THE BEATLES - PLEASE PLEASE ME - PMCO 1202 - FIRST "PARLOPHONE CO" GOLD LABEL

	A$		153
	$		101

After near-thirty years of collecting Beatles vinyl, I've* decided to thin out my collection, starting with some of the rarer titles. These are all from my own personal collection; I am not a dealer. All items smoke and scent free!

ABOUT THIS RECORD
Title: Please Please Me
Catalogue Number: PMCO 1202
LP release date: 17 Oct 1963
Date this copy released: ~Dec 1963
Matrices: XEX 421-1N / XEX 422-1N (mothers supplied by EMI UK)

BACKGROUND
On 21 February 1963, EMI (Australia), through its Parlophone label, issued the first Beatles record in Australia: Please Please Me/Ask Me Why. While the single was burning up the UK charts, here it went largely unnoticed, failing to trouble the chart compilers.

EMI (Australia) persisted, however, and by August 1963 had issued two further singles: From Me To You/Thank You Girl and She Loves You/I’ll Get You. Both initially failed to set the country alight, and by October 1963 had peaked no higher than the lower levels of the top ten.

Despite this lukewarm reception, the conservative EMI (Australia) decided the time was right to issue locally the Please Please Me long playing album (LP), which had been released in the UK seven months earlier. Still not convinced they had a winner, they limited the release to the mono version only, and took the economical path of importing a batch of 500 UK-manufactured sleeves to house the locally manufactured LPs. EMI (Australia) had previously learnt that artists with a few #1 hits in the UK were not necessarily assured of similar success here. The LP hit the streets on 17 October 1963, and by first hand accounts was near impossible to find. Even in December 1963, when sales had influenced the decision to produce sleeves locally, EMI (Australia) adopted numerous cost cutting measures, such as using blue ink for the text to reduce the number of printing plates and using a coated cardboard rather than a laminated cardboard sleeve construct. This explains why finding sleeves now in anything better than VG+ condition is so difficult!

The first local pressings of Please Please Me featured a gold-text on black base label design based on the labels that graced the first two UK mono pressings of Please Please Me. Despite being withdrawn by EMI UK almost a year earlier, the gold/black style continued in Australia until March 1964. Original labels used on Please Please Me had “MADE IN AUSTRALIA FOR THE PARLOPHONE CO. LTD. SYDNEY, NSW” printed in the perimeter. In January 1964, the text was replaced with “MADE IN AUSTRALIA BY E.M.I. (AUST.) LIMITED” and moved to the centre of the label, running horizontally each side of the centre hole. Somewhat “busier” than the UK original, the Australian gold label still possesses a certain antique charm.

[The above extracted from "An Overview Of Australian Beatles Records", available for purchase through my ebay.]

This desirable copy is from around Dec 1963, just after the UK sleeves had been used up but before the introduction of the second gold label style in Jan 1964. It is, in essence, one of the first wholy Australian made copies of the LP.

CONDITION
Grading as per Goldmine standards (ie no EX or VG++++++). Visual grading done under strong halogen lamp, play grading done on Project Xpression III with Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge. All anomalies noted. I consider my gradings conservative.

Sleeve: G+. MONO only sleeve. 3" spine split and 2" bottom seam split. Average ringwear with light/moderate soiling. NO writing, tape residue or sticker stains. Original plastic inner sleeve.

Vinyl:
Visual: VG+. Still quite shiny. A few needlemarks and hairlines, but no feelable scratches. No warping.
Play: VG. Were it not for three jumps on I Saw Her Standing There (I can't see an obvious corresponding scratch), this would grade VG+. A bit crackly, but not over powering. A bit of groovewear on Twist & Shout (perhaps a fave of the original owner?). Still an engaging listen. Would most likely benefit from a deep clean.

Labels: VG+. The most valuable aspect of this pressing. NO writing or sticker marks, just moderate spindle marks. The labels are a bit dusty (not as obvious as the scans makes out). There's a light needlemark on the side 2 label that's hardly noticable (I only noticed it when I angled the label under my halogen lamp), but it shows clearly on the scan. No fading of the gold lettering. A very good example of these early labels.

If you are after a copy of this LP just for the "PARLOPHONE CO" gold labels, you can do much worse than this one!

Checkout my recently published book on Australian Beatles records, also on ebay!

COMBINED POSTAGE
I am happy to combine postage for multiple purchases. Please contact me for accurate rates.

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMERS
Postage to New Zealand is $15, not $18. Please wait for an invoice before paying.

PACKAGING
If you're looking at this auction, then chances are you're a serious collector. And being one myself, I know how important packaging is! Unless instructed otherwise by you, your LPs will be packaged:
-with the vinyl separated from the outer sleeve, to avoid seam splits
-in a new plastic protective outer sleeve
-with a new antistatic inner sleeve as well as the original inner sleeve (when the original inner sleeve still exists)
-in a NEW corrugated cardboard record mailer, and with bubblewrap where appropriate

USA BIDDERS
Your Government now demands security scanning of parcels sent to the USA. To accomodate this, Australia Post imposes a $9 surcharge on any parcel that weighs over 453g (16oz). This surcharge will be added to your invoice, so please don't pay until you receive an invoice. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE PLEASE DO NOT BID!


*By "I've" I really mean "my wife".