Александр Вертинский - Над розовым морем (Vertinsky - Above a Pink Sea)

Not “high fidelity“ by any means, but a fascinating artifact of Russian recording history, now in my collection. A flexible, ultra-thin, disc of about nine inches with Alexander Vertinsky’s recording of “Nad rozovbim morem“ (“Over the Pink Sea“) The original recording was made in Moscow, January 1944, shortly after Vertinsky’s return to Russia. The interesting part is that this particular recording - like many others - was never officially released by the USSR record agencies. Instead, they were circulated as white label test pressings, with typewritten labels (like this one, linked here: but unfortunately, never seems to have been officially released. It appears that the only Vertinsky records which were published were his patriotic tunes - perhaps songs like this were considered too bourgeois? Merely a speculation, but it is certainly unusual given his extreme popularity in Russia. This particu