# Secret Messages Scratched Inside Inner Groove of LPs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486 "2002-07-24T01:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/1 "2002-07-24T01:24:11Z")
I was having a let’s-listen-to-old-LPs-I-haven’t-heard-in-a-while kind of day this weekend, so, naturally, I was doing a lot of flippin’ through stacks of wax. This got me thinking about something that I’ve never known anyone else to notice: the secret messages that are occasionally scratched into the vinyl, just inside the inner groove. If you look at the face of a random record, between the inner groove and the label, you’ll typically see the LP number scratched into the vinyl, as well as possibly the record company name and maybe the recording studio. Sometimes, however, there’s some more stuff. Some records have what might be initials scratched in the vinyl. A few records have names scratched in: The Beatles’ _Let It Be_ says “Wally”, David Bowie’s _Changes_ says “JANE”, and Echo and the Bunnyman’s first album says “RyanK”. I’ve got a couple albums with little pictures scratched in: Joy Division’s _Closer_ has a little alien head, and Parliament’s _Mother Ship Connection_ has a flower. What’s weirder, though, are records that have actual messages scratched inside the grooves. The things I’ve found scratched into records: Adrian Belew, _Lone Rhino_ **Side B** : a real byte! Camper Van Beethoven, _Telephone Free Landslide Victory_ **Side A** : “Propaganda, Not Lying” **Side B** :“The Duck Stops Here” Firehose, _if’n_ **Side A** : YANK MANANA **Side B** : …FROM THE NADA Minutemen, _Ballot Result_ **Side A** : “You choose: a hero’s kingdom… **Side B** : …or a mean democracy” **Side C** : “You want to focus” **Side D** : “Bofus?” Minor Threat, (untitled) **Side A** : Down and out, up and over **Side B** : Over and over, over and out Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, _Smashed Hits_ **Side B** : No probs as soon Sonic Youth, _Confusion is Sex_ **Side A** : Birth of John Spencer, or what? **Side B** : Neutral, zensor, lgw -rip us off you need to- Sonic Youth, _EVOL_ **Side A** : Destroy all record labels **Side B** : Everything turns black to blue Yeah Yeah Noh, _Fun on the Lawn Lawn Lawn_ **Side B** : I can sing like a frog I can sing like a girl Yeah Yeah Noh, _When I’m a Big Girl_ **Side A** : She Loves You **Side B** : She’s Not There Hoo! what fun! Has anyone else ever noticed this? Got any to add? Speculation as to origins? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/2 "2002-07-24T02:50:20Z")
Joe Walsh liked to do it. IIRC, “The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get,” had “Y because we like you” scratched into it. “So What” also had something, but it’ll take too long to get my hands on my copy. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/3 "2002-07-24T03:12:40Z")
Robert Fripp’s _The League of Gentlemen_, 1979. One side had the message scratched: **Music is the cup that holds the wine of silence** I forgot what the other side said, but it was something equally philosophical about music. Led Zeppelin’s 12-inch single of “Stairway to Heaven,” I’m told, had Side 1: **Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.** Side 2: **Love is the Law, Love under Will.** I’ve also heard this (Aleister Crowley’s famous motto of Thelema) was on an early pressing of _Led Zeppelin III_. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/4 "2002-07-24T03:17:48Z")
**The Clash** , _London Calling_: Side 1: “In space . . .” Side 2: “. . . no one . . .” Side 3: " . . . can hear you . . ." Side 4: “. . . CLASH” (from memory, so I may have the breaks/punctuation wrong) Seems like _Sandinista!_ also had something, but I’ve no idea what at this remove. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/5 "2002-07-24T03:33:11Z")
One of the Eagles albums had “VOL is five piece live.” I don’t remember which one. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/6 "2002-07-24T05:07:43Z")
**Kate Bush** has done this a lot. Here’s a list of the inscriptions on the first releases of the vinyl editions: **Wuthering Heights / Kite:** Side A: Remember the whales [Moving intro sound] \*\*The Man With The Child In His Eyes / Moving: \*\* Side A: The child hides in the light \*\*Hammer Horror / Coffee Homeground \*\* Side A: Were all playing a hunch \*\*Wow / Fullhouse: \*\* Side A: Thank You Emily [Emily Bronte, author of the novel Wuthering Heights] \*\*Breathing / The Empty Bullring: \*\* Side A: We all share the same air Side B: Happy anniversary to the p’s \*\*Army Dreamers / Delius / Passing Through Air: \*\* Side A: Life is to love \*\*December Will Be Magic Again / Warm And Soothing: \*\* Side A: Happy Christmas \*\*Sat In Your Lap / Lord Of The Reedy River: \*\* Side A: Well done JB 1st dan [JB is John Barrett (assistant engineer, see SIYL sleeve), not John Carder Bush] Side B: Thank you Donovan [Donovan wrote Lord Of The Reedy River] \*\*The Dreaming / Dreamtime: \*\* Side A: For Rolf [Rolf Harris] \*\*There Goes A Tenner / Ne T’Enfuis Pas: \*\* Side A: Rays \*\*Cloudbusting / Burning Bridge: \*\* Side A: For Peeps \*\*Hounds of Love / The Handsome Cabin Boy: \*\* Side A: Woof! \*\*This Woman’s Work / Be Kind To My Mistakes: \*\* Side A: “Up yours Ugly!” \*\*The Red Shoes / You Want Alchemy: \*\* Side A: One for the Archers [= M. Powell + E. Pressburger] Side B: Buzzzz ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/7 "2002-07-24T06:10:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rackensack \* > \*\ ***The Clash** , _London Calling_: > Side 1: “In space . . .” > Side 2: “. . . no one . . .” > Side 3: " . . . can hear you . . ." > Side 4: “. . . CLASH” > (from memory, so I may have the breaks/punctuation wrong) > > Seems like _Sandinista!_ also had something, but I’ve no idea what at this remove. \*\* I just went to look at my copy of _Sandinista_ to see what it said, and it says, “In space… no one… can… hear… you… Clash!” (Spread out over six sides.) Spot used to always write little messages on the records he produced for SST. **Black Flag’s** _Damaged_ says, “Comin at ya… the whole gelatinous thing.” _Zen Arcade_ ( **Husker Du** ) says, “Falling Shirley – Everytime I square off against someone’s God I spend the rest of the night (or day) hallucinating. And now it is the visions of a joyous hell within the circuits that make Pac-Men die and vessels disintegrate.” (Spread out over four sides.) ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/8 "2002-07-24T13:26:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*Joe Walsh liked to do it. IIRC, “The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get,” had “Y because we like you” scratched into it. > > “So What” also had something, but it’ll take too long to get my hands on my copy. \*\* I don’t think it was Joe Walsh who put these here, but his producer Bill Szymczyk, who was notorious for doing this on many of the albums he produced, including the Eagles. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/9 "2002-07-24T13:38:11Z")
When I was in a band in my college days, we cut an EP (waste of money, that was). We put the message _If you can read this your head is spinning_ on side B. I don’t recall what we put on side A. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/10 "2002-07-24T15:10:13Z")
Lots of British pressing LPs (if there is such a thing) from the 70’s used to have “porky’s prime cuts” on the cut-out groove. Porky was the engineer who made the master disc and that’s how he signed it. ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/11 "2002-07-24T15:11:48Z")
Slight hijack, but does anyone remember the holograms they put on one or the other side of the album to prevent piracy? The one that comes to mind is Styx’s “Paradise Theater,” that, if you hold it right, has the columns and “Paradise” in a hologram on the vinyl. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/12 "2002-07-24T16:27:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > Lots of British pressing LPs (if there is such a thing) from the 70’s used to have “porky’s prime cuts” on the cut-out groove. > > Porky was the engineer who made the master disc and that’s how he signed it. Oho! Then I assume that “Wally”, “JANE”, and “RyanK”, who I alluded to in the OP, are probably also engineers in charge of cutting the master? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-messages-scratched-inside-inner-groove-of-lps/120486/13 "2002-07-24T16:54:09Z")
Weird Al had messages on most of his vinyl as well…but I can’t remember any right now ☹