The World Record Club Ltd. was the name
of a company in the United Kingdom which issued long-playing records
and reel-to-reel tapes, mainly of classical music and jazz, through a
membership mail-order system during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to titles imported from recording companies like Everest Records and Westminster Records, which it obtained on franchise, it made a series of recordings of international artists using its own engineers. Although often of great musical interest and very acceptable technical quality, these recordings do not appear in shop catalogues of the time as they were not available new through record shops. In modern times, however (when most vinyl is second-hand), they are frequently found by collectors, to whom an outline of the company's history will be valuable. The label was taken over by EMI in 1965 but continued to be used as a sub-label for mail order, covering a wide range of musical genres, and distributing in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. ( from Wikipedia) |
TITLE | MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR AND OTHER SPLENDID HITS | ||||
CATALOG NUMBER | S-4574 |
||||
RELEASE DATE | February 1969 / First Press |
||||
TRACK LISTING | SIDE 1 | SIDE 2 | |||
Magical Mystery Tour | Hello
Goodbye |
||||
The
Fool On The Hill |
Strawberry
Fields Forever |
||||
Flying |
Penny
Lane |
||||
Blue
Jay Way |
Baby
You're A Rich Man |
||||
Your
Mother Should Know |
All
You Need Is Love |
||||
I
Am The Walrus ("No, you're not!" said Little Nicola) |
|||||
FRONT -->Click! | BACK -->Click! | SIDE 1 -->Click! | SIDE 2 -->Click! | DISK | |
INNER SLEEVE | FRONT COVER CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
Plain white paper sleeve (maybe) |
The picture is very similar to the N.Z. edition, but there is a only large WRC logo over the white piano. | Housed in a front laminated cover with colored striped rear panel. | |||
BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||||
World Record Club logo was
printed at the center of the back cover. World Record Club office address was printed at the bottom. |
|||||
LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
The initial pressings came
with this light-green "S" label. World Record Club logo was printed
above the center hole. Northern Songs royalty stamp |
|||||
LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
There are three label
variations: Type-A: On both sides, RPM, CatalogNo, and Side details at left of WRC logo. |
|||||
OTHER ITEM
|
|||||
- |
|||||
LABEL | World
Record Club / Light Blue "S" Label Type-A |
||||
MIX | STEREO | ||||
MATRIX No. | SIDE 1 | SMAL-1-2835 B24 (hand writing) IAM logo | |||
SIDE 2 | SMAL-2-2835
A23#4 (hand
writing) IAM logo |
||||
VINYL COLOR | BLACK | ||||
RECORD
COMPANY'S NAME |
LABEL | World
Record Club |
|||
COVER | World Record Club | ||||
RECORDING PUBLISHED CREDIT | - | ||||
COVER FORM | Single type. Housed in a front laminated cover with colored striped rear panel | ||||
PRINTER CREDIT | Unknown
|
||||
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES | Cover Photo: The Beatles perform ‘I Am The Walrus’ for the film Magical Mystery Tour. West Malling Air Station, Kent, England. September 20, 1967 | ||||
INNER SLEEVE | Plain
white paper sleeve (maybe) |
||||
PRODUCER | George Martin | ||||
COMMENTS
|
The
first album version of Magical Mystery Tour was issued in Australia
around February 1969 through the World Record Club (EMI's mail-order
division). This edition was titled Magical Mystery Tour And Other
Splendid Hits. The image that graced the front-sleeve of the WRC
edition was taken from page 10 of the booklet that accompanied the UK
EP and US LP. In 1974, EMI (Australia) made the decision, based on
sales through its import ordering system, to retail US-imported Apple
copies of the album. In July 1979, EMI (Australia) released the LP domestically on the Parlophone label, not surprisingly with an inferior gatefold sleeve and without the 24-page book. Until the digital era, all LP copies have the duophonic versions of Penny Lane, Baby, You're A Rich Man, and All You Need Is Love. However, and mirroring the UK, Parlophone compact-cassette copies contain the true stereo versions of those tracks. Despite EMI (Australia) importing the album from the US and subsequently pressing it locally on the Parlophone label, it would remain available through WRC until the club closed in 1982, with copies from late 1979 using the domestic Parlophone cut and copies from 1981 being the standard EMI (Australia) release with a small WRC sticker applied over the Parlophone catalogue number on the rear of the cover. There are three label variations:
|
TITLE | MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR AND OTHER SPLENDID HITS | ||||
CATALOG NUMBER | S-4574 |
||||
RELEASE DATE | 1970? / Third Press? (First Press:
February 1969) |
||||
TRACK LISTING | SIDE 1 | SIDE 2 | |||
Magical Mystery Tour | Hello
Goodbye |
||||
The
Fool On The Hill |
Strawberry
Fields Forever |
||||
Flying |
Penny
Lane |
||||
Blue
Jay Way |
Baby
You're A Rich Man |
||||
Your
Mother Should Know |
All
You Need Is Love |
||||
I
Am The Walrus ("No, you're not!" said Little Nicola) |
|||||
FRONT -->Click! | BACK -->Click! | SIDE 1 -->Click! | SIDE 2 -->Click! | DISK | |
INNER SLEEVE | FRONT COVER CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
Plain white paper sleeve (maybe) |
The picture is very similar to the N.Z. edition, but there is a only large WRC logo over the white piano. | Housed in a front laminated cover with colored striped rear panel. | |||
BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||||
World Record Club logo was
printed at the center of the back cover. World Record Club office address was printed at the bottom. |
|||||
LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
The initial pressings came
with this light-green "S" label. World Record Club logo was printed
above the center hole. |
|||||
LABEL CLOSE UP | |||||
There are three label
variations: Type-C: On both sides, RPM, CatalogNo, and Side details at right of WRC logo. |
|||||
OTHER ITEM
|
|||||
- |
|||||
LABEL | World
Record Club / Light Blue "S" Label Type-C |
||||
MIX | STEREO | ||||
MATRIX No. | SIDE 1 | SMAL-1-2835 B24 (hand writing) IAM logo | |||
SIDE 2 | SMAL-2-2835
A23#4 (hand
writing) IAM logo |
||||
VINYL COLOR | BLACK | ||||
RECORD
COMPANY'S NAME |
LABEL | World
Record Club |
|||
COVER | World Record Club | ||||
RECORDING PUBLISHED CREDIT | - | ||||
COVER FORM | Single type. Housed in a front laminated cover with colored striped rear panel | ||||
PRINTER CREDIT | Unknown
|
||||
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES | Cover Photo: The Beatles perform ‘I Am The Walrus’ for the film Magical Mystery Tour. West Malling Air Station, Kent, England. September 20, 1967 | ||||
INNER SLEEVE | Plain
white paper sleeve (maybe) |
||||
PRODUCER | George Martin | ||||
COMMENTS
|
The
first album version of Magical Mystery Tour was issued in Australia
around February 1969 through the World Record Club (EMI's mail-order
division). This edition was titled Magical Mystery Tour And Other
Splendid Hits. The image that graced the front-sleeve of the WRC
edition was taken from page 10 of the booklet that accompanied the UK
EP and US LP. In 1974, EMI (Australia) made the decision, based on
sales through its import ordering system, to retail US-imported Apple
copies of the album. In July 1979, EMI (Australia) released the LP domestically on the Parlophone label, not surprisingly with an inferior gatefold sleeve and without the 24-page book. Until the digital era, all LP copies have the duophonic versions of Penny Lane, Baby, You're A Rich Man, and All You Need Is Love. However, and mirroring the UK, Parlophone compact-cassette copies contain the true stereo versions of those tracks. Despite EMI (Australia) importing the album from the US and subsequently pressing it locally on the Parlophone label, it would remain available through WRC until the club closed in 1982, with copies from late 1979 using the domestic Parlophone cut and copies from 1981 being the standard EMI (Australia) release with a small WRC sticker applied over the Parlophone catalogue number on the rear of the cover. There are three label variations:
|