There is a lot of content on this website, and much of it may seem inaccessible at first. Unfortunately this topic involves a lot of circular information, where discussing one subject inevitably leans on you understanding several others. With some patience, though, I think you’ll find your way.

This sequencing will serve to better equip the unitiated (to Contemporary and/or vinyl in general) to digest the information and maybe even enjoy the journey.

00. About pages

1. About Contemporary Records

2. About 8481 Melrose

As a quick primer, I’d run through these posts about Contemporary and this site. These are short and should give you a sense of whether or not you actually want to continue.

If you want to read about me that would be cool too

01. The Contemporary Basics

1. Jackets

2. Label Colors

3. Runouts

4. Pressing Plants

Let’s say you have a Contemporary Records record in your hands, and simply want to know something about it. The four basic guides — jackets, label colors, runouts, and pressing plants — will get you there faster than anything else. You never need to go beyond these, unless you want to get into the actual research which lives in the deeper dives.

02. Jackets and Numbering

1. Catalog & Delivery Numbers

2. Postal Codes & Company Info

3. Jacket Design

4. Jacket Construction

If you choose to enter the weeds, I’d start from the outside in. First, visit the high-level notes on Catalog & Delivery Numbers, which handles the item numbers given to records in the market but also covers the important distinctions between mono and stereo versions of the same title.

Second, Postal Codes & Company Info. This is pretty straightforward and important to understand before moving on to the more complicated subjects to come:

Jacket Design. This is where things start to get intensive. I’ve lightly distilled the information into patterns and frameworks, but this may still be an exhausting amount to get through.

If you do get past it, Jacket Construction is a pretty simple chaser. Some construction elements are discussed earlier in Jacket Design, but this will flesh it all out and provide a more organized view of this powerful identifier.

03. Pressings & Runouts

1. Label Color & Design

2. Pressing History

3. Reading Runouts Pt. I

4. Reading Runouts Pt. II

Label Color & Design is a bit of a tweener subject that doesn’t entirely fit here. It’s of limited use for timing and usually redundant to other identifiers, but it’s also the most visually apparent part of a record and needs to be understood.

Then we can move into the more substantial. Most people understand that vinyl is pressed in a press and the results are called pressings, so I think Pressing History is a good entry into understanding the vinyl. Chronologically, pressing is the last manufacturing step, but its identifier (pressing ring) is satisfying and direct, and highly dependable.

Lastly, we work backwards to the runouts, where things are more complicated and less cut-and-dry. This requires many, many examples and some reasonable allowance for logic to fill the gaps that evidence doesn’t. This is the real stuff. Reading Runouts Pt. I and Pt. II unfold in chronological order and get more complicated with time.

04. Mastering History

1. Mastering History Vol. 1

2. Mastering History Vol. 2

3. Mastering History Vol. 3

4. Mastering History Vol. 4

Here we move to narrative, to achieve a deeper understanding of moves happening behind the scenes at 8481. This is largely chronological, but starts with straightforward history (Mastering History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) then dives into more conjecture and analysis (Vol. 3) before stepping back to a wider discussion of Contemporary’s sound (Vol. 4).

05. Trimmings & Extras

1. Inner Sleeves & Extras

2. From Mono to Stereo Records

3. LKL & LKS Tape Numbers

4. The 50-50 Line and End of Mono Recording

Some of this is cut-for-time material that doesn’t fit neatly into larger topics. Extraneous bits and bobs in the form or data, words, physical objects, or anything else. In Inner Sleeves & Extras, I tick through Contemporary’s printed catalogs, inners, and insert cards to create a checkpointed history that offers us plenty of clues for decisions and timing. Little of the evidence is rock solid but it fills in all sorts of gaps.

Other pages will open the door to more open-ended investigation which might occasionally lead somewhere. In LKL & LKS Tape Numbers, I’ve plotted Contemporary’s master tape numbers as data points to better understand when certain delayed titles were finally released in stereo. In The 50-50 Line, I look at the delta between mono and stereo tape numbers for each title then compare different titles' deltas to theorize a general timeline for when Contemporary changed technique to “50-50” stereo recording. It’s fun, I swear!

This list might grow and change and could run the gambit from straightforward to really not worth your time. This is a space for trying new things. An engine to keep research and discovery moving forward. The results, if any, will filter down to the rest of the site where it can be applied and incorporated into existing research.