THE BEATLES WITH THE BEATLES ULTRA SCARCE AUSTRALIAN COLUMBIA LABELS

	£		261
	$		345

ATTENTION NORTH-AMERICAN BIDDERS
DUE TO THE 'HOMELAND SECURITY' SURCHARGE WHICH IS APPLIED,
BY THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, TO ALL JOHNNY FOREIGN-TROUSER
PARCELS, THERE WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF $9 ON TOP OF THE
SHIPPING CHARGE (added to USA shipping component. I DO NOT PROFIT FROM THIS CHARGE.

ATTENTION UK BIDDERS
THIS ITEM IS SHIPPED FROM AUSTRALIA AND SO SHIPPING IS NOT GBP4.00 BUT GBP12.00 (approx 50%
of the actual shipping cost - the other 50% is borne by myself).


Offered for auction in this listing is an unusual, not to mention scarce, copy of an Australian pressing of With The Beatles which has orange Columbia labels instead of the ubiquitous orange Parlophone labels.

Sometime in 1979, Columbia labels were erroneously applied to a small number of Australian With The Beatles LP's. The error was most probably a consequence of the identical - save for a logo - style/layout that characterised Australian Columbia and Parlophone labels at the time. Generic labels were printed on sheets, onto which was printed the specific details of an album; the sheets were then cut to size/shape, put into square boxes and a sample label stuck to the front of the box, which in turn was put on a shelf alongside numerous other boxes of labels for other albums.

Unlike the 'Orange Apple' labels used on small runs of Beatles albums in New Zealand, the application in Australia of labels from an altogether different music 'label' would certainly not have been countenanced by EMI (Australia) - even if it meant saving thruppence-ha'penny per unit; and again unlike the NZ 'Orange Apple' label experience, there is no precise (or even approximate) information as to how many of these 'Orange Columbia' labelled copies of With The Beatles made it out of the EMI (Australia) pressing plant alive.

Regardless of the how's, the why's, and wtf's, the scarcity of copies of With The Beatles with the orange Columbia labels is a stone-cold, unarguable fact and is given a 9 out of 10 (where '1' is common and '10' is mega eff-off rare) rarity factor by www.beatlesaustralia.com - its featured 'rarity guide' having been compiled by respected collectors and Aus-Beatles historians, Richard Green and Jaesen Jones (author of the superb book, An Overview of Australian Beatles Records).

For more info on this Australian Beatles vinyl oddity, visit "I Am The Platypus - The Beatles Australian Records Labelography" (see http://beatlesaustralia.com/02_WTB_index.html), an incredibly useful online resource for both collector and trader; and from where copies of the abovementioned book, An Overview of Australian Beatles Records, can be purchased.

CONDITION OF ITEM

1. VINYL - easily grades as EX. It's possible that the record has never been played; and if it has, even then only once or twice at most. It has certainly been taken out of its sleeve though because there are one or two extremely light wispy trails - of a type consistent with contact with a pokey-out bit of a paper sleeve - evident on the vinyl surface on both sides. Frankly, I'm loathe to play-test the record for fear of unintentionally adding another 'extremely light wispy trail'. Please do not mistake, in the pictures, dust particles for embedded marks; the vinyl really is in an excellent condition.
   
2. LABELS - the supplied pictures of the labels have not been in any way photoshopped (other than adjusting brightness/contrast levels). Both labels easily grade at EX and are free of spindle trails. Please look carefully at the close-up detail of part of the label where a visible inconsistency in the depth of the vinyl under the label can be seen. This is a vinyl manufacturing defect and not a damaged or touched-up label
3. SLEEVE - The uniquely Australian 'floating head' sleeve is the correct 'era' sleeve for the record with 'CODE 304' on the spine. I'd grade the sleeve as EX-. Please examine the pictures carefully as any of the (minor) shortcomings of the sleeve are displayed. The integrity of the spine is perfectly illustrated in the pictures. The sleeve opening is essentially sharp and unfeathered, with slight fluffing at the top and bottom corners. A few creases, again at the corners. There is an 'interesting' mark on the rear of the sleeve, which at first glance looks like a surface tear inflicted by a careless owner; closer inspection reveals the surface tear to have actually occurred at a stage of the printing prior to the application of the text overlay - the torn surface is actually under the text (look closely, the text has not been retouched).