ORIGINAL BRITISH PARLOPHONE RELEASES

"LOVE ME DO" B/W "P.S. I LOVE YOU"
PARLOPHONE 45-R 4949

ULTRA-RARE PROMOTIONAL 'DEMONSTRATION' A-LABEL 45 SINGLE
ISSUED JUST PRIOR TO OCTOBER 5, 1962 RELEASE DATE


ITEM#: PAR294
PRICE: ------


 
  DESCRIPTION
(ACTUAL IMAGES)

THE BEATLES VERY FIRST SINGLE, LOVE ME DO b/w P.S. I LOVE YOU, WAS RELEASED ON OCTOBER 5, 1962. A REVIEW IN THE OCTOBER 4 BRITISH TRADE MAGAZINE RECORD RETAILER NOTED THE SINGLE'S SALES POTENTIAL IN A BRIEF REVIEW: "A NEW GROUP FROM THE LIVERPOOL AREA. THEIR FIRST RECORD BUT THEY ALREADY HAVE A STRONG FOLLOWING AND THIS SEEMS TO BE THE STRONGEST OUTSIDER OF THE WEEK". THE BEATLES WOULD NOT REMAIN "OUTSIDERS" FOR LONG.

EMI PREPARED APPROXIMATELY ONLY 250 PROMOTIONAL COPIES OF THE BEATLES FIRST SINGLE FOR PRE-RELEASE DISTRIBUTION TO SELECTED MEDIA AND RADIO STATIONS, SHORTLY PRIOR TO THE OCTOBER 5TH STREET DATE FOR THE COMMERCIAL 'RED LABEL' COPY. THIS SO-CALLED 'DEMONSTRATION' RECORD (PAR 4949.DR1, SPIZER), HAS WHITE LABELS WITH BLACK PRINT AND A LARGE 'A' ON THE LOVE ME DO SIDE. THE ARRIVAL OF THE DISC AT BRIAN EPSTEIN'S NEMS OFFICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RED-LETTER DAY FOR THE ASPIRING MANAGER, BUT INSTEAD BRIAN EXPLODED IN RED-FACED RAGE WHEN HE NOTICED THAT PAUL'S LAST NAME WAS MISSPELLED IN THE SONGWRITERS CREDIT AS 'McARTNEY'. WHEN HE CALLED EMI TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE ERROR, HE WAS SIMPLY TOLD THAT THE LABELS OF THE COMMERCIAL COPIES WOULD HAVE THE CORRECT SPELLING.

WITH THIS DEMO'S HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, TOGETHER WITH THE MISSPELLING OF PAUL'S LAST NAME, THIS PROMOTIONAL RECORD WAS DESTINED TO BECOME EXTREMELY DESIRABLE, AND THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER COLLECTIBLE EVER. THIS RECORD HAS BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE RAREST BEATLES RECORD IN THE WORLD !

THE STAMPER CODES ARE 'JR' ON BOTH SIDES IN THE RUN OUTS, SIGNIFYING THIS AS THE EARLIEST DEMONSTRATION COPIES THAT DISPLAY THE 'JR' STAMPER. 'ZT' CODES ARE STAMPED IN BOTH RUN-OUTS AS WELL. THE MATRIX NUMBERS ARE '7XCE 17144-1N' & '7XCE 17145-1N'.  A 'ZT' PURCHASE TAX CODE IS VISIBLE IN THE CENTER OF THE LOVE ME DO LABEL.

THE CONDITION OF THE VINYL ON THIS ULTRA-RARITY IS A BRILLIANT NEAR MINT, RETAINING A DEEP SHIMMER TO THE GROOVES, AND SIMPLY A FEW LIGHT SLEEVE "WHISPS" EVIDENT. THIS RECORD HAS SEEN VERY MINIMAL PLAY TIME AND HAS BEEN WELL TAKEN CARE OF OVER THE YEARS. THE LABELS ARE A BRIGHT NEAR MINT, CLEAN AND UNBLEMISHED WITH NO WEAR TO THE CENTER HOLES THEMSELVES. THERE ARE NO INDICATIONS OF SPINDLE MARKS.

ALSO INCLUDED IS ITS ORIGINAL PARLOPHONE "URGENT SPECIAL RUSH COPY / ANOTHER TOP POP ON" BLUE BACKGROUND DIE-CUT PROMOTIONAL SLEEVE.


 

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