DO YOU REMEMBER?

It was 31 years ago Tuesday that the compact disc was first introduced to the public. It took a few years to get that technology out to the public, but on March 8, 1979, the Philips company held a press conference called “Philips Introduce Compact Disc” to tell the world what was going on. Although CDs seem like they might be headed the way of the 8-Track, they definitely have their place in pop culture history. For old times’ sake, break out your favorite disc and give it a listen while you enjoy these facts.
1. The first mass-produced CD manufactured was ABBA’s The Visitors. However, the first album to actually be released to the public on CD was Billy Joel’s 52nd Street. It came out on October 1, 1982.
2. Coinciding with that Billy Joel CD was the first-ever CD player: Sony’s CDP-101, a sleek, streamlined device (pictured… ain’t she a beaut?) for the bargain-basement price of just $900.
3. The first CD to sell a million copies was Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms, released in 1985.
4. Can you imagine having a collection of Mini Racks? That was just one of the many names considered for the format when it was still in early development stages. Other possibilities included MiniDisc and CompactRack. The developers decided to go with “compact disc” because they figured it would make people think of the success of the compact cassette