 Melodiya Single-Pocket Sleeve |
INDEX
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TITLE
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A HARD DAY’S NIGHT ВЕЧЕР ТРУДНОГО ДНЯ |
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| CATALOG NUMBER | С60 23579 008 |
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RELEASE DATE
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Date of this pressing: Unknown
(First release: January 1986) |
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| TRACK LISTING | SIDE 1 | SIDE 2 | |||
| A Hard Day’s Night Вечер трудного дня |
Any Time at All Когда угодно |
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| I Should Have Known Better Мне стоило знать |
I’ll Cry Instead Я буду рыдать |
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| If I Fell Если я полюблю |
Things We Said Today Слова, что сказаны сегодня |
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| I’m Happy Just to Dance with You Как счастлив я танцевать с тобой |
“When I Get Home” is omitted. |
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| And I Love Her Я люблю её |
You Can’t Do That Не смей! |
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| Tell Me Why Скажи мне, почему |
I’ll Be Back Я вернусь |
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| Can’t Buy Me Love Любовь не купишь |
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| FRONT --> Click! | BACK --> Click! | SIDE 1 --> Click! | SIDE 2 --> Click! | DISC --> Click! | |
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| INNER SLEEVE | FRONT COVER CLOSE-UP | ||||
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The EMI and Melodiya logos are printed side by side in the upper-right corner of the front cover. The Melodiya logo features a stylized emblem with the Cyrillic name “МЕЛОДИЯ” beneath it. | ||
| FRONT COVER CLOSE-UP | |||||
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| Along the lower edge, “БИТЛЗ”
appears in large outlined Cyrillic lettering, with “ВЕЧЕР
ТРУДНОГО ДНЯ” in red. The four members’ names—ДЖОН ЛЕННОН,
ДЖОРДЖ ХАРРИСОН, ПОЛ МАККАРТНИ, and РИНГО СТАРР—are printed
in Russian between the two headings. Blue handwritten markings are present on the photographed copy; these should not be treated as part of the printed design. |
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| BACK COVER CLOSE-UP | |||||
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The Ministry of Culture of the
USSR and Melodiya logos, “СТЕРЕО”, and catalog number “С60
23579 008” are printed at the upper right. |
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| BACK COVER CLOSE-UP | |||||
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| The Aprelevka sleeve shown here
has no “Cover design by Yu. Loev” / Художник Ю. Лоев credit. |
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There is no explanatory DMM
paragraph or separate Russian list of band members at the
lower right of the back cover. A row of four monochrome photographs of Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon runs across the middle, between dark-blue horizontal bands. The portraits on Aprelevka sleeves were printed as mirror images. |
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| BACK COVER CLOSE-UP | |||||
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At the bottom are the Russian
album title, “БИТЛЗ”, the EMI licensing statement, and the
manufacturing and printing credits. The plant is named
Апрелевский ордена Ленина завод грампластинок, followed by
Типография АЗГ. The bottom right reads Арт. 11-5. Цена 3
руб. 50 коп. (“Article 11-5. Price: 3 rubles 50 kopeks”). |
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| LABEL CLOSE-UP | |||||
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| Both sides
carry the red Melodiya label with black lettering. At the
top are МИНИСТЕРСТВО КУЛЬТУРЫ СССР (“Ministry of Culture of
the USSR”), ВСЕСОЮЗНАЯ ФИРМА ГРАМПЛАСТИНОК (“All-Union
Record Company”), and the Melodiya emblem and company name.
Below the company name is АПРЕЛЕВСКИЙ ОРДЕНА ЛЕНИНА ЗАВОД,
identifying the Aprelevka plant. |
A heavy black
horizontal rule divides the company information from the
recording details. “СТЕРЕО” is printed at the left and a
33-rpm speed designation at the right, accompanied by the
interlocking-circles stereo symbol. The left side also
carries “ГОСТ 5289-80” (the 1980 Soviet state-standard
designation) and “Гр. 3. 3-25”. The right side shows the
common album catalog number “С60 23579 008”, the individual
side number (23579 or 23580), and the side number (1 or 2). |
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| LABEL CLOSE-UP | |||||
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| The album title
and song titles are printed only in Cyrillic, followed by
the four Beatles’ names in Russian. No year of manufacture
is printed on either label. |
The right side shows the
common album catalog number “С60 23579 008”, the individual
side number (23580), and the side number (2). |
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An EMI licensing statement
appears near the bottom, ending with the Russian word
“Великобритания” (“Great Britain”). |
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| OTHER ITEM | |||||
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| LABEL | Melodiya red label with black print | ||||
| MIX | STEREO |
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| MATRIX No. | SIDE 1 | С60-23579/2-2 | |||
| SIDE 2 | С60-23580/2-3 | ||||
| VINYL COLOR | BLACK | ||||
| RECORD COMPANY'S NAME | Melodiya / МЕЛОДИЯ — USSR state-owned All-Union Record Company (under the Ministry of Culture). | ||||
| PRESSING PLANT | Aprelevka Order of Lenin Record
Plant / АПРЕЛЕВСКИЙ ОРДЕНА ЛЕНИНА ЗАВОД (identified on the
labels). |
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| EMI LICENSE CREDIT | “Manufactured under license of EMI Records, Великобритания” on the labels and sleeve. No year of manufacture is printed on either label. | ||||
| COVER FORM | Single-pocket sleeve; dark-blue borders and a locally adapted design based on Robert Freeman’s original photographs. | ||||
| PRINTER CREDIT | Типография АЗГ (AZG
printing-house abbreviation printed on the back cover). |
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| COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES | Based on Robert Freeman’s 1964
cover photographs. Soviet sleeve design uses English and
Russian titles, EMI/Melodiya logos, and reversed portraits
on the back. |
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| INNER SLEEVE | Plain, pale-colored paper inner
sleeve (Original pairing and period of manufacture not
established.) |
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| PRODUCER | George Martin (producer of the original recordings; not credited on this release). | ||||
| COMMENTS | FIRST RELEASE AND LP CONTEXT This Soviet edition of A Hard Day’s Night, titled ВЕЧЕР ТРУДНОГО ДНЯ (“Evening of a Hard Day”), was issued by the state-owned Melodiya record company in 1986. It was one of the first full-length Soviet LPs devoted entirely to recordings by The Beatles, alongside the compilation A Taste of Honey (С60 23581 008). Earlier Soviet releases of Beatles recordings had appeared on various-artists compilations and seven-inch records. The Soviet album follows the running order of the original 1964 British Parlophone LP, but omits “When I Get Home” from Side 2. Consequently, it contains twelve tracks rather than thirteen. The sleeve and labels explicitly state that the record was manufactured under license from EMI Records, Great Britain. Unlike many later AnTrop releases, this Melodiya edition carries an explicit EMI licensing statement. EMI LICENSE AND THE OMITTED SONG The printed words “Manufactured under license of EMI Records, Великобритания” establish how Melodiya represented the release: an EMI-licensed Soviet record. The 1986 album is therefore historically distinct from many post-Soviet pressings whose original copyright-holder licenses were unclear or absent. The absence of “When I Get Home” has often been attributed to Soviet censorship of supposedly suggestive lyrics. Other Russian researchers have proposed a licensing or cost-related explanation: issuing a twelve-song selection may have been cheaper or administratively simpler than reproducing the complete British album. OTHER PLANTS, LATER VARIATIONS AND THE TWO-LP SET The album was pressed in several Melodiya facilities, including Aprelevka, Leningrad, Riga, Tashkent, the Moscow Experimental Record Plant, and the Tbilisi Recording Studio. Copies can differ in label color (red, cream/white, blue-and-white, and other documented designs), factory credits, state-standard markings, sleeve construction, spine layout, the presence of a DMM explanation, and the printed retail price. The 1980 state-standard marking ГОСТ 5289-80 occurs on early and later labels; subsequent pressings may carry a 1988-standard marking. The year of manufacture must not be inferred solely from the digits “80” or “88”. The two individual Melodiya LPs, A Hard Day’s Night (С60 23579 008) and A Taste of Honey (С60 23581 008), also appeared together in an Aprelevka-manufactured gatefold two-LP set bearing the A Hard Day’s Night title and primary catalog number С60 23579 008. Although related, the two-LP gatefold and this single-pocket LP represent distinct packaging formats and should have separate entries in the collection database. FRONT COVER The front sleeve adapts Robert Freeman’s original 1964 photographic montage of twenty black-and-white Beatles portraits, arranged in four rows of five rectangular frames. Compared with the British Parlophone cover, the Soviet design introduces broad dark-blue horizontal borders and a larger bilingual title treatment. “The Beatles” appears in large black-outlined lettering across the top, followed by “A HARD DAY’S NIGHT” in red. The boxed EMI and Melodiya logos are printed together at the upper right. Along the lower edge, “БИТЛЗ” appears in large outlined Cyrillic lettering, with “ВЕЧЕР ТРУДНОГО ДНЯ” in red. The four members’ names—ДЖОН ЛЕННОН, ДЖОРДЖ ХАРРИСОН, ПОЛ МАККАРТНИ, and РИНГО СТАРР—are printed in Russian between the two headings. The original portraits were taken by Robert Freeman; the Soviet graphic layout is a locally adapted sleeve rather than a straight reproduction of the British cover. BACK COVER The back sleeve continues the pale-blue and dark-blue color scheme. A large outlined “The Beatles” logo occupies the upper center. The English album title is printed at the upper left, and the four members’ names are listed in English at the upper right. The track listing is arranged in three columns, with each song title printed first in Russian and then in English, followed by the Lennon–McCartney songwriting credit and the track duration. The Ministry of Culture of the USSR and Melodiya logos, “СТЕРЕО”, and catalog number “С60 23579 008” are printed at the upper right. A row of four monochrome photographs of Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon runs across the middle, between dark-blue horizontal bands. The portraits on Aprelevka sleeves were printed as mirror images; this was a recognized Aprelevka manufacturing characteristic. At the bottom are the Russian album title, “БИТЛЗ”, the EMI licensing statement, and the manufacturing and printing credits. The plant is named Апрелевский ордена Ленина завод грампластинок, followed by Типография АЗГ. The bottom right reads Арт. 11-5. Цена 3 руб. 50 коп. (“Article 11-5. Price: 3 rubles 50 kopeks”). BACK COVER & PRESSING VARIATIONS The Aprelevka sleeve shown here has no “Cover design by Yu. Loev” / Художник Ю. Лоев credit, no explanatory DMM paragraph, no separate Russian list of band members at the lower right of the back cover, but it retains the factory and printing credits, article number “11-5”, and the government-fixed price of 3 rubles 50 kopeks. These characteristics correspond to the Aprelevka back-sleeve variation 2a in the BeatlesVinyl classification. LABEL DETAILS Both sides carry the red Melodiya label with black lettering. At the top are МИНИСТЕРСТВО КУЛЬТУРЫ СССР (“Ministry of Culture of the USSR”), ВСЕСОЮЗНАЯ ФИРМА ГРАМПЛАСТИНОК (“All-Union Record Company”), and the Melodiya emblem and company name. Below the company name is АПРЕЛЕВСКИЙ ОРДЕНА ЛЕНИНА ЗАВОД, identifying the Aprelevka plant. A heavy black horizontal rule divides the company information from the recording details. “СТЕРЕО” is printed at the left and a 33-rpm speed designation at the right, accompanied by the interlocking-circles stereo symbol. The left side also carries “ГОСТ 5289-80” (the 1980 Soviet state-standard designation) and “Гр. 3. 3-25”. The right side shows the common album catalog number “С60 23579 008”, the individual side number (23579 or 23580), and the side number (1 or 2). The album title and song titles are printed only in Cyrillic, followed by the four Beatles’ names in Russian. An EMI licensing statement appears near the bottom, ending with the Russian word “Великобритания” (“Great Britain”). No year of manufacture is printed on either label. References: |
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