Sonopresse (2)

Dutch flexi-disc factory based in Rotterdam, owned and operated by Leo Ritmeester (1922-2005). Between 1961 and 1984 Sonopresse produced more than 100 million flexi-discs according to the French Sonopresse procedure. Sonopresse was one of the few factories specialized in manufacturing flexi-discs, which usually served as luxurious marketing material and were manufactured on behalf of companies that wanted to advertise their product. Sonopresse Rotterdam was mainly a manufacturer, but the company also released a number of records on its own initiative. For example: SHOL 206, SHOL 304, SHOL 469, SHOL 470, SHOL 546, SHOL 547, SHOL 667, SHOL 668 and SHOL 669. Some of them contain more or less idealistic recordings about social issues and historical topics. These 'own' records were used as promotional gifts. Sonopresse numbered its flexi-discs in the runout groove, starting with SHOL, or SHOL/UGS. UGS standing for Ultra Groove System. These numbers are in essence sequential. There are quite some flaws in the catalogue, though. Some numbers seem to have been used more than once, for example. Sonopresse was basically a one man company and numbering the records was subject to human error. In the Sonopresse catalogue are also a number of vinyl records. Sonopresse did not have a vinyl press. Presumable Leo just helped people getting their record pressed elsewhere, and attached an own SHOL-number to it. Some flexi records in the Sonopresse catalogue were pressed in the UK. Whether that was due to technical problems or a lack of capacity is not clear. Flexi-discs with the abbrevation SH plus a number in the runout groove are from the German company Scherpe Krefeld.