The Beatles -- Soviet-era pirate record made from an X-ray!

[@TheDylandProductions]

The poor audio quality buried beneath the static, warble & crackle (all on a flimsy x-ray, no less) is the perfect auditory representation of the dictatorial oppression of the iron curtain. Just imagine that even being found in possession of one of these things was risking interrogation, torture, or worse! And nowadays, with the internet, just about anybody anywhere can listen to anything with the click of a button. Boy, how times have changed.

[@CaptainReynolds-flyinspace]

Music on bones (or rock on bones). It was made with diy recorder machines in a secret from any peoples, at the aprtment. Then sold on streets.

[@CaptainReynolds-flyinspace]

This was a thing in ussr from late 1940s to early 1970s.

[@kabiam]

I believe these records were called ribs. You probably bought them on the black market. You met your dealer on the street and they would pass you the rolled up rib for a Ruble or Kopecks

[@roachdoggjr45]

@3:48 "I figured MAYBE" You turned into Neil DeGrasse Tyson haha

[@scatteredfrog]

I am so not familiar with NDT...I need to watch Cosmos!

[@jjhassy]

WOOOW I HEAR IT

[@marklovett9706]

Putin was at the Macca concert in Red Square! Can you believe it??

[@CThiesUGP]

These X-ray records were not actually pressed. They were cut individually using a record cutting lathe

[@scatteredfrog]

which would undoubtedly also contribute to the horrible sound quality!

[@JohnSmith-pm4ul]

Another reason to be grateful to live in a free country

[@johnthemachine]

lawl

[@felixlusash]

Very cool. The desperation to have Beatles (western music) ..that’s incredible!

[@AfonsoBucco]

I lived in a "liberal western" country in 1990 and we also had to pirate everything.

[@tudvalstone]

Maybe it was done as a joke. I grew up in neighbouring Romania and I had all the Beatles records and really any Western music I wanted to on bootleg tapes in stereo HIFI in the 70s. The Russians were making pretty good tape players, much easier to copy music than pressing records on x-Ray.

[@montewright111]

How do you people get Megatron to narrate??!?!

[@zerocray5219]

Which audio technica do you have?

[@scatteredfrog]

It's the LP-1240BTUSB. I was getting tired of my LP120 flaking out, so I repaired it the best I could, sold it for 1/3 what I paid for it, and upgraded. The big selling point for this was that it has a better wow-and-flutter rating. Really happy with it, too!

[@chrisst8922]

Fascinating. I can't imagine what McCartney or especially Lennon would say about that. I suppose there must be quite a few of them around but to a certain extent it's priceless.

[@scatteredfrog]

I imagine Lennon's reaction would be something close to what he was talking about when he said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. I'm sure there are a lot around, too. But I got my fulfillment. :)

[@sullycliftona]

This guy is a joke. Bloody balanced a single centre on a tone arm and he’s blaming. Tracking

[@scatteredfrog]

What guy are you talking about? And if he's such a joke, why not offer a correction if he chose the wrong term?

[@joelrodriguez6123]

Cool dragging the needle across the grooves like that 😬😬😬

[@scatteredfrog]

Yeah, unfortunately it's all too easy with flexi-discs and especially this X-ray. Not a lot of resistance to it -- you gotta be ultra-careful. (Another reason I have no plans to play this thing again!)

[@bobsoldrecords1503]

The chutzpah to make those records is worth more than it's technical properties. Think of the history. Illegal to listen to western pop music. A bit like the plot of 2212 without any taint of Ayn Rand. These are amazing relics of the 20th century and should be valued as a souvenir of the cold war.

[@jmferris1138]

Thank you so much for posting this! Very fascinating! As i was watching, something occurred to me. There may be some software available that could digitally "scan" the grooves on the record so that you could play back the record as a sound file. I found out about it through a KZbin video by a gentleman named Patrick Feaster. He is a music recording historian. You might be able to apply the software that he used to this unique record that you purchased. Take care and all the best to you! Here is the link to the KZbin video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ina2nJtpnb1opa8

[@naimusic362]

What utter madness, just throw the ‘x-ray’ in the bin 🙄