Columbia Company Sleeves

[manofmystery]

Hi,

I'm finally sorting out my collection. I remember a long time ago someone replied or did a topic on Which singles appeared with which sleeve. So can anyone help and tell me (again) which singles appeared in which company sleeves.

Thank you

Best wishes

Paul

[JimN]

The third one down was the earliest of those shown. Whether any Shadows records were issued in that sleeve, I'm not sure (but probably The Drifters' Jet Black and maybe The Shadows' Saturday Dance).

The 'circles" design was certainly used in 1960 and the first part of 1961. My copy of Kon-Tiki came in a "circles" sleeve.

The more modernistic "stripes" sleeve was used for The Savage, Wonderful Land and Guitar Tango. I think it is the prettiest design they ever came up with. It evokes the feel of the late 1950s and early 1960s perfectly.

The almost solid green sleeve was used for the black label singles, starting with Dance On! in late 1962. The red variant came in around 1965 and was used interchangeably with the green.

[scouserjoe2]

Hi,

I have the original sleeves from my actual purchases at the time of their release. Saturday Dance, Apache, Man of Mystery, FBI, The Frightened City, Kon-Tiki, The Savage and Wonderful Land all came in the 'multiple circles' sleeve. Guitar Tango was the first in the 'Stripes'. I didn't buy the earlier two releases until later but I think Feelin' Fine and Jet Black/Driftin came in the earlier pink/white sleeves. As Jim says, the solid green sleeves came in when Columbia changed the disk centres from green to black and my first in those colours is Dance On!

Cheers

Ian

[JimN]

My copies of The Savage and Wonderful Land came in the horizontal stripes sleeves. Those were contemporary with the records.

I have no reason to believe that Guitar Tango (green disc label) will have been in anything else. Occasionally, though, EMI Hayes sent out old stock records in anachronistic sleeves. For instance, my first copy of The Frightened City (bought new in 1963, came to me in a green Columbia sleeve, which must have been newer than the disc.

Dance On! was the first black label Shadows 45 and came in the first of the green sleeve designs. Both the green and the red varied over the years, sometimes the front varied (because of the logo in the lower half) and the adverts on the sleeve rear varied a lot.

[Uncleboko]

Interesting that whereas the covers didn't have a smell, the 45s certainly did - something missing from an mp3 file!!!

[UlrichS]

On the web there is an excellent site covering all different sleeves for UK, US, OZ, NO and DE labels, chronologically sorted within alphabetically sorted labels.
http://www.bigboppa.co.uk/45-sleeves/

Hope this is of help.

[scouserjoe2]

Jim,

That is interesting that your 'Wonderful Land' sleeve is different to mine. I recall very well the day I bought the record which was the Friday lunchtime on the day it was released back in mid/late February 1962 (as I recall it was always a Friday in those days). My local record store in Crosby would put a copy aside for me on the day The Shadows records were released. Everything since Apache up to Wonderful Land had come in those same 'circles' sleeves and I still have the originals to this day. Guitar Tango was the first that came with the stripes. I sold most of my vinyl LP's when CD's came out but I felt very attached to my original singles and original EP's so I've kept them all these years. I've just had a look at the website that Ulrich has recommended and checked the catalogue numbers of the records against it and it would seem to suggest that Wonderful Land could have come in two different sleeves, which would explain why our records are different.

Ian

[JimN]

For the design which we have so far called "circles", and which that website calls "multi-discs", this information is given:

No 13
to DB 4775 - 1961
Also with DB 4911 to 4939

The Savage / Peace Pipe is, of course, 45-DB 4726, which puts it in one of these covers.
For all that, my copy came in the "stripes" cover, which the site calls "columns".

The Stripes / Columns sleeve is listed as applying (in two slightly different versions):

No 14
DB 4764 - 1961
to DB 4952 - dec 1962

Wonderful Land / Stars Fell On Stockton is 45-DB 4790, which comes within that period. So does Guitar Tango / What A Lovely Tune.

A problem: the site also says that the next version (solid green Columbia) wasn't introduced until January 1963 [that year is an edit!], but that is not right. Dance On! / All Day was released before Christmas 1962 on the new black label and in the new sleeve. So too was the Cliff Richard single The Next Time / Bachelor Boy. That last entry makes the site info at least a little less reliable.

[Fenderman]

I've never seen the third one down (the purple one) and i have many Columbia/Parlophone sleeves.
If i remember some used to have adverts on the back, one was for a morphy richards hairdrier and (for something like £3!) and another for mascara, i showed my mum them and she remembered them!
Did anyone ever use that Emitex that was constantly advertised? Was it any good?

[Iain Purdon]

A problem: the site also says that the next version (solid green Columbia) wasn't introduced until January 1063, but that is not right. "Dance On!" / "All Day" was released before Christmas 1962 on the new black label and in the new sleeve. That last entry makes the site info at least a little unreliable.

Oh I don't know Jim. 1063 beats William the Conqueror by three years so solid green Columbia should be fine as far back as you like