I AM A LASER

Laser-etched and hologram discs had their day in the sun. Joe Geesin focuses on some of the landmark innovations that haven't entirely faded away

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Before the introduction of the CD, DVD, HD-DVD and BD, lasers had an established place in the music and film industry, as Bowie acknowledged in his 1974 song, I Am A Laser. Numerous formats of laser-discs were produced, aside from novelty laser-etched vinyl records. While one-sided discs with an ‘etching’ stamped onto the blank side became quite common from the 80s, some had the visual effect forged across their grooves while remaining playable.

The world’s first laser-etched vinyl (so stickered on the picture sleeve) was Styx’s The Best Of Times (1980), etched on both sides. The band’s name can be read in large letters on the playing area of both the A- and B-side of the 7", the effect akin to a rainbow-coloured shadow, providing a 3D hologram effect on the surface. Its parent album, Paradise Theatre, also came in a laser-etched edition, though the first laser-etched LP credit just pipped it and goes to Split Enz’s True Colours (1980). Other examples continued to pop up into the 90s, such as Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence, but our focus is on laser-read formats.

The best-known precursor to the CD and DVD is the Laser Disc. Originally marketed in 1978 by MCA as DiscoDisc, it was soon rebranded as the Laser Disc. Developed by the company with the the help of Phillips and Pioneer from 1963, it was the first commercial optical storage format. A transparent disc system was patented in 1970, while MCA acquired the rights to reflective technology in the 1968, and Pioneer developed its reflective playback disc player soon after.