GLOSSARY, TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ON THE NET THERE ARE IN USE QUITE A FEW ABBREVIATIONS TO SHOW THE RECORDS, OFTEN IN THE RECORD STORES. AND USUALLY THERE ARE IN USE SOME TERMS TO EXPLAIN RECORDS DETAILS, EXPECIALLY ABOUT THE LABEL'S COLOUR. TO FIND THE CORRECT WORDS FOR THE COLOUR OF A RECORDLABEL IS OFTEN VERY PROBLEMATIC. WE REMEMBER ENDLESS DISCUSSIONS WITH MY FRIENDS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF A COLOUR. WHEN YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO COMPARE COVERS OR LABELS FROM MANY COUNTRIES, YOU CAN SEE MANY DIFFERENCES, EXPECIALLY WITH THE BASIC COLOUR.

SO, I'D LIKE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT FOLLOWS.
 

Abbreviations.

There are some useful abbreviations about the album:

# TPATGOD     The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (sometimes PATGOD)
# ASOS          A Saucerful Of Secrets
# AHM            Atom Heart Mother
# OBC            Obscured By Clouds
# TDSOTM      The Dark Side Of The Moon (sometimes DSOTM)
# ANP            A Nice Pair
# WYWH        Wish You Were Here
# TFC            The Final Cut
# ACOGDS      A Collection of Great Dance Songs
# AMLOR        A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (sometimes MLOR)
# DSOT          Delicate Sound of Thunder
# TDB            The Division Bell
# ITAOT?        Is There Anybody Out There?
 

# AUTOG: Autographed (usually on cover).

# BKLT: Booklet inserted.

# CC: Cutting corners. An LP with one of more corners cut.

# CO: Cutting cover. An LP with an hole in the cover.

# COH: Cutout hole in cover.

# CON aka SM: Sawmark on cover.

# DH: Drill hole in cover.

# DJL: Dj promo label.

# DJTS: Dj timestrip on cover.

# DJS: Dj stamp on cover.

# EP: Extended Play. Usually a 7" (45) record, with 2 or 3 cuts each side. There are also 10" and 12" inch EPs with 2 or 3 cuts each side and there are also 7" compact 33 EPs.

# FOC: Fold out cover. Another way to indicate a gatefold cover.

# GFLD: Gatefold cover.

# G/F: Gatefold cover, usually with LPs and double EPs.

# LP: An abbreviation for "long playing" and refers to vinyl records that are 12" (30 cm) across and normally spin at 33-1/3 rpm. Could be 10" also, but all LPs are by definition micorgroove recordings.

# LTD. ED.: Usually used to show a limited edition, a limited release.

# MFSL: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. A record label (company) that produces high quality recordings.

# OBI: The vertical strip in the japanese albums or 12".

# OST: Original soundtrack.

# OSW: Original shrinkwrap on cover.

# RE: Reissue.

# RPM: Refers to the speed of the record in revolutions. RPM equals "revolutions per minute".

# SLV: Sleeve. Usually used in conjunction with PIC, as in Picture sleeve. Can also be used with a title sleeve and with a record company's stock logo sleeve.

# SMSPT: Seamsplit.

# SOBC: Sticker on back cover.

# SOC: Sticker on cover.

# SOL: Sticker on label.

# S/T: Self titled or Same.

# VA aka VV.AA.: Various artists.

# WLP: White label promo. The most common designation for a promo record.

# WOC: Text on the cover, litterally "words on cover".

# WOL: Text on the label, litterally "words on label".
 

Terms.

7 INCH: It is used for vinyl singles. It is a seven inch diameter record, usually 45 rpm. These can have a small or large center hole. They can also be 33 1/3 rpm. It usually contains title track on the a-side and bonus track or tracks on the b-side. European 7"s usually come with picture sleeve. Most US and UK single were released without picture sleeve.

12 INCH: A record of the same size as an LP (a twelve inch record), but actually an alternative single release, mostly at 45rpm, but normally at 33 1/3 rpm. It contains extended versions and more bonus tracks than a similar 7". They got popular at the end of the '70s.

ADVANCE RELEASE: Issue before the actual street date of a release, distributed for promotional reasons. In many cases advance releases have different more standard artwork since the commercial artwork may not be ready. Sometimes advance releases use of rough or demo versions, turning them into an instant collectible.

ALTERNATE STUDIO TAKE: Different version of a official song, with or without alternate mixing.

BACK COVER: The back side of a cover of a record. As known as "rear cover". Usually it contains the tracklisting and the credits/copyrights news.

BOOK CLUB: Book Clubs also carried LPs in their catalogs, which had special catalog numbers and often the imprint "Club Edition". Most Book Club releases come from Germany (as the famous Club Sonderauflage).

BOOTLEG: Bootlegs are records with material, often this can be live recordings, studio sessions or other jams, which normally is not released by official sources. It is an illegal pressing of a record that was recorded at a concert and does not have the band or record company's permission to do so. Can also be used to describe illegally pressed music from a company's vaults that was acquired without the record company's permission. Bootleg is also incorrectly and improperly used as a synonym of counterfeit, pirates or reproduction.

CARDBOARD SLEEVE: A thick paper CD sleeve in which the disc can be placed. Similar to a conventional LP sleeve; sometimes comes in a gatefold fashion.

COLOURED WAX: Actually coloured vinyl. These records are normally a lot rarer and more sought after than the normal black vinyl release.

COMPILATION: A collection of songs from one single artist. An example is "Relics".

COUNTERFEIT: Counterfeits are reprints of official releases, which try to have exactly the same look as originals, labels and sleeves. This is a record that was illegally remade to look and sound like the original issue, it is usually done by making a tape of a regular pressing of an original copy of one of the records and then pressing this up on vinyl. Most of these types are made up to look exactly like the original with the same artwork and label design. The counterfeiter does not show any distinction between his forgery and the original. Also known as bootleg, also known as a reproduction.

CUT-OUT: Cut in the CD or LP sleeve to denote it is intentioned for overstock sale. Of a lesser value than a non cut-out release since sleeves may be damaged badly by the process.

DATED MASTER NUMBERS: Some labels for a time put a date at the beginning of their master numbers. This would show the releases for that year. We find these dates in the Italian discography, but also in records from Colombia, Mexico, Portugal, Jugoslavia. See also "Matrix Dates".

DEAD WAX aka RUN-OFF AREA: The area between the end of the recording and the label. Also known as the "trail-off groove" or "lead-out area" (in Italians, "area di spegnimento"). Also known as the "run-off area" or "trail-off area".

DEAD WAX: Often used in auctions to distinguish the japanese red wax releases.

DELETED ITEM: An item that is no longer in print.

DEMO: First version released on studio.

DIE-CUT SLEEVE: A sleeve with a custom cut area or hole, usually intended to reveal a picture disc, coloured vinyl disc or the label, without having to remove it from the sleeve. An example is the US picture disc of "The Dark Side Of The Moon" or several coloured vinyls in France.

DOLBY DIGITAL: Format for storing digital sound. The following codes are currently used for DVDs: Dolby Digital 1.0 (mono), Dolby Digital 2.0 (left and right), Dolby Digital 4.0 (left, right, left surround, right surround), Dolby Digital 4.1 (left, right, left surround, right surround, subwoofer), Dolby Digital 5.1. (left, right, left surround, right surround, center), Dolby Digital 5.1. (left, right, left surround, right surround, center, subwoofer).

DOUBLEPACK: A set of two CD or vinyl discs. The term is usually associated with limited or promotional double 12" releases issued for DJ purposes, double 7" single sets or two part CD singles. Sometimes called "Double Set".

DULL: Means that the colours on the cover are very dark compared with an european version. For example the "Animals" cover.

EMBOSSED: A record with an embossed cover.

EXPORT COPY: Item that has been pressed in country A for release in country B.

FLIPBACK SLEEVE: Type of sleeve with both sides of the sleeve are glued by placing the small band on the outside of the back sleeve. A method commonly used until 1969 (famous are the first two Pink Floyd albums), but also on later UK releases, especially for 7" and 12" records.

FOIL: It is a cover made or covered with a foil, usually a thin paper. For example, more of the Taiwanese releases.

FRONT COVER: The front side of a cover of a record. Usually it shows the cover motif and the title of the album.

GATEFOLD: An album cover, EP cover or Picture sleeve that opens up like a gate. Sometimes it has records that fit in both open ends. In some cases LPs that were originally released with a gatefold sleeve came with single sleeves for reissues. As known as "Fold out" or "Fold open". For example "Meddle".

INNERBAG: LP-sized thin paper sleeve to protect the record from scratching. Many records come with custom innerbags, which have lyrics and information printed on them. For example "Wish You Were Here".

INNER SLEEVE: See "Sleeve".

INSERT: A paper or booklet inside the cover that shows comments, lyrics of ther songs or either.

IN SHRINK: When a cover is sealed.

LAMINATED: When the cover is laminated. When you hold it in your hand you can see many light-reflections. Sometimes the original release has a laminated cover and the reissue a matt one.

LAQUER: Is usually a reference cut that is made on ultra high-grade methylcellulose sprayed onto thick aluminum discs. Reference acetates are primarily to make certain the record will sound somewhat like the tape. Often they are also made to allow a club or radio disc jockey to play the music on turntables before it has been pressed as a normal record. Acetate is a misnomer. It is actually a Lacquer, but since so many people call these acetates, both will be used here.

LIMITED EDITION: Item that has a set number of copies print. Mostly also numbered.

LP: Stands for "Long Playing", used to denote a 33rpm vinyl album.

LYRIC SHEET: LP-sized one-sided or two-sided custom print paper that has the lyrics of the songs on a record.

MACHINE STAMPED: A lot of labels used perfect die cut letters to put the master numbers and pressing numbers in the dead wax of their records. This is different than the hand written numbers that some companies used. In a lot of cases this can be used to a certain degree of certainty in determining a counterfeit with U.S. pressings. Also known as "machine printed" or only "printed". The opposite is "hand written" or "hand scratched".

MASTER: Original tape or record from which copies are made.

MASTER NUMBERS: See Matrix numbers.

MATRIX DATES: Some labels for a time put a date at the beginning of their master numbers, in the dead wax. This would show the releases for that year. We find these dates in the Italian discography, but also in records from Colombia, Mexico, Portugal, Jugoslavia.

MATRIX NUMBERS: The side identification number for each side of a record. It is usually printed on the label and is also in the dead wax of a record. Often is known as the catalog number given to each recorded song of a record label. Identifies a particular pressing from other pressings of the same item.

MATT: Sometimes it is called "non glossy". The opposite is a laminated cover.

MISSPRESSING: When there are mistakes in the printing of the album, expecially in the labels. As known as "Misslabeled".

MONOCHROME SLEEVE: Type of sleeve used in many semi-official Korean LP releases where the design of the cover is printed in one colour.

OBI: Paper strap on Japanese LPs and CDs to inform the japanese customer on the item, mostly with tracklisting, price, date of release and sometimes a photo. They got popular and very rare.

ORIGINAL LABEL: This refers to the company that first issued a certain record. A lot of times small labels will have a record that will become very popular and they cannot meet the sales demand. In a lot of cases the master is sold or leased to a larger record company and the record is released on the larger company's own label. The opposite is "Reissue".

PICTURE DISC: Record with a picture pressed with the vinyl. The picture is actually a piece of printed paper that is cover by a final layer of clear vinyl wax. Quality may be of a lesser kind than regular releases. Also used for CDs, mainly used in the beginning where a full-colour print on the disc was rarely seen.

PICTURE INSERT: A printed flat paper or card insert placed in front or behind a disc and housed in a plastic sleeve or case. Picture discs sometime come with a printed backing card and most Japanese 7" singles have a picture insert rather than a printed pocket sleeve.

PICTURE SLEEVE: Artwork for a release. Custom refers to artwork specially designed for a certain release, may contain photos, images and/or lettering. Also used on this catalog to denote the booklet/insert in a jewel case of slimcase.

PROMO ITEM: Non commercial release for marketing and promotional purposes. There are various types of promos. The most desirable ones come with an imprint on the label, an imprint on the sleeve, or even with a totally unique sleeve or different labels (like the japanese white labels). US releases sometimes only have a gold promo stamp on the back. Not to be confused with cut-out.

PIRATES: Pirates are reprints of official releases as well. But the "producers" do not try to make the record look like the original, this meaning they use different label styles as well as different sleeves.

PRE-VERSION: First original version of the song.

PROMO: Promotional. Can also be designated as DJ, Disc jockey, Audition, Not for sale, Preview copy, Demo, Demonstration copy. These were records that the labels are usually a different color than the regular issue and have these designations to show that these records were free or at a reduced price to DJs, radio stations, record reviewers and the like and that they cannot be returned for credit. These designations are part of the label from the factory or pressing plant. Most promos are of the white label variety. But some companies had different colors or also known with a text promo stamp in the back cover.

RADIO SHOW: Complete radio program including jingles and commercial pressed on LP or CD. Intended to be sent to radio station for broadcast. Often with exclusive interviews and live tracks. Many shows were recorded officially for radio show broadcast. Limited to a few hundred copies only. Come with cue-sheet(s), a transcipt of the program with information.

RECORD LABEL: A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including LPs, 12" and 7" singles. The information upon a label usualy contains information regarding Artist, Title, Track Listings, Year, Record Company Name/Logo, Copyright etc... .

REISSUE: There are several types of reissues. There is the budget reissue, discount labels that got the permission to use the original master to issue songs (usually hits) later as discount compilations, the reissue that is just a later issue that isn't a budget item.

RIM TEXT: It is the text printed in the deax wax, usually matrix numbers or dates.

RING ON THE LABEL: It is the ring embosed inside the label, it can be short (near the centre hole) or large (nera the border of the dead wax). Sometimes can be double.

SAMPLER: A collection of songs from various artists. An example is "Picnic - A Breathe Of Fresh Air".

SHAPE DISC: Record with a picture pressed with the vinyl and then cut to a certain shape of the image. An example is the radio shaped "Love On The Air" single from 1984.

SLEEVE: The inner cover of an LP, usually paper, or the outer cover of a 45 rpm record.

SPINE: The border of the record. It can be large or small. The spine of the records contains some informations about the title of the release, the band and the catalog number.

STAMPED PROMO: These were copies of a record that were issued with the regular stock label but had "promo" or such designation stamped on the label after the fact.

STATE COMPANY: Eastern Europe didn't have a free music market until 1989. Records were pressed by state controlled companies. Examples are Amiga for Eastern Germany, Jugoton for Yugoslavia, Balkanton for Bulgaria, Supraphon for Czechoslovakia and Melodia for the Soviet Union. As known as "Country Company", but the last is usually used for all the others companies.

STICKER: Promotional device stuck on the front cover of an LP or CD. In Pink Floyd's case many stickers were used with the word "Pink Floyd" since no mention of the band was made on many albums. Stickers were also used to inform the buyer on the hits to be found on a certain record.

TAN: This is a label with a colour somewhere between lightbrown and light yellow. There are many EMI releases with such a label, expecially southamerican issues or Fame releases.

TEST PRESSING: A "true" test pressing is sent back to the cutting engineer, producer and sometimes the perfomer, to confirm that the pressings will sound as intended. It is an issue before the actual street date of a release. Most test pressings are really just early pressings, frequently without artwork of any kind, and they are serviced to whoever as early promo's. In many cases this was done to rush the record out to radio stations to try and get immediate airplay before the complete label could be finished. Like advance releases sometimes with rough or demo versions, turning them into an instant collectible. Unlike advance releases, test pressings were mostly produce to check out the quality of the pressing. Since they could be produced in very small quantities, they were sometimes sent to a selected number of high profile media. Often with handwritten or white labels.

TIMING STRIP: This is usually found glued to the front of promo copies of albums. This shows the song titles and playing times for each cut on the album. These can take up a small space at the bottom of an album or can take up to half of the album cover at the bottom.

UNCUT SHAPE DISC: Record with a picture pressed with the vinyl and then designed to be cut to a certain shape of the image. This however did not take place for some reason, often promotional. Records not intended to be on the market and therefor highly collectable.

UNRELEASED STUDIO TAKE: Inedit song never released on album or single.

VINYL: Relatively flexible material used since the early 1930s to make non-breakable records. The stampers used for the compression moulding process will start to break down after only 1,000 pressings, because they are forced to expand and contract when heated by steam at the start of the pressing cycle and then cooled to solidify the record.

YELLOW-GREEN (LABEL): Is the classic green labels by Harvest Records. The common version has a yellow underground, a green Harvest logo and the text is in black letters. I know others different versions, like black underground, silver logo and silver text, or white underground, red or blue logo and black text. The white underground is sometimes a more dirty white or a very light yellow. And we find a bit green underground in some releases. This the reason why we can find sometimes different versions in salelists.

WITHDRAWN ITEM: Commercial or promotional release that was taken out of circulation for various reason, such as legal matters, mistakes in pressing. An example is the " '97 Vinyl Collection", which came out on 130 grams vinyl while it was intended at 180 grams vinyl and subsequently withdrawn.

WRAPPED: Normally an LP-cover is closed on all 3 sides. But you can find countries were they used a LP-sized thick paper folded it just in the middle, but with a correct printed cover.

Records Rarity.

A few words about the records rariry grading, most important for every collector. The rarity of a pressing depends on many factors, some of them closely visual character, others of subjective character. The most part depends by the seller of the disc and by the visual aspect and the quality of the vinyl details. We can make a grading list of the rarity, usually based to the facility to find a disc. But we can also make a list based to the prices or to the record's details. According with many collectors, we think that the 'reperibilità' is more important.

A: common disc (disco comune)

B: disc not easy to find (disco non facile da reperire)

C: disc difficult to find (disco difficile da reperire)

D: rare disc (disco raro)

E: rarest disc (disco rarissimo)

F: disc nearly impossible to find (disco quasi impossibile da trovare)

G: impossible to find (disco impossibile da trovare)(*).

(from "Rock progressivo italiano", Paolo Barotto & Marco D'Ubaldo)

(*) IMO, there is not Floyd's records impossible to find.

 

 

 

Records Grading System.

At the end, a few words about the records conditions, usually lists on the major auctions. If two grades appear, usually the first grade is the cover and the second is the record. If only one grade appears, it usually is for the vinyl only. If an extra grade appears, it means that one side is in better shape than the other.

SS = still sealed.

M = mint, or unplayed condition, the cover is often nice and new looking with no ring wear. The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition.

NM = near mint, the record looks brand new with no scuffing or any deterioration in sound quality and only the smallest hint that its ever been played. The cover and any additional extras are clean, crisp and with no wear whatsoever.

EX = excellent, only slight signs of wear; very clean, only light surface marks which will not distract significantly from the sound, the cover also has only slight wear, and is still in nice collectible condition. In other words, the record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

VG+ = played often with moderate surface wear and some moderate noise, still plays well, the cover may have medium overall wear or some ring wear.

VG = very good, overall wear, but no skips of serious defects, more noisy sound during quiet passages, the cover is well worn, usually with considerable ring wear. The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

VG- = heavy wear on record and cover, usually guarantee does not apply to VG- or worse condition records on the auctions.

G or G+ = good, poor or rough condition, absolutely no guarantee on these records, holefillers only. The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discolouration, etc.

F = fair, the record is still just about playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

P = poor, the record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.
 

Some terms by courtesy of "The Record Collectors Guild" and a currenty Ebay auctions.

Some terms by courtesy of Ingo Brode, Riccardo Verani and, of course, Stefano Tarquini.

For more and more details, see http://www.collectorshelp.com/.

THE MR.PINKY DISCOGRAPHY © 2001-2012                                                                                       |  HOME  |  REFERENCE MAP  |  DISCLAIMER  |  LINKS EXCHANGE  |  GREETINGS & CONTRIBUTIONS  |  EMAIL  |