Rodriguez , of a recording made by producer Tom Moulton :

Has anyone any idea what that recording was ?

Malc Burton

I have the Gheto Children "It's not easy to say goodbye" roulette 45 with a seven minute mix on a 10" acetate. That would have been 75. The 12 " was a natural progression from records with a Part 1 and Part 2 which meant that DJ's didn't need to have two copies. I also remember Moulton saying that you could get better sound quality with a 12.

[Simon M]

I have the Gheto Children "It's not easy to say goodbye" roulette 45 with a seven minute mix on a 10" acetate. That would have been 75. The 12 " was a natural progression from records with a Part 1 and Part 2 which meant that DJ's didn't need to have two copies. I also remember Moulton saying that you could get better sound quality with a 12.

Yeah I remember a Tom Moulton interview , he was saying he cut a 12'' instead of a 10 and was suprised and delighted by the extra fidelity !!

https://www.milliondollardisco.com/moulton.html

Edited February 22, 2007 by Simon M

[Val (Chunky)]

I think this is the earliest 12" I have from 1975 but for some reason I seem to remember Boney M to be one of the first U.K. 12's

[Simon T]

Marboo is 1974

[Simon M]

1974 , oh yes ..must unpack it .Its a good record too cheers

[Dave Thorley]

This came out in 75 as a 12" remix. The 1974 on the label was the copyright date for the tune, but not the 12" date of release.

[Simon M]

Has anyone seen Richard Searlings 12 '' of Bill Harris on RCA

[Epic]

That is not to say the 12 inch is 1974 - the 7 inch single - yes.

Plenty of records released as a 12 at a later date have the original year of first release on them.

[Mike Lofthouse]

First one I was ever aware of was Chic -"Dance, Dance, Dance" - but I'm probably miles out mate.

Still, it's a start........

J.

Seem to recall the Temprees - 'I Found Love On A Disco floor' as being one the first commerially available

Mike

[Guest]

13388 refosoul this is the house,blue vinyl 12".

[Mike Lofthouse]

I think this is the earliest 12" I have from 1975 but for some reason I seem to remember Boney M to be one of the first U.K. 12's

I have a nice UK promo of Robert Palmers 'Which Of Us Is The Fool' b/w 'Pressure Drop' on UK Island promo from 1975.

Mike

[Paul R]

I've only ever had one and it was a Junk shop/Carboot find, when I would buy anything that was played. I still have it and here it is

I know, you're all envious, and it is apparently quite early as a 76 release(or is that just a 76 production)

From the people that brought you Crossroads & neighbours

Paul

Edited February 22, 2007 by Paul r

[Dave Thorley]

I've only ever had one and it was a Junk shop/Carboot find, when I would buy anything that was played. I still have it and here it is

I know, you're all envious, and it is apparently quite early as a 76 release(or is that just a 76 production)

From the people that brought you Crossroads & neighbours

Paul

Big tune in it's day, think I first heard this at Wigan covered up by the Manc DJ that did the last but one set, before Dave Evison took over that set or was it Siz that first played it

Edited February 22, 2007 by Dave Thorley

[Guest]

I've only ever had one and it was a Junk shop/Carboot find, when I would buy anything that was played. I still have it and here it is

I know, you're all envious, and it is apparently quite early as a 76 release(or is that just a 76 production)

From the people that brought you Crossroads & neighbours

Paul

Got "love hustle" one US pye 12",still shite

[Souljazera]

This can't be right Malc. I had T. Connection - Do Anything you wanna do on UK TK. That was dated '76

me too......incidentally it was the first 12" i bought also...my dad thought it would never catch on!!!!!!

Edited February 22, 2007 by souljazera

[Guest Ivor Jones]

Hi All

Not sure if this has been covered before. People used to say the it was Double Exposure-Ten Percent. But over the years I have heard it sugested that there may have been others?

HELLO AGAIN DAVE.

WELL ACCORDING TO ALL THE ORIGINAL DISCO BODS OVER IN AMERICA THE FIRST 12 " WAS THE SCEPTER PROMO OF BOBBY MOORE "CALL ME [YOUR ANYTHING MAN]". TOM MOULTON DID HIS FIRST 10" DEMO OF HIS EXCLUSIVE VERSION OF AL DOWNING`S "I`LL BE HOLDING ON". AT THE TIME HE WAS HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH SCEPTER RECORDS AND DID THOSE DISCO GOLD LP`S[VOLS ONE & TWO] OF HIS EXTENDED MIXES OF SCEPTER RELEASES. APPARENTLY, THE 12" CAME ABOUT BY MISTAKE,ONLY BEING PRESSED BECAUSE MOULTON`S SOUND ENGINEER HAD RUN OUT OF 7" BLANKS !

ALL THIS INFO IS IN A SUPERB BOOK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE DISCO SCENE IN THE U.S WHICH FOR THE LIFE OF ME I CANT REMEMBER THE TITLE OF....... :angry: DOH........ !!!!!!!!!!!!!

TELL YOU WHAT THOUGH,NOT SURE ABOUT MOULTON DOING THE FIRST 10"..? WHAT THE MULTITUDE OF 60`S ACETATES ON 10"...........? WHAT ABOUT THE MOTOWN 10"?????????

FOOD FOR THOUGHT TO CONFOUND THE DISCO SCENE.........

BEST , IVOR

[Dave Thorley]

HELLO AGAIN DAVE.

WELL ACCORDING TO ALL THE ORIGINAL DISCO BODS OVER IN AMERICA THE FIRST 12 " WAS THE SCEPTER PROMO OF BOBBY MOORE "CALL ME [YOUR ANYTHING MAN]". TOM MOULTON DID HIS FIRST 10" DEMO OF HIS EXCLUSIVE VERSION OF AL DOWNING`S "I`LL BE HOLDING ON". AT THE TIME HE WAS HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH SCEPTER RECORDS AND DID THOSE DISCO GOLD LP`S[VOLS ONE & TWO] OF HIS EXTENDED MIXES OF SCEPTER RELEASES. APPARENTLY, THE 12" CAME ABOUT BY MISTAKE,ONLY BEING PRESSED BECAUSE MOULTON`S SOUND ENGINEER HAD RUN OUT OF 7" BLANKS !

ALL THIS INFO IS IN A SUPERB BOOK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE DISCO SCENE IN THE U.S WHICH FOR THE LIFE OF ME I CANT REMEMBER THE TITLE OF....... :angry: DOH........ !!!!!!!!!!!!!

TELL YOU WHAT THOUGH,NOT SURE ABOUT MOULTON DOING THE FIRST 10"..? WHAT THE MULTITUDE OF 60`S ACETATES ON 10"...........? WHAT ABOUT THE MOTOWN 10"?????????

FOOD FOR THOUGHT TO CONFOUND THE DISCO SCENE.........

BEST , IVOR

Hi Mate

Yes a mate has the Anything man 12". We found them in a record shop in Trenton, New Jersey. He kept that and I had The Secrets and Bobby Moore, "Trying to hold on"

[Guest recordman]

Ian Levine must have been one the earliest people to put out a Twelve as he was outside The Ritz Alldayer in Manchester when Tavares were appearing promoting on Twelves James Wells - Baby I'm Still The Same Man Polydor & Barbara Pennington I'll be Loving You 24hrs a day UA

[pikeys dog]

There must have been about 20 commercial releases in 1975 in the US

Do they play at 45 or 33?

Maybe that's where they get there date from....

[Mike Lofthouse]

Ian Levine must have been one the earliest people to put out a Twelve as he was outside The Ritz Alldayer in Manchester when Tavares were appearing promoting on Twelves James Wells - Baby I'm Still The Same Man Polydor & Barbara Pennington I'll be Loving You 24hrs a day UA

This topic was discussed way back on the old ANS forum - once again here is a posting from it - Ian Levine was adamant that Vickie Sue Robinson was the first ..........................

I'm sorry but I not only know my stuff here... in fact I was a

consultant on many TV shows about the history of Disco music ......

but I was actually THERE at the time. In 1975 Tom Moulton took me to the

Infinity in New York. Vickie Sue Robinson was the very first twelve

inch, the invention of David Todd who worked at RCA. This was a full

year before either Brainstorm or Double Exposure. Other early twelves

included Silver Convention's "Get Up And Boogie", Jay Black's "One

Night Affair", Yvonne Fair's "It Should Have Been Me", Alfie Davison's "Who

Is Gonna Love Me" (frighteningly rare - I've never even seen one), The

Brothers "Under The Skin", and several others I can't call to mind

this early in the morning, but it's UNQUESTIONABLE that Vickie Sue was the

very first. And our own Kev Roberts brought the very first copy into

England, and gave it to me as a present early in 1975 on a return from

a trip to New York, where he obtained this new "novelty"...................................

I remember digging out my old Black Musics ....

The first mention of 12's I can find is August '75 in the 'Grapvine'

column and I quote....

'Scepter Records of New York now sends out records to discos in the form

of 12-inch 45's, to keep recording levels as high as possible'.....

so that would point to Tom Moulton, of which there is a full article in

January '76 edition without a single mention of 12" mixes. It's a

really pity he is not still on the list as he could settle it for sure.

And finally Vickie Sue Robinson's 'Never Gonna Let You Go' was listed

as a new US release in February 1976 - would you and Kev Roberts really

have the 12" a full 12 months before its release?

Mike

[Candiman]

Possibly a spanner in the works but Swamp Dogg's site https://www.swampdogg.net/profile.html states that his "Straight From The Heart" on the Swamp Dogg Presents label was the first ever 12" in 1971???? On 7" that single didn't come out 'til 73. But even so 1973 would predate any of the usual suspects.

Would you want to argue with the Dogg?

Candiman

[Guest Black Gold of the Sun]

Motown had one of the first ones I think. Early 1976 was the first year. Before then I know Tom Moulton for one had ben experimenting with extended mixes.

Think the Motown one was Forever Came Today by The Jackson Five.

[Modernsoulsucks]

I'd have to agree with Ian as I remember seeing a copy of VSR at the Ritz all-dayer in Manchester and it was the first in that format that I'd seen.

ROD