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Yellow Parlophone Label
(Update: 12th. January 2018)

label

Example:EP's List

TITLE
Twist and Shout
TRACK LISTING
SIDE 1
Twist And Shout (Medley-Russell)
A Taste Of Honey (Scott-Marlow)
SIDE 2
Do You Want A Know A Secret (McCartney-Lennon)
There's A Place (McCartney-Lennon)
RELEASE DATE
1964? /Third Press
DISK --> Click!
twist twist label label label
BACK COVER CLOSE UP
twist twist twist Wrap-around cover. Round-cut corner.
Printer name "Garrod (& Lofthouse Ltd.)" was printed at the bottom of the back cover.
LABEL CLOSE UP
label Push-out center.
The embossed letter (tax code) is "K, T".
" SOLD IN U.K. SUBJECT TO RESALE PRICE CONDITIONS, SEE PRICE LISTS." statement was printed at the center of the label.
label The side-2 label was mis-printed with "Do You Want A Know A Secret" instead of "Do You Want To Know A Secret" in roman type.
LABEL CLOSE UP
label label The 3rd. pressing has
(1) capitalized PARLOPHONE rims
(2) "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 1963" statement.
(3) "Sold In U.K." statement.
label label
SIDE 1 SIDE 2
Matrix suffixed with
side-1: "2N"
side-2: "1N"
OTHER ITEM
-

GEP-8882
RECORD LABEL Black/yellow Parlophone label with silver print: Type-2
MIX
MONO
MATRIX No. SIDE 1 7TCE 762 - 2N
SIDE 2 7TCE 763 - 1N
BLACK
COVER THE PARLOPHONE Co., Ltd.
LABEL THE PARLOPHONE CO. LTD. (capital letter)
Push-out center
Yes
PUBLISHER'S NAME
SIDE 1 SHERWIN M. BIEM/NCB MECOLICO AMBASSADOR MUSIC
SIDE 2 NORTHERN SONGS BIEM
COVER FORM
Single type
Laminated rounded upper and lower rear flaps and no tab cut on the back
PRINTER CREDIT
Garrod
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES Photo: Fiona Adams / Notes: Tony Barrow
PRODUCER George Martin
COMMENTS
Beginning in 1964, Parlophone (and all the other EMI companies) began printing a phrase in the centers of all their singles, EP's and LP's, which said:
SOLD IN U.K. SUBJECT TO
RESALE PRICE CONDITIONS,
SEE PRICE LISTS.

The side-2 label was mis-printed with "Do You Want A Know A Secret" instead of "Do You Want To Know A Secret" in Roman Type.











Yellow Parlophone Label Variation...Back to the EP List

Company's Name Publisheing date of the recording Central Remark
"Sold in U.K...."
Variations
THE PARLOPHONE CO. LTD. "Recording First Published 196X" - Type 1
Yes Type 2
(P) 196X Yes Type 3
THE GRAMOPHONE CO. LTD. (P) 196X Yes Type 4
- Type 5
EMI RECORDS LTD. (P) 196X - Type 6


Company's Name

The outer rim statement on the label, which always said "THE PARLOPHONE CO. LTD." from 1963 to June 1965.
On 1st July 1965, EMI underwent a merger and each individual ceased to be a L.T.D. company and became a Subsidiary of "THE GRAMOPHONE CO. LTD." which was owned by EMI. This merger meant yet another label change occurred and previous "Parlophone Co. Ltd." rims where replaced with the new "Gramophone" rims.
The reissued Yellow Parlophone in 1981 (Collection Box Set) have a credit "EMI RECORDS LTD." around the label.

Spring 1963-June 1965 July 1965-1969 1981-reissue
(Box Set)
label label label


Publishing date of the recording

1963 Spring 1963-Early 1965? Early 1965?- Late 1969 and 1981
label label label
Publishing date of therecording was not printed on the label.
*"The Beatles' Hits (1st. Press "matrix 1N/1N": GEP 8880)" only (maybe)
Publishing year printed as: "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 196X" was printed. The statement "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 196X" was replaced by a symbol "(P)".


"SOLD IN UK." statement

The "SOLD IN U.K. SUBJECT TO RESALE PRICE CONDITIONS, SEE PRICE LISTS" statement was introduced in February 1964 on all EMI singles, EPs and LPs.
In this time, "With The Beatles" was at #1 in the LP charts for a twenty-one week stay. Beyond any doubt, EMI who had unprecedented advance orders, manufactured an overwhelming amount of these before the "SOLD IN U.K." notice was introduced. Resultantly, there might not have been a need, right away, to press the LP in February with the "SOLD IN U.K." statement, as so many copies had yet to be sold, which were already made.
In summer of 1969, the "SOLD IN U.K." statement was removed on the label.

Summer 1963-January 1964
label
February 1964-Early 1965?
label
Early 1965?-Summer 1969
label
Summer 1969-
label
1981 (EP Collection Box)
label


Copyright Information
The record companies printed copyright information on records that were intended for export and on a lot of domestic U.K. pressings. In case of EPs and Singles, this information was usually printed at the left side on the label.

The most usual ones are:
  • B. I. E. M. (Bureau International des Societes Gerant les Droits d'Enregistrement et de Reproduction Mecanique) handles the copyrights for 52 different countries. --> homepage
  • G. E. M. A. (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte.) was started in 1915 and handles the copyright in Germany. --> homepage
  • N. C. B. (Nordisk Copyright Bureau) is responsible for the copyrights in the nordic countries. --> homepage

B.I.E.M. N.C.B.
label label


Printing Style

The type for the information printed on the disk's center (i.e. titles, artist, writer, record number, etc.) depends fully on the different sets of type that each printer had to use at his disposal, and not at all indicate a first pressing.

"Sans Serif" type "Roman" type
font font


Embossed Initials: Tax Code

Most 1960's EMI pressings, in the center of the LP, single or EP, have letters embossed from under the surface of the label's center. The letters were indented into a stamper ( a negative image of the disk which records are pressed from); so that when pressing the positive disk, the indented letters become lifted from the surface.
Right: the center of "The Beatles' Million Sellers", with initials "KT" very visible. The ones are KT, MT, PMT, PT, MKT or PKT and maybe a couple more; KT and MT seen most frequent.

label
According to "LABELOGRAPHY written by Jan Petterson", there were 17 different tax codes until VAT was introduced in 1973.
The record companies introduced the new tax codes at specific dates but sometimes continued to use an old code even when they had introduced the new one.
(Similar information was received from Mr. Andy.Thanks!)

Tax codes
NT 1954 OT 26th. July 1961
NI 1955 ZT 10th. April 1962
RT Summer 1955 PT 26th. November 1963
XT Summer 1957 MT 1st. January 1963
ET August 1959 KT 1st. July 1963 (used until at least 1972)
WT 1st. August 1960 JT 1968



Push-out center / Solid Center

The most common center for an EMI group 7 inches  record was the four-spoke push-out center. This type of center was in use from the beginning and was still used in 1975, the year where this description of the EMI labels ends.

EMI decided in November 1966 to only press singles (and EPs?) with solid centers. However, they continued to produce push-out center for "special purposes" seemed to be export, another for use in jukeboxes. There are a lot of push-out center singles in Sweden which were released after November 1966.

Push-out Center Solid Center: type-1 Solid Center: type-2
The Beatles (No.1) (1st. Press: GEP 8883)
The Beatles (No.1) (2nd. Press? : GEP 8883) Twist And Shout (GEP 8882)
1973 reissue
LABEL CLOSE UP LABEL CLOSE UP LABEL
label label label label
label
Long Tall Sally (1st. Press: GEP 8913) Long Tall Sally (2nd. Press? : GEP 8913) Magical Mystery Tour (SMMT-1)
1981 box set
LABEL CLOSE UP LABEL CLOSE UP LABEL
label label label label label"

EPs PARLOPHONE rim GRAMOPHONE rim EMI RECORDS rim
Push-out Solid Push-out Solid Push-out Solid
Twist And Shout (GEP 8882) Yes - Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Beatles' Hits (GEP 8880) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
The Beatles (No.1) (GEP 8883) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
All My Loving (GEP 8891) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Long Tall Sally (GEP 8913) Yes Yes Yes Yes - -
A Hard Day's Night (GEP 8920) Yes Yes - - Yes ?
A Hard Day's Night (GEP 8924) Yes - - - Yes Yes
Beatles For Sale (GEP 8931) Yes Yes - - Yes Yes
Beatles For Sale No.2 (GEP 8938) Yes - Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Beatles' Million Sellers (GEP 8946) - - Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yesterday (GEP 8948) - - Yes - Yes Yes
Nowhere Man (GEP 8952) - - Yes Yes Yes Yes











Mixing: Mono and Stereo...Back to the EP List

12 original Beatles' EPs were issued on the yellow Parlophone label between 1963 and 1966 which were issued in mono only.
On 8th December 1967, "Magical Mystery Tour" (a 2-EP set) was issued, this set was available in both mono and stereo.

And in1981, "The Beatles EPs colection Box Set" was released, "Magical Mystery Tour" and "The BEATLES (a bonus EP)" were issued in stereo.
Magical Mystery Tour
magical
The Beatles (bonus EP)
magical

Mono
Yellow Parlophone Silver Parlophone
1963-1966 1973 reissue EP Collection Box
1981 reissue
Magical Mystery Tour
label
label
label
label
Stereo Yellow Parlophone Silver Parlophone
1963-1966 1973 reissue EP Collection Box
1981 reissue
Magical Mystery Tour
No Disk No Disk
label
label

Original Parlophone Label
RELEASE DATE TITLE MONO STEREO
12. July 1963 Twist and Shout Yes -
6. September 1963 The Beatles' Hits Yes -
1. November 1963 The Beatles (No.1) Yes -
7. February 1964 All My Loving Yes -
19. June 1964 Long Tall Sally Yes -
4. November 1964 A Hard Day's Night #1 Yes -
6. November 1964 A Hard Day's Night #2 Yes -
6. April 1965 Beatles For Sale Yes -

4. June 1965

Beatles For Sale (No.2) Yes -
6. December 1965 The Beatles' Milloin Sellers Yes -
4. March 1966 Yesterday Yes -
8. July 1966 Nowhere Man Yes -
8. December 1967 Magical Mystery Tour Yes Yes
7. December 1981 The Beatles' EPs Collection Box Set Yes "Magical Mysrery Tour" and
"The Beatles (bonus EP)"
Original Apple Label
RELEASE DATE TITLE MONO STEREO
20. March 1995 Baby It's You Yes -

Catalog Number

Parlophone released their EPs in two record number series: the GEP series for mono releases and the SGE series for stereo releases. Their first EP released during 1954 (maybe). The record number series ended in 1968.

Yellow Parlophone: Spring 1963-1966
Mono Stereo Comments
label
No Disk
The mono EPs were numbered with "GEP" prefix on center-right of the label.
Yellow Parlophone: 1981-reissue (EPs Collection Box Set)
Mono Stereo Comments
label label The mono EPs were numbered with "GEP" prefix on center-right of the label.

A bonus EP, "THE BEATLES" was numbered with "SGE" prefix on center-right of the label.


Prefix of Catalog Number

Prefix Label Kind
GEP Yellow Parlophone Mono
MMT Silver Parlophone Mono (Magical Mystery Tour)
SMMT Silver Parlophone Stereo (Magical Mystery Tour)
SGE Yellow Parlophone Stereo ("The Beatles": a bonus EP from EP Collection Box)











Matrix Number...Back to the LP List
Matrix numbers are alphanumeric codes (and on occasion, other symbols) stamped or hand written (or a combination of the two) into the run-out groove area of a gramophone record. This is the non-grooved area between the end of the final song on a record's side and the label, also known as the run-off groove area, end-groove area, matrix area, or "dead wax".
Matrix numbers are intended for the internal use of the record manufacturing plant, but they are also studied and documented by record collectors, as they can sometimes provide useful information about the edition of the record.
The most important part of the extra information is usually the cut number, which is a suffix to the main number. For example, matrix number 12345 is seen on a label, but examination of the run-out groove area reveals number 12345–3, which indicates this is the third cut of this side. It is not unusual to find records with a different cut number on each side.

Prefix of Stamper Number

you can see each label and inner groove both side 1 and 2.
Mono

Mono (GEP) label using: 7TCE.
"Magical Mystery Tour" mono (MMT-1) label using: 7XCE.

Stereo
"Magical Mystery Tour" stereo (SMMT-1) label using: 7YCE.
"THE BEATLES (a bonus EP from colection Box)" (SGE-1) label using: SGE.

Mono Stereo
GEP Series MMT Series SMMT Series SGE Series
label label label label
label label label label


Lacquer, Mother and Stamper Number

The courtesy of Mr. Michael Fremer (Thanks!)
label At the "6 O'clock" position on the inner groove area is the matrix number with a -1 or -2 etc.
For instance, Beatles For Sale in stereo is YEX 142-1 (etc.).
The "1" means the FIRST LACQUER cut from the master. -2 the second etc.
At the "9 O'clock" is a number which tell you what "mother" was used to generate the stamper actually used the press the record. A number of "mothers" are generated from the lacquer. Obviously a "1" means first mother generated from the lacquer. A "5" means it was much later--the fifth mother generated from the lacquer.
At the "3 O'clock" position there will be one to three letters, which are codes associated with numbers as follows, which tell you what stamper was used to press the actual record:
G R A M O P H L T D (gramophone Ltd)

G
R
A
M
O
P
H
L
T
D
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
Therefore, if the letters say "GR" that is stamper 12. "O" is stamper 5 etc.

7TCE 762-1N, mother 1, stamper G
is the very first pressing of "Twist and Shout" in mono: first lacquer, first mother, first stamper.

7TCE 762-1N, mother 4, stamper RLT.
That would be first lacquer, 4th mother and 289th stamper generated from that mother.



Vinyl Color...Back to the EP List

Black Only.

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