X-Ray Audio, A Documentary on Banned Rock & Roll Records Copied Onto Medical X-Rays in 1950s Russia

“X-Ray Audio: The Documentary” by The Vinyl Factory and Antique Beat focuses on banned rock & roll records copied onto medical x-rays in 1950s Russia through interviews with people who helped make and distribute them.

The iconic images of gramophone grooves cut onto x-rays of skulls, ribcages and bones have captured the collective imagination way beyond the music scene. Now for the first time, the complete story of the Soviet x-ray record has emerged, as told by the people who made it happen.

A collection of these records has been digitized and uploaded to a site by the X-Ray Audio Project.

In 2014 we shared a series of photos of these so-called “bone records,” and they were also recently the subject of an episode of the podcast 99% Invisible.