On another thread, Murray corrected my mistaken assumption that "EP" is British for "LP" -- apparently on that side of the water they would release 4-song discs labeled "extended play", midway between a single and an album. As far as I know, that never happened here.

But it got me kind of nostalgic for the days of wax and vinyl, as it were, and I thought the subject of audio recording media might make an interesting thread topic. Then again, it might make for a very short thread.

Anyway, I'll start it off with a trivia teaser and two somewhat serious questions. (A) When you bought a 45 at your local record store (not a .45, that would be a different kind of store), the title of the song on the flip side was often prefaced with the cryptic annotation, "b/w". It took me years to figure out what that meant. But you all know, right? (B) My dad used to have a collection of 78s that were recorded only on one side, the other side being smooth and shiny. Anybody know who invented the flip side, and when? (C) I can understand (more or less) 33 1/3, but why 78? Or 45? Or, for that matter, 16?

Aloha,
Mark