If you’re not a record collector, what I'm about to tell you will seem mystifying and possibly insane. The product of a diseased mind. But as you will know by now, collectors are different, they breathe different air and walk lonely roads. And we rather like it that way.
What I’m about to tell you is the many different aspects of collecting records that make some of us purr.
The first is the flip back. All records up to the mid-sixties were flip backs, in the UK. It’s how the sleeves were constructed, with the front cover folded over the back. It’s why someone will tell you a record is an old copy. “Flip back “ they’ll say, and you’ll know it wasn’t a 1970s repress. So the flip back is important to some collectors. I know I’ve paid more for one.
The next quirk isn’t collected for its worth, it's more just something I enjoy observing. Most albums open on the right side, OK, but a few don’t, they open on the left or the top, so that when you put them on the shelves you have to turn them in a different direction to get it spine out. For example my live Richie Havens double is a leftie and my Mar-y-Sol festival live double is a top loader. No idea why occasionally it’s changed and it is quite rare.
Another strange obsession, one I don’t share, is collecting records by which plant they were pressed at. For example, the symbol for records pressed at the Columbia Records Pressing Plant in Terre Haute, Indiana is typically a large "T" etched into the runout groove, or a "T" followed by other characters like "CT", "CTH", or "TI" in the matrix code. In some cases, a mother code (A, B, C) might also be present along with the "T". The "T" is usually hand-etched or stamped. Every plant has these identifiers. And where there’s an identifier, there’s a collector.
This extends to the sleeves. In the UK, EMI (which owns Parlophone) primarily used covers from two companies: Garrod & Lofthouse and Ernest J. Day. Garrod & Lofthouse was the more frequent supplier, particularly for the "Two-Piece" sleeve design. And people collect them. Valuations are different for different printers. In USA, Capitol Records, which distributed The Beatles' in the US, had their sleeves produced at different plants. Bert-Co Enterprises in Los Angeles produced sleeves with a "thumb tab" opening, while Queens Litho in New York printed sleeves with a straight-cut top. Such detailed differences tend to only have significance for Beatles collectors.
When it comes to labels, believe me, they reveal much about the record. If you’ve got early to mid-1960s records. These were some of Island's earliest imprints, reflecting their initial focus on Jamaican music and expansion into other Black music genres, and where a white and red Label, primarily used for Jamaican productions released in the UK. Catalogue numbers started with WI-001. Often featured releases that had previously appeared on smaller Jamaican labels.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, Island Records utilized several distinct labels, often to categorize different genres or for specific markets. Here's a breakdown of some of the key ones:
Early to Mid-1960s: These were some of Island's earliest imprints, reflecting their initial focus on Jamaican music and expansion into other Black music genres.
White and red label. Primarily used for Jamaican productions released in the UK. Catalogue numbers started with WI-001. Often featured releases that had previously appeared on smaller Jamaican labels.
In the late 1960s to 1970s (The "Pink Island" Era): This period saw Island move into British rock and progressive music, marked by their iconic pink label designs.
First Pink Island Label ("Pink Eye" or "Eyeball" Label): Used from 1967 to mid-1969.
Second Pink Island Label ("Black Block" Label): A very short-lived variation used in the latter half of 1969.
Third Pink Island Label ("White 'i' Label"): Introduced in 1969 and used until late 1970.
Fourth Pink Island Label ("Pink Rim" or "Palm Tree" Label): Used from late 1970 to around 1975. This is still considered part of the collectible "pink Island" era by many.
Fifth Pink Island Label (Pink 'I' on Black Background): A variation used for special series in the early 1970s.
All these different generations have different values. The first is most sought. And it's the same for all labels. To add to this is the period of about 10 years from 68-78 when labels had a different version for demos or promos. For example, my favourites on CBS was white with black lettering and a big red ‘A’ on ( for advanced copy I assume) which changed to orange yellow in the mid-70s. There were other coloured variants. I have a database of every label’s incarnation, you’ll be unsurprised to learn
From there, it's a small step to getting all the different company sleeves for singles, some of which were design classics. People even collect 7” sleeves. Some are just plain but some like CBS are adorned with the company logo in orange and white in the 60s.
The variations are endless. Beatles collectors even collect by how the label writing is arranged and what it says. That’s too over-focused for me.
And you thought they were just records. Ha! I haven’t even got into etching into run-out grooves by discussing Porky Prime Cuts. That deserves its own blog, as does original inserts which often get lost, a la the Sgt Pepper cut-out figures but you want if you’re paying top dollar. It might be a lyric sheet, tour schedule or merchandise advert or something more obscure. And don’t get me started on inner sleeves. Even the ones advertising other albums, the different generations of those are collected.
All these things have their own collector lingo that outsiders wouldn’t understand and would think is a bit insane, but it keeps us happy, probably more than it should.
