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DJTees Blog
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Hardly the most pressing issue we face... But
Hardly the most pressing issue we face... But
Authored By John Nicholson
I was talking the other day about the centre of singles. I know this is hardly the most pressing issue we face but there are so many differences. Most annoying of all are those with the centre pushed out. This is most often the case on American releases and ex-jukebox records. It’s especially annoying if you are playing them on a Dansette-style record player because you have to add a centre to stack eight and play them, or you have to search around for a solid centre you can put them on and you can only play them one at a time. I wouldn’t dare push out a centre for fear of breaking the record. But many do. If so, you will need a centre to wedge in place. These come in all shapes and sizes. Some people probably collect them. I have The Black Crowes 3 Snakes and a Charm in a box as 7 x 7” singles which comes with a snake-shaped centre that fits into a big centre. That was a nice idea. But UK releases came with centres. Some, like those on Pye, have four prong centres which can be pushed out, but many don’t. Early Island releases are usually, but not always, solid but later releases are four pronged, as are most releases. To me, they always feel defaced if pushed out. It just doesn’t seem right. It looks like the record has been broken. It also defaces the label artwork and that’s unforgivable.