Sixty years ago, the August 1957 issue of Popular Electronics carried an article about the forgotten stepchild of audio recording: The 16 RPM record. More precisely, the records played at 16-2/3 revolutions per minute, and most moderately priced phonographs in the 1960’s would play the speed, along with the more common 33, 45, and 78 RPM speeds.
The 1957 article predicted, erroneously it turns out, that “the growing catalog of recorded material and new playback equipment in all price ranges proclaim that the tide may yet turn to 16 rpm and roll into the arena with quite a splash.”
A few musical recordings were issued on 16 RPM. Most notably, some records were produced for the benefit of Chrysler’s Hiway Hi-Fi experiment, which included a record player for the car. But the article noted that the speed, while longer playing, had inherently lower fidelity than higher speeds. At the time, the maximum frequency response went only to about 9000 Hz. The format was used mostly for “talking books.” The best seller was probably the Bible, which was recorded in the early 1950’s at the lower speed. If you search eBay today for 16 RPM records, the most common search result is this talking Bible.
As a kid, my record player had the setting for 16 RPM. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I checked out a 16 RPM talking book from the library, just so that I could play it at home.
The article does include an interesting adapter, shown here. While the mechanical details are not explained, it allows a 16 RPM record to be played on a 33 RPM turntable. Presumably, it is powered by the spinning 33 RPM platter, and gears this down to 16 RPM for the record placed on top.
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Hi
I have a 16 rpm elvis record.
Anyone interested?
Kind regards
Karen
Do you still have this 16rpm record of Elvis? I have a few questions about it if you do.
Is it still available?
Sorry everyone but Elvis(Presley?) was only ever released on 45 and 78 rpm singles and 33 rpm LP’s.
Maybe they made 16 rpm Elvis records for the 1956 DeSoto record player.
Most of the 16 rpm records I had were on the back of cereal boxes and in magazines
I have the Talking Books 5-record set of “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” on 16 2/3, read by Basil Rathbone. The stories are “A Scandal in Bohemia;” “The Red-Headed League;” “The Speckled Band;” and “The Blue Carbuncle.” This came out in 1958, and not many people are aware of it; it’s not to be confused with the later recordings that Basil Rathbone made for RCA Caedmon in 1966 and ’67.
That Sherlock Holmes record sure sounds familiar. I bet that was the record I checked out from the public library so that I could use the 16 RPM setting!
Transcriptions of radio programs were also put on 16s in the old days; I don’t have any, but I’ve seen a few, and they’re huge platters, unlike the Talking Book 16s, which are the size of 45s.
Those were 16″ records, not 16 RPM records. They ran at 33 1/3.
There might well be 16⅔rpm Elvis record out there, if its an interview disc intended for radio airplay.
Records were sometimes produced (mainly for U.S radio, I think) with artists answering various questions, the discs were leased to radio stations so the DJ could ask the questions, with the finished recording being broadcast like a studio interview. The disc was then returned to the promoters so they are quite rare as they were never intended for public purchase.
I have two, Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden, and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. A friend has a Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley interview on 16⅔ which she refuses point-blank to part with.
There is a small but dedicated collectors market for such things.
I was given a number of LPs this week 1 LP dance party spectacular 16 2/3 it came from Southern Rhodesia