RCA was one of the first companies to release quadraphonic product in the United States with its original line of Quadraphonic 8-Track cartridges. Baring the short lived "quad-8" logo, these tapes can be distinguished from the later, more common RCA Q8's, by their orange colored graphics and a full sized solid cardboard sleeve with the albums graphics printed on the front.

Getting these quad tapes out to market quickly was to insure that RCA quad were out into the marketplace to compete with Columbia and others while their parent company in Japan (JVC) completed work on perfecting their new CD-4 discrete quadradisc system for quadraphonic record albums. Early CD-4 LPs released in Japan were suffering from excessive wear and tear with many of these LPs deteriorating after being played just a few times. This caused JVC to announce at that time that their CD-4 discs should only be played on specially equipped turntables with a "Shibata" stylus installed, which increased the surface area that came in contact with the LP groove, thus decreasing the pressure on the groove itself. Once JVC improved the LPs vinyl to make it more resilient, and the Shibata stylus was ready to ship, RCA could finally introduce the Quadradisc to the American public. When these first RCA CD-4 LPs were finally released with much fanfare in 1973, the early matrix quad albums had already been available in stores for over a year. Since these early matrix LPs had little or no separation, the thought was that CD-4 would quickly become the preferred method of distributing quadraphonic product on vinyl.

To celebrate the introduction, a worldwide live media event and concert that would become known as "Elvis Presley - Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite", was used as RCA decided to release the companion soundtrack album to the broadcast as its first single inventory CD-4 compatible Quadradisc. Since all copies of this 2 LP set would be CD-4 albums, RCA would get the "big sales" they wanted for a debut with the format. Collectors will note that the artwork for the initial issue album cover does not have the "quadradisc" logo printed above the VPSX-6089 pressing number and actually says "STEREO". (See Photos Below) This seems to indicate that this title was "rushed" into the CD-4 format at the last minute. A golden "Quadradisc" sticker was affixed to these "stereo" jackets, and continued to be used on the properly labeled later jackets. At any rate, most folks who bought the LP had no idea what the "quadradisc" sticker or logo was for as they just bought the LP for the "Elvis"! This January 1973 concert was rush released and hit the stores in February 1973, a month later! (In the scans below, I increased the size of the RCA logos for internet clarity)

That album went on to be the big hit they expected, selling well into the 1980's,
and RCA has its first block buster quadraphonic LP – a double set at that!

The above scans show enlarged logos showing the original STEREO logo on the left, and the later pressings without STEREO and the standard Quadradisc logo