VEE-JAY'S CREATIVE MARKETING DEPARTMENT ALWAYS TRIED TO SQUEEZE MORE PRODUCT OUT OF ITS 16 BEATLES SONGS THAT WERE CONTRACTED TO THEM. FOUR TRACKS, NAMELY MISERY, TASTE OF HONEY, ASK ME WHY AND ANNA, WERE PULLED FROM THE INTRODUCING THE BEATLES ALBUM AND ISSUED ON 'VJEP 1-903' SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET  SINGLE ON OR ABOUT MARCH 23, 1964 - MAKING IT THE VERY FIRST BEATLES EXTENDED PLAY 45 RELEASED IN THE UNITED STATES (CAPITOL'S TWO EPS FOUR BY THE BEATLES EP WAS RELEASED ON MAY 11, 1964 AND 4-BY THE BEATLES WAS ISSUED ON FEBRUARY 1, 1965).

WITH THE BEATLES FEBRUARY ARRIVAL IN AMERICA AND THEIR APPEARANCE ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW  FRESH IN EVERYONE'S MIND, THE EP WAS MARKETED AS A "SOUVENIR OF THEIR VISIT TO AMERICA". TRADE MAGAZINE ADS PROCLAIMED "FOUR GREAT SONGS NEVER RELEASED AS SINGLES. EACH A HIT IN ITS OWN RIGHT" THE RECORD WAS DUBBED "THE E.P. (ECONOMY PACKAGE) OF THE CENTURY."

TWO OF THE SONGS ON THE EP, NAMELY "ANNA" AND "ASK ME WHY", WERE PAIRED ON WHAT HAS UNEQUIVOCALLY BECOME THE RAREST U.S. BEATLES RECORD - THE EXTREMELY RARE AND MOST SOUGHT AFTER PROMOTIONAL SINGLE DESIGNATE "SPEC DJ NO. 8".  THE LABEL FOR THIS RECORD (VJ8.01, SPIZER), IS SIMILAR TO THE BLUE AND WHITE PROMOTIONAL RECORDS FOR THE EP AND VJ581 ("PLEASE PLEASE ME) AND 587 ("DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET"). ITS TRAIL OFF AREAS CONTAIN THE "MR" LOGO, INDICATING THAT THIS STYRENE DISC WAS MANUFACTURED BY MONARCH RECORDS. AS ONLY A FEW MONARCH INVOICES TO VEE-JAY HAVE BEEN LOCATED, THE TIMING AND PURPOSE OF THIS SINGLE REMAINS A MYSTERY.

BECAUSE THE 45 CONTAINS "ASK ME WHY", WHICH IS THE SONG FEATURED ON THE RARE PROMOTIONAL WHITE AND BLACK TITLE SLEEVE, IT HAS BEEN SPECULATED THAT THIS RECORD WAS ISSUED AS PART OF VEE-JAY'S MIDSUMMER CAMPAIGN TO MARKET THE EP AS A SINGLE. SUPPORTERS OF THIS THEORY POINT OUT THAT THE RECORD IS ASSIGNED "SPEC DJ NO. 8" AND THAT THE PROMOTIONAL TITLE SLEEVE CALLS THE RECORD A 'SPECIAL D.J. PROMOTION COPY" AND CONTAINS THE PHRASE "#8 IN SALES". WHILE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN "SPEC DJ NO. 8" AND "SPECIAL D.J. #8" APPEAR TO SUPPORT THE THEORY, TRAIL OFF MARKINGS ARE INCONCLUSIVE.

FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES, HERE IS AN IMAGE OF THE "ASK ME WHY" PROMOTIONAL TITLE SLEEVE:
 

THE TRAIL OFF AREA MARKINGS OF THE "ASK ME WHY" SIDE CONTAIN THE MASTER NUMBER 63-2968 AND THE JOB NUMBER ∆46527-X, WHICH ARE THE NUMBERS THAT APPEAR ON THE "ASK ME WHY" B-SIDE TO THE VEE-JAY 498 SINGLE. THE TRAIL OFF MARKINGS ON THE "ANNA" SIDE INCLUDE THE CORRECT MASTER NUMBER 63-3185 AND THE JOB NUMBER ∆51067. MONARCH ASSIGNED THIS JOB NUMBER TO THE SONG IN EITHER LATE JANUARY OR FEBRUARY OF 1964. THUS, THIS RECORD COULD HAVE BEEN PRESSED AS EARLY AS FEBRUARY OF 1964. IF THIS IS THE CASE, THE RECORD HAS NO RELATIONSHIP TO THE MARKETING OF THE EP AS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED SEVERAL MONTHS PRIOR TO THE MIDSUMMER CAMPAIGN PLUGGING "ASK ME WHY".

IF THE SINGLE WAS NOT CONNECTED TO THE EP, THEN WHAT WAS ITS PURPOSE? THE FACT THAT ONLY FIVE COPIES OF THIS RECORD HAVE SURFACED - ALL IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA - INDICATES THAT THIS RECORD WAS NOT WIDELY DISTRIBUTED LIKE A TYPICAL PROMOTIONAL RECORD. THE "SPEC DJ" PHRASE ON THE LABEL FURTHER SETS THIS DISC APART FROM OTHER PROMOTIONAL RECORDS. BY THE TIME THIS RECORD WAS PREPARED, VEE-JAY HAD MOVED ITS HEADQUARTERS TO LOS ANGELES. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RECORD MAY HAVE BEEN TO TEST REACTION TO "ANNA" BY GIVING THE RECORD TO SELECTED DJS IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA TO DETERMINE IF THE SONG WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE FOR A FOLLOW-UP SINGLE TO VEE-JAY'S 581 "PLEASE PLEASE ME". IF THIS WAS WHY THE RECORD WAS PREPARED, VEE-JAY DETERMINED THAT :"ANNA" WOULD NOT MAKE A STRONG SINGLE AND INSTEAD WENT WITH "TWIST AND SHOUT" AND "DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET" FOR ITS NEXT BEATLES 45'S.

ADDING TO THE MYSTERY OF THIS SINGLE IS THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NO OTHER CONFIRMED SINGLES WITH THE "SPEC DJ NO." DESIGNATION. WHILE THE VEE-JAY EP CONTAINING "ASK ME WHY" AND "ANNA" IS THE MOST COMMON OF THE THREE AMERICAN EP'S, THIS PROMOTION-ONLY RECORD OF THE TWO SONGS IS AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE RAREST OF ALL BEATLES AMERICAN RECORDS.

FAB 4 COLLECTIBLES IS VERY PROUD TO FINALLY OFFER ITS VERY FIRST EXAMPLE OF THIS MAJESTIC RARITY - A NEAR MINT JEWEL. THE CONDITION OF THIS PIECE, ONLY THE SIXTH THAT HAS SURFACED, IS ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHING. THE VINYL ON BOTH SIDES GRADE A TRUE NEAR MINT WITH A DEEP 'STYRENE' SHEEN, DISPLAYING A RICH LUSTER AND NO SCRATCHES, JUST A FEW LIGHT HAIRLINE SLEEVE "WHISPS" ALONG THE RUN-OUT WAX ARE EVIDENT.  THE LABELS EQUALLY GRADE A WONDERFUL, CLEAN "WHITE"  NEAR MINT AND RETAIN A SHINY GLOSS WITH CLEAR BOLD FONTS. IT TRULY APPEARS THAT THIS RECORD IS UNPLAYED.

ACCOMPANIED BY ITS OWN ORIGINAL AND CORRECT VEE-JAY 1964 "RIGHT BRACKETS" RED AND BLACK SLEEVE. THIS SLEEVE DEBUTED TOWARDS THE END OF 1963, WHEN VEE-JAY BEGAN USING SLEEVES WITH THE BRACKETS LOGO, AND WAS IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING ITS HEADQUARTERS FROM CHICAGO TO LOS ANGELES. THE SLEEVE IS IN BEAUTIFUL NEAR MINT MINUS CONDITION.

ACCOMPANIED BY LETTER OF AUTHENTICITY FROM FAB 4 COLLECTIBLES.