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RCA dynaflex vinyl

Pio1980 said:
Pre-CD era.
Eva-tone sound sheets were paper-thin "freebie" promotional phono records put into magazines and mailers that sometimes required additional weighting with coins to play without slipping on the turntable.
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Sometimes it helped to put a couple of coins on the headshell as well to ensure proper tracking. :D
 
In all fairness, the Dynaflex albums didn't sound that bad, actually most sound very good.

However, a lot of the albums pressed in late '73 and '74 seem to have a "swooshing" noise at the beginning and between tracks. I credit that to the sub-par vinyl during that period as a result of the Arab oil embargo and resulting shortages.

I was a member of the RCA Music Service during that period and as a result, most labels were also Dynaflex since they did their own pressing.

There was a time or two when I wanted to see if I could fold one of the LPs like a Taco, but never did.:D
 
ke4jhj said:
However, a lot of the albums pressed in late '73 and '74 seem to have a "swooshing" noise at the beginning and between tracks.
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Exactly.

I'm not anti-Dynaflex at all, it just ain't West German (WG) vinyl when it comes to the noise floor. The music on many of these pressings is fantastic.
 
Pio1980 said:
Pre-CD era.
Eva-tone sound sheets were paper-thin "freebie" promotional phono records put into magazines and mailers that sometimes required additional weighting with coins to play without slipping on the turntable. Give-away promotional CDs, DVDs, and ROMs are the modern equivalent but without the inherent performance compromises of the sound sheets.
S.B
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whippersnappers might know them as flexi-discs or just flexis.
 
Blue Meanie said:
Late 1969, actually.:D
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Well, I was close. :) Funny thing, I would occasionally buy new releases on RCA that were still pressed like their records from the 60's. Big thick, ultra-flat platters with shiny labels. They must have had at least one old presser still working. I guess RCA was like other labels in that they had more than one pressing plant in the U.S.
 
Urchinn said:
Omigod...Eva Tone! The factory was in St. Petersburg, Florida. One day we took a tour of the place because we wanted to release our first punk record on flexi (that was around 1979?). They treated us like royalty...but it came to naught. Wow, I still love those things. Remember Flexi-Pop magazine? Every issue had a cool New Wave flexi!
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I think Evatone is in Clearwater. They're still around too!

Yeah, I remember Flexi-Pop. I still have the 1980 issue with two otherwise unavailable recordings by the Jam!
 
I've heard Dynaflex referred to as "Dynawarp" because of the tendancy to warp in a warm room. Those outside of the southern edge of the US may not quite understand what a 105 degree day will do to things during summer. Even then, the practice was to close off parts of the house so the AC could keep up with the excessive heat. If your collection happened to be in one of those parts......

I had a couple of records that I can recall warping as they lay on the turntable in the early 80's. Can't recall the labels, but I know it couldn't have been that impressive a quality of vinyl if it'd do that.
 
Celt said:
Well, I was close. :) Funny thing, I would occasionally buy new releases on RCA that were still pressed like their records from the 60's. Big thick, ultra-flat platters with shiny labels. They must have had at least one old presser still working. I guess RCA was like other labels in that they had more than one pressing plant in the U.S.
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Yeah, Hollywood, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Rockaway, New Jersey.
 
Hi,

A tip, your RCA Records deadwax will indicate which pressing plant made it. I= Indianapolis, IN, R= Rockaway, NJ, H= Hollywood, CA.
 
I've got a record here that I believe is worse than Dynaflex. It is called "20 chartstoppers" on the salem label. The record is fractured, probably from something heavy being dropped on it. It has some hard to find songs on it and I'm keeping it long enough to salvage what I can off it before I trash it.
 
Ah, yes! The old "Dynawarp" again rears its ugly head!

The first Dynaflex release was in late 1969 and was a HENRY MANCINI album, the name of which totally escapes me. IIRC, the first John Denver RCA album also came out in 1969 on the old dynawarp.

I have two RCA albums I purchased new in 1970. Both are Dynaflex. One is Paul Kantner's "Blows Against the Empire.' The other is "Worst of Jefferson Airplane."

The fidelity was okay - certainly no worse than the typical pop LP of the period - and the Kantner album actually was a very good sounding record, despite being pressed on ultra-flexible vinyl. It still sounds great, even after thirty-eight years of frequent rotation.
 
Frankly, I agree with Clyde. I think all of this anti-Dynagroove stuff is a bunch of B.S. that has continued just because J. Gordon Holt said it was bad.

Most of the Dynagrooves I have sound very good.

No offense intended toward anybody.

Doug
 
ryson2 said:
What the heck is this stuff. I picked up a copy of Waylon's "Good Hearted Women" today and was suprised to find some sort of flimsy disc RCA used for "improved sounds and playability"?

Ive never seen these before, anyone have any?

I dont think a ride on the RCM is a good idea with this one....
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I believe that's all it was....thinner vinyl. RCA's thinking at that time was apaprently that thinner vinyl would have better sound. And since they were using a little less vinyl, that helped keep their costs down.

If I'm way off with this, anyone feel free to chime in!
 
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