Recommendations of the editorial team
So that the needle of the record player does not slip god over the middle label after music, the last groove of a plate is an endless loop. Behind it there are matrix numbers for identification-but sometimes there is also much more scratched …
1. The godfather
Famous in signing his mastered recordings, the technician George “Porky” Peckham, born in Blackburn in 1942. In addition to fragrance brands such as “Pecko” or “Porky”, he also scratched countless cryptic messages in plates. It is considered the sponsor of this art.
2. The dolphins
Would you like a few illustrious examples of this secret communication? Gladly! The slogan “Dolphins Make Better Anarchists Than People Do” adorns the leak of the 1987 Platte of the 1987 Platte by Dead Kennedys.
3. The fire
Steve Albinis Shellac also interpreted the area behind the outlet groove in 2000: If you put their album 1000 Hurts in the right light, you can read the question “What’s orange and looks good on hippies?”, Which then answers the B-page itself-with the word “Fire”.
4. The missing
“Train In Vain” is not noted on the title list of the first edition of the London Calling by The Clash. So behind the outer groove from page four “Track 5 is ‘Train in Vain'”.
5. The lyrics
The entire (very long) text of the song scratched into the vinyl on “Anyone Can Make A Mistake” by Wedding Present. So you can also use the phenomenon: as a kind of archaic text sheet.
6. The Superman
But hidden messages that are easy to see are more amateur stuff. Professionals hide more in the groove. When conspiracy theories were still charming, a two-second song by the Beatles fueled the SGT’s run. Pepper’s the thesis of Paul’s death. Beatles fans want to “Will Paul Return as Superman?” heard out when playing backwards.
7. The Einstein-Jesus combination
If you are too complex for those who run backwards – and the Beatles are too satanic anyway, you may find your luck at the Christian rock band Prodigal. There is a program for the C-64 in the expression groove of your album Electric Eye from 1984. A little handicraft work, absorb the noises on cassette, off to the datasette and already appear messages from Einstein and Jesus on the screen (something with a big bang).
8. The reverse gear
The matrix code of the A-side of King Kurt’s Destination Zululand from 1983 is “Place Stylus here to hear!”. If you actually put the plate needle there, the plate plays from the inside out. By the way, playing a plate backwards can be artistically sensible because the longer grooves can transmit more complex information on the outside (physics!). The tacet label used this, for example, for Ravel’s “Bolero”.
9. The angels
The Vinyl special edition of Jack White’s album Lazaretto contains excessive many hidden features. There are songs among the two labels, “Just One Drink” has two different intros, depending on the support point of the needle, the song begins acoustically or electrically, the plate runs to 33, 45 and 78 revolutions. But the idea in the outlet groove is particularly pretty. There are two angel holograms that the artist Tristan Duke designed.
Text: Christoph Menningen