THE BEATLES Magical Mystery Tour - VERY RARE 1967 Taiwan Pressing -

$

200

This is one of the rarest of the Beatles' Taiwanese pressings, the original first pressing of Magical Mystery Tour on the First label. Amazing truly amateur stab at making a cover! These Taiwanese pressings are extremely rare (especially in decent condition) and very interesting: Taiwan imports are copies of US, UK, and Japanese albums that were pressed without obeying copyright laws. They were pressed by small companies in Taiwan (or Formosa), in extremely limited numbers ( between 100 and 500), and so are quite rare. They were made for the Chinese semi-black market and so had to be made outside China to avoid certain restrictions on record manufacturing. It was illegal to export them out of the country, so the only way they got out was through US servicemen who bought them there and then brought them back when they returned from overseas duty. There are many cover and label variations to watch for.  Sometimes they are pressed on colored vinyl, usually with terrible sound. Most of the time the front covers are poor quality copies printed on thin paper.  Many back covers are different or will have the lyrics printed, some with amusing errors and typos. Sometimes there are album slicks from other albums inside the covers.  The official record company logo is removed and a Chinese record company and record number is superimposed in its place. The covers are made of paper which is sealed in very thin plastic, inside and outside. They are pressed on poor quality vinyl which plays with some static. They never note the country name on the cover or on the labels.

They were not official pressings even in Taiwan or China, where the communist government did not yet allow western music to be released. So very few were made, and even fewer have survived. 

This is NOT an audiophile pressing! These records were pressed on cheap vinyl with substandard equipment and second-hand masters made from US, UK, or Japanese discs. Still they sound pretty good in their way, if they are well taken care of. Always a little crackle. But they are really interesting rarities from the Maoist regime, showing how some young folks there still wanted to hear the Beatles, even if it was unpatriotic.

This copy is in absolutely gorgeous condition. The disc has some light superficial marks from the sleeve, but they aren't damage. Plays pretty much like a new Taiwanese copy (which means just a little noisy). The cover is just beautifully preserved, with barely any wear at all. You never ever see copies in this condition. A true top copy of one of the Taiwanese holy grails, almost impossible to find in this condition.