These are amongst the most difficult of Guy's records to research, as this type of
disc is so rarely seen, and they do not seem to have been documented anywhere. They were 
Columbia's answer to the 7-inch 45rpm singles issued by their biggest rival, RCA-Victor,
in what became known as 'The Battle of the Speeds'.

In view of the interest shown in these discs over the years, it seems worth while
documenting their history at some length.

The timetable of 'The Battle of the Speeds' was as follows: 

July 1948	Columbia introduce 331/3rpm LP albums, intended eventually to replace the
                bulky and fragile 78rpm albums, usually containing between three and 
                six 78s.

January 1949	RCA-Victor's response is to ignore the LP (although Columbia had made
                their technology available to all companies) and re-package their 78rpm
                albums as boxes of 7-inch 45rpm singles, their selling point being their
                compactness as opposed to Columbia's 10- and 12-inch LPs.

January 1949	Columbia retaliate immediately by issuing their own 7-inch discs but which
                play at 'their' speed of 331/3rpm, and issue all their popular 78s
                simultaneously in this format until January 1951. They are numbered in a
                series from 1-101 to 1-943.

January 1950	RCA-Victor admit that the LP is outselling their boxes of 45s, and start
                to issue LPs, but retain the 7-inch 45rpm format for popular singles, at 
                the same time launching a massive advertising campaign to popularise them.

August 1950	Columbia concede that 45rpm singles are more popular than their 331/3rpm 
                singles, and issue their first 45s. These are confined to best selling items
                until January 1951, and use the 331/3rpm catalogue number with a prefix
                6- instead of 1-.

December 1950	Columbia simplify their numbering system for singles, using the same number
                for all formats. 78s have no prefix, 45s have prefix 4- and 331/3s have 
                prefix 3-.
                Existing 45s and 331/3s in the 6- and 1- series are renumbered accordingly.

February 1951	Columbia start to issue all their popular 78s simultaneously on 45s, with
                only selected singles now appearing on 7-inch 331/3rpm.

September 1952	The complete Columbia catalogue of this date does not list any 331/3rpm
                singles at all, so those issued at the start of 1952 had a very short life 
                span indeed.

August 1959	Columbia revive the 7-inch 331/3rpm format for their new Columbia Stereo 
                Seven singles. Selected popular items are issued in this series until May 
                1960, after which they are issued only in boxed sets for DJ's as a breakdown
                of album tracks.
                These sets are numbered JS7.1 to JS7.85, the last being issued in 
                February 1964.

June 1960	Columbia re-introduce the mono 7-inch 331/3rpm single as an alternative
                to the 45, in an attempt to have a standard record speed of 331/3rpm 
                following the deletion of the last 78s. These discs prove no more popular
                than they had ten years earlier, and are discontinued in 1963.

John Gray and Clayton Pasternack, two U.S. collectors of 'Billboard' magazine, have
very kindly checked out all of the original Columbia advertisements for Guy's records during
the times that 331/3 singles were being issued, and we can now say with some certainty that 
this listing is complete:


RELEASED LABEL/NUMBER      TITLES                                           BACKING

1950
15 MAY   COLUMBIA 1-643     GIDDY-AP!                                        PERCY FAITH
		            WHERE IN THE WORLD                               PERCY FAITH

26 JUN	 COLUMBIA 1-689     ME AND MY IMAGINATION                            PERCY FAITH
		            TO ME YOU'RE A SONG                              PERCY FAITH  
 
28 AUG   COLUMBIA 1-764     ANGELS CRY (WHEN SWEETHEARTS TELL A LIE)         PERCY FAITH
		            YOU'RE NOT IN MY ARMS TONIGHT                    PERCY FAITH

20 NOV   COLUMBIA 1-905     MARRYING FOR LOVE  *                             PERCY FAITH
		            YOU'RE JUST IN LOVE  *                           PERCY FAITH
		  *(Both From 'Call Me Madam'.Both with ROSEMARY CLOONEY)

20 NOV   COLUMBIA 1-907     THE PLACE WHERE I WORSHIP *                      PERCY FAITH
		            THE HOUSE OF SINGING BAMBOO *                    PERCY FAITH
                            (Film: 'Pagan Love Song')
		            *(Both with ROSEMARY CLOONEY)

 4 DEC   COLUMBIA 1-918     MY HEART CRIES FOR YOU                           MITCH MILLER
		            THE ROVING KIND                                  MITCH MILLER

18 DEC   COLUMBIA 3-38822   GIDDY-AP!                                        PERCY FAITH
		            WHERE IN THE WORLD                               PERCY FAITH

18 DEC   COLUMBIA 3-38872   ME AND MY IMAGINATION                            PERCY FAITH
		            TO ME YOU'RE A SONG                              PERCY FAITH

18 DEC   COLUMBIA 3-38931   ANGELS CRY (WHEN SWEETHEARTS TELL A LIE)         PERCY FAITH
		            YOU'RE NOT IN MY ARMS TONIGHT                    PERCY FAITH

18 DEC   COLUMBIA 3-39052   MARRYING FOR LOVE  *                             PERCY FAITH
		            YOU'RE JUST IN LOVE  *                           PERCY FAITH
		  *(Both From 'Call Me Madam'.Both with ROSEMARY CLOONEY)

18 DEC   COLUMBIA 3-39054   THE PLACE WHERE I WORSHIP *                      PERCY FAITH
		            THE HOUSE OF SINGING BAMBOO  *                   PERCY FAITH
                            (Film: 'Pagan Love Song')
		            *(Both with ROSEMARY CLOONEY)

18 DEC   COLUMBIA 3-39067   MY HEART CRIES FOR YOU                           MITCH MILLER
		            THE ROVING KIND                                  MITCH MILLER

1951
 5 FEB   COLUMBIA 3-39190   SPARROW IN THE TREETOP                           MITCH MILLER
                            CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS                             

21 MAY   COLUMBIA 3-39415   MY TRULY, TRULY FAIR                             MITCH MILLER
		            WHO KNOWS LOVE                                   MITCH MILLER

 3 AUG   COLUMBIA 3-39512   BELLE, BELLE, MY LIBERTY BELLE                   MITCH MILLER
		            SWEETHEART OF YESTERDAY                          MITCH MILLER

1952
24 MAR   COLUMBIA 3-39663   PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA                         MITCH MILLER
	 **                 THE DOLL WITH THE SAWDUST HEART                  MITCH MILLER


                 NO 331/3 SINGLES WERE ISSUED BETWEEN AUGUST 1952 and JULY 1959                  


1959
21 DEC   COLUMBIA STEREO SEVEN  S7-30476 (Picture Sleeve ?)
         (Stereo)
	 **                 HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBER (Alternative Take)      JOE SHERMAN
	 	            TWO                                              JOE SHERMAN

1960
   JUL   COLUMBIA 3-41725   SILVER MOON UPON THE GOLDEN SANDS                MONTY KELLY
	 **                 MY SHOES KEEP WALKING BACK TO YOU                MONTY KELLY
 
31 OCT   COLUMBIA 3-41853   (Picture Sleeve)

		            SUNSHINE GUITAR                                  MONTY KELLY
		            RIDIN' AROUND IN THE RAIN                        MONTY KELLY

1961
   JAN   COLUMBIA 3-33005   'HALL OF FAME' SERIES

		            SINGING THE BLUES                                RAY CONNIFF
		            HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBER (Original Take)         JOE SHERMAN

 6 MAR   COLUMBIA 3-41970   YOUR GOODNIGHT KISS                            INSTRUMENTAL ACC.
		            FOLLOW ME                                      INSTRUMENTAL ACC.

18 AUG   COLUMBIA 3-42143   I'LL JUST PRETEND                                MORT GARSON
		            DIVORCE                                          MORT GARSON

24 OCT   COLUMBIA 3-42231   (Picture Sleeve ?)

		            SOFT RAIN                                        MORT GARSON
		            BIG, BIG CHANGE                                  MORT GARSON


   **	These three singles were not issued simultaneously with the 78/45rpm issues. 
        They were reissued on 331/3rpm after they entered the 'Billboard' charts.


During the periods in which 331/3rpm singles were being issued (up to July 1952 and
recommencing in August 1959) we know for certain that none of the following were issued
on 331/3rpm simultaneously with the 78/45rpm releases. However, because of Columbia's 
practice of reissuing chart hits on 331/3rpm singles, there is a possibility that some of
these were reissued in this format, as those marked ++ all entered various 'Billboard'
charts :

	A BEGGAR IN LOVE / UNLESS ++

	THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM AT OUR HOUSE ++ / I CAN'T HELP IT ++

	WE WON'T LIVE IN A CASTLE / WIMMIN

	A LITTLE KISS GOODNIGHT / GENTLY JOHNNY (Both with DORIS DAY)

	THE DAY OF JUBILO ++ / YOU'LL NEVER BE MINE

	FEET UP ++ / JENNY KISSED ME

	THE SAME OLD ME ++ / BUILD MY GALLOWS HIGH

	CRY HURTIN' HEART / SYMPHONY OF SPRING


Other points to note :

The 'SUNSHINE GUITAR' LP was not issued as a boxed set of Stereo Seven singles.

The picture sleeve of the 'SUNSHINE GUITAR' single is a dual-purpose one, as it carries
both the 45 and 331/3rpm catalogue numbers.

The picture sleeves of 'HEARTACHES BY THE NUMBER' and 'SOFT RAIN' show only the 45rpm 
number.
It isn't known whether separate picture sleeves exist for the 331/3rpm issues.

The Stereo Seven singles always had a catalogue number 11,000 below the equivalent mono
45rpm single number.

In their advertising, Columbia described 7-inch 331/3 singles as 'LPs' in the 1949-52 
period,and as '33 Singles' in the 1960-63 period. Nowadays, they are usually known as 
'Compact 33s'.


                                                

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