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I know about hidden tracks on CD's, but are there examples of hidden tracks on cassette/ vinyl?

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  • +1 good question. I think that there are too many tags.
    – Ram
    Feb 25, 2015 at 21:27
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is a list question
    – Darrick Herwehe
    Mar 19, 2015 at 20:35
  • This is already answered by wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_track
    – DA.
    Mar 25, 2015 at 3:27
  • In the lead-out on Prince's "Purple Rain" LP, I think Side 1 but I may be wrong, there is a "mini-track" backwards-masked. If you drop the needle next to the label and spin it backwards you get a 20-second song or something. Haven't done that in 20 years, I just remember the lyrics "The Lord is coming soon" in it.
    – Johnny Bones ♦
    Jun 17, 2015 at 15:25

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Jack White has a habbit of including hidden tracks and other features. Here's for instance his latest album Lazaretto:

The 11-track album on White's label Third Man Records, includes different mixes and sequencing to the digital version, and will play at 33.3rpm as normal. However two secret tracks hidden in the centre label will play at 45 and 78rpm respectively – a repeat of the trick White pulled with his Dead Weather supergroup and their album Sea of Cowards.

Side A meanwhile demands that you place the needle on the inside of the record as it works its way outward, eventually getting caught in a perpetual locked groove at the outer edge (the more jaded White fan might suggest that you won't be able to tell when said groove begins). The first song on Side B however, has two different intros, one acoustic and one electric, which differ depending on where the needle is dropped. The two grooves then blend into one halfway through the song.

If that wasn't enough to play with, there is also a hologram on Side A hand-etched by artist Tristan Duke, featuring a spinning angel appearing to float in the blank area between the groove and the label. Side B is given a matte finish so it resembles a shellac 78rpm record.

Yes, you need to destroy the center labels to play the hidden tracks. Billboard has a video.

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Monty Python's Matching Tie & Handkerchief may qualify, as entire sides were 'hidden' by two methods.

  • Both sides of the album had the same label, claiming it was 'Side 2'

  • One side had dual concentric grooves, so which tracks you heard was dependent on which of the two grooves you hit when dropping the needle.

It was referred to at the time as a 3-sided record.

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C+C Music Factory's Gonna Make You Sweat album on cassette had a hidden track. The cassette said that "Bang That Beat" was the final track on the tape, but if you let the cassette continue playing for about 20-30 seconds past the end of that song, then you heard the "Shade" song start playing.

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    That is unlisted, not hidden as I would understand it.
    – user3169
    Feb 25, 2015 at 22:35
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    @user3169 What's the difference, in terms of a cassette? How else would you hide a track on a cassette?
    – pacoverflow
    Feb 25, 2015 at 22:36
  • More detail about the given examples would be needed. Some analog audio cassettes had index markers between tracks on the tape, so you could jump to a particular track using some of the better cassette players. Not sure if it was ever used for this purpose though. On a digital audio cassette it would be easy to do (same method as on a CD).
    – user3169
    Feb 25, 2015 at 22:42
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    @user3169 I had always assumed that track-skipping on cassette players just detected the silence between tracks..?
    – user16
    Feb 26, 2015 at 17:17
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The cassette release of Pulse by Pink Floyd contains a 22-minute hidden track titled Soundscape (Cassette 2, Side 4) that starts a few minutes after the last listed track Run Like Hell.

  1. "Wish You Were Here" 6:35
  2. "Comfortably Numb" 9:29
  3. "Run Like Hell" 8:36
  4. "Soundscape (Ambient piece played before all concerts)" 22:00

In case of vinyl, the contents in the locked groove will be in many cases a hidden track (discussed here).

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One of the first and most famous hidden tracks is on The Beatles' Abbey Road. "Her Majesty" begins 14 seconds after the last song listed on the album jacket ("The End") and runs 23 seconds long. It is often considered the first example of a hidden track in recording history. Released in 1969, this was long before CDs.

There have been lots of albums featuring hidden bonus tracks since, released on every format you can think of, using various techniques. Wikipedia has an article about hidden tracks that discusses the techniques and notable examples.

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  • I wouldn't consider 'Her Majesty' as a hidden track; it starts right after the previous song ends
    – Shevliaskovic
    Feb 26, 2015 at 7:33
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    @Shevliaskovic You are welcome to your opinion of course, but having a song not listed on the track list that begins after a longer than normal gap at the end of the record is usually considered one of the hidden track techniques. On a cassette, it's the only technique possible.
    – Ben Miller
    Feb 26, 2015 at 12:37
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From Mew's album No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry They Washed Away // No More Stories, The World Is Grey, I'm Tired, Let's Wash Away, the track New Terrain, when played backwards, is a different song called Nervous. I'm not sure if it strictly qualifies as a "hidden" track - it was added as a bonus track on the vinyl edition, but since it's the same audio played in reverse, hiding the song is independent of the media it is recorded on.

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