To celebrate Third Man Records' third anniversary, we created the world’s first 3RPM record. This was the first deviation in the speed of a vinyl record in over 60 years.
In it's first three years, Third Man Records had released 28 singles. That's 56 songs (28 A sides + 28 B sides). We wanted to put all that music on one vinyl album. The challenge: Together the songs clocked in at 4 hours and a vinyl album only holds a maximum of 44 minutes. The solution: We cut the record to play at just 3RPM ("revolutions per minute") instead of the standard 33, 45, or 78, so every song could be included.
For the cover, I put together a collage using photos from the original singles.
For the back cover, I cut letters from the band logos of the original singles and arranged them to form new words.
In lieu of instructions, bumper stickers were included with each record.
Here, a fan attempts to slow her turntable down to 3RPM by putting her finger on the record:
In Brazil someone rigged a turntable to spin at just 3 revolutions per minute and made this video of the results (note: the song is meant to sound like someone meowing!)
Following the record's release, I arranged the cut-outs on display in the Third Man Records' store in Nashville.
Although the record was given free to attendees of Third Man Records' third anniversary party, it ended up as one of the most valuable of all time.
Behind the scenes:
