Simon Lucas posts an interesting piece on the advent in the 80s of hidden music tracks on CDs, siting Her Majesty on the Beatles' Abbey Road album as being probably the first instance of this once popular use of unused space on the then new spacious medium.
I wonder if the run-out track that has become known as the Inner Groove, at the very end of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from 1967, would qualify as a hidden track? It's a 3-second loop of nonsense (typical LSD-period Beatles) and can only be heard on the vinyl version if your tone arm tracks inwards far enough. Once CDs came out it was simple to include it, after the end of the final listed number A Day In The Life, once the piano chord had finally stopped ringing.
When I first bought this LP I only had a Garrard SP25 autochanger and the arm would always lift off the surface of the vinyl before the hidden track could be heard. It wasn't until I'd been sharing the delights of this amazing album with other friends, one or two of whom had transcription decks with separate tone arms, that the existence of the Inner Groove became known to me.
Would you care to comment, Simon?
I wonder if the run-out track that has become known as the Inner Groove, at the very end of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from 1967, would qualify as a hidden track? It's a 3-second loop of nonsense (typical LSD-period Beatles) and can only be heard on the vinyl version if your tone arm tracks inwards far enough. Once CDs came out it was simple to include it, after the end of the final listed number A Day In The Life, once the piano chord had finally stopped ringing.
When I first bought this LP I only had a Garrard SP25 autochanger and the arm would always lift off the surface of the vinyl before the hidden track could be heard. It wasn't until I'd been sharing the delights of this amazing album with other friends, one or two of whom had transcription decks with separate tone arms, that the existence of the Inner Groove became known to me.
Would you care to comment, Simon?
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