I just came across the folder I was looking for before sending the 
previous posting.  It concerns the dates of the first marked 78 rpm RCA 
DJ copies.  There were special white labels marked "RCA Victor Advance 
Pressing of . . ." that was proposed or used on records 10-1313 (a 
Robert Merrill record) and 20-2354 (Beryl Davis) but the label format 
sheet is marked "Not approved by law department" 7/27/47 and the numbers 
of two alternative label formats are given -- and I don't have sample 
sheets for those.  Then comes the label format they eventually approved, 
regular looking ring labels with large lettering at the top NOT FOR SALE 
and smaller lettering under the label name "SPECIAL PURPOSE SERIES" with 
a small "DJ6" above the catalog number 20-2583 in the sample.  The form 
is titled "Disc Jockey Records, first notice Nov. 18, 1947", and a note 
that it was "started with release 47-48", which is probably week 48 of 
1947.   I do not know when this was replaced by the Advance Copy white 
label with the rectangle, or the "Record Preview coming attractions" 
label -- but the latter was NOT from 1935 as very incorrectly indicated 
on page 143 in Mike Sherman's Victor label book!  (That was an early 50s 
reissue of a 1935 recording!)

Mike Biel  [log in to unmask]  

Michael Biel wrote:
> Tom Fine wrote:
>> Hi Roger:
>>
>> Come to think of it, I've seen mono albums with a PROMOTIONAL COPY 
>> sticker on the sleeve but not with a white or green label or any sort 
>> of different label. I think the whole concept of "for broadcast use 
>> only" records came along with stereo FM.
>
> I can assure you that the concept of broadcast promo copies came along 
> long before then, but how they were marked differed with different 
> companies.  They may not have special labels, but the distribution of 
> radio promo copies was in place for the entire microgroove era.  In 
> the 78-L there has been a lot of questions of when marked broadcast 
> promo records began, and 1947 seems to be a sure thing but some might 
> have been done in 46.  Debate on whether Capitol or RCA was first is 
> the main question, with Decca being not too far behind.  There were 
> special labels on these, and Decca did a lot of them on vinyl starting 
> around 49.  Shortly after 1950 RCA started using ultra thin 
> sharp-edged vinyl pressings for their Special Preview discs, and 
> Mercury promo copies were also pressed on this material.  In 1972 I 
> went to a garage sale around Evanston where they were selling about 
> 500 of these thin Mercury promo 78s that a college newspaper record 
> reviewer had saved from his 3 or so years, and I bought about 50.
> But I don't recall seeing promo label classical 78s, although I have a 
> lot of classical albums that had been from radio stations.  I have 
> white label Columbia LPs both pop and classical from the early 50s but 
> I don't recall seeing RCA pressings that early with promo labels on LP 
> either pop or classical although I have many that were from radio 
> stations.  There were some special RCA promo LP series, but some of 
> those records were for public distribution as well, such as the SP 
> series.   I have some early Capitol LPs with white or yellow rubber 
> stamping on the groove area denoting the records as store demo copies, 
> but I doubt there were radio copies like this!  There are some yellow 
> label Capitol promo LPs starting around 54 or 55.
>> The stations were really harsh on record companies that couldn't 
>> provide quiet vinyl. So, promo runs were done on the best biscuits in 
>> the plant. At least that was how it was explained to me.
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
>>
>
> This was done especially in the case of 45s, especially the ones 
> pressed by Columbia which mainly used styrene for store copies.  
> Styrene is very quiet for the first couple of playings -- especially 
> when compared with the crap vinyl usually used for 45s -- but develops 
> cue-burn VERY quickly.  RCA Victor was using crap vinyl for a lot of 
> their LPs in the 60s and since Mercury was doing a lot of pressing at 
> RCA, the use of higher quality vinyl for promo copies as well as 
> classical records in general was probably insisted on.  Red Seal, 
> Original Cast, and Vintage Series pressings usually used good vinyl, 
> but the regular black label Victors for a lot of the 60s was on vinyl 
> that inherently noisy.  I can tell which is which by just looking at 
> them.  For all its faults, Dynaflex was a blessedly quiet alternative.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger Kulp" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 9:36 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wilma Cozart Fine, RIP
>>
>>
>> Here's a question.I have a bunch of Living Presence stereo promo 
>> copies,but I have never seen a promo label of a pre-stereo mono 
>> Living Presence.Did they press them ?
>> Roger
>>
>>
>  
>