SDR cassette tapes are another interesting and unique aspect of collecting The Beatles music on Canadian release. The SDR series was short lived and was soon to be replaced by the XDR series of cassette tapes. Perhaps it was a case of "not invented here" ... as the US Capitol parent once again called the shots by changing the name of the Canadian technology.
"In 1982, Capitol Records-EMI of Canada developed the "SDR", or Super Dynamic Range, process of duplicating their cassette releases, which resulted in higher-quality audio. SDR was later adopted by Capitol's American operations that same year and renamed "XDR" (eXtended Dynamic Range). SDR/XDR cassette releases are most noted for the short burst of tones ascending in frequency at the beginning and end of the cassette before and after the program material, the tones being a part of the process."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_RecordsThe following SDR tapes have been documented and would all have been manufactured by Capitol of Canada at their Mississauga, Ontario plant during 1982:
Capitol 4XT-6054 Twist And Shout and Capitol 4XT-6063 Long Tall Sally
(this was the first time these two titles had been issued on cassette and they are stereo mixes)
Capitol 4XT-2653 Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Capitol 4XW-160 and 4XW-161 The Beatles (aka The White Album .. although the cover is now black !)
Capitol 4N-12199 Reel Music
Capitol 4XO-12246 20 Greatest Hits
Capitol 4N-16020 Rock 'N' Roll Music - Volume 1 and Capitol 4N-16021 Rock 'N' Roll Music - Volume 2
Capitol 4N-16055 Dark Horse (George Harrison) and Capitol 4N-16069 Rock 'N' Roll (John Lennon)
There may have been a few other SDR cassettes from this time and we will keep this page updated as new information is determined. The SDR cassettes are difficult to find nowadays in good playable condition with their original inlay cards and shells ... but Beatles collectors should keep an eagle eye out for these as they are a very interesting chapter in Canadian Beatles history.
The very first record I can recall listening to was way back in the 1950s .. and it was an old English 78 RPM disc called "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" by Jay Wilbur. Somehow this record found its way into our home and I can remember listening to that disc over and over again. The Teddy Bear song was on the B-side and it sort of sounded like something from the 1930s ... and I believe it was in fact recorded in the 1930s ... and add to that the record had a very dark theme to me at that young age !!! After doing a little digging, I discovered that Jay Wilbur was a British dance band leader who achieved fame in England in the 1930s and that his band often performed for the Allied troops during World War II. The actual vocalist was a young man named Val Rosing. It is possible that my father first heard Jay Wilbur And His Band when he was overseas with the British Army during the war.
The London 45 was advertised in the USA magazine Billboard on November 13th., 1948 as a 78 RPM 10 inch disc with the London catalogue number No. 353. It was later issued in 1951 as a 45 with the number 30016.
Ann Stephens was a child actor in England and was born on May 21st., 1931 in London. At age 11 she appeared as a girl named Lavinia in the Noel Coward film "In Which We Serve". Ann was just nine years old when she recorded the song Teddy Bear's Picnic and this of course was during World War II. It was issued in England on 78 RPM as HMV B.D.1090. It seems odd now that people were buying this 78 RPM disc at the height of the "doodle bug" V1 rocket bombings in London. Perhaps for the many children who were evacuated to the country from London …
This is the text from the back cover of the "Children's Choice" HMV Ep:
"… Such a child was Ann Stephens, heard on this record as quite a young girl when this was originally put on disc some years ago. Ann was an H.M.V. record discovery, for when they needed an Alice for their Alice in Wonderland Series in 1941 Ann was the successful applicant out of some 700 who were auditioned by the company. Her debut on record was successful and instantaneous, and her natural, untrained voice endeared her to a nation and led to her being offered several film parts. That the company made a wise choice in their audition is proved, and the records she made so many years ago will always demonstrate the freshness, simplicity and appeal that can come from a voice so fresh and young. ... Mervyn Douglas "
Paul White would have been involved in the release of the Capitol version in 1962. He had much success with the mining of EMI's vaults in England with the Freddy Gardner album based on requests from Canadian music fans ... perhaps this one had also been requested for a few times ? The disc was issued as Capitol 72057 and the B-side was "Christopher Robin (At Buckingham Palace)". This was clearly a record for children and a special picture sleeve was created for it, using a picture of Ann Stephens that was most probably taken when she was nine years old in 1941 ... "they're changing guard at Buckingham Palace .. Christopher Robin went down with Alice …"
Special thanks to Jamie Anstey of Vancouver for providing the image of the picture sleeve and the disc. In July 1964, Capitol of Canada would release an Lp called Alice In Wonderland (Capitol JAO-6077 mono only) which also featured Ann Stephens.
It is that time of the month once again! It is not a surprise that many interesting records were sold at very interesting prices in the past few weeks. For all the details of all recorded sales, please visit the Sales page in the Archives menu tab.
45 RPMs: the 72000 series was once again ahead in the sales where Do You Want To Knw A Secret Capitol 72159 sold for 26$. Many copies of Love Me Do also changed hands. A copy with unknown matrix info sold for 25$, a dash 5 and dash 7 sold for 25$ in NM condition, a dash 6 and dash 7 sold for 27$ also in NM condition. Finally, Perry Cox has a -2 and no dash on the other side still for sale as of today and is already up to 93$; it will be interesting to see once again how high it will get!. A copy of All My Loving 72144 sold for 10$ and finally a lot of 4 songles including All My Loving, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Roll Over Beethoven and She Loves you sold for 51$.
33 RPMs: The Dave Clark Five Instrumental Album found a new home for 79$, A stereo Pink Floyd's Piper At The Gates Of Dawn sold for 100$. As for Beatles, a very rare Canadian copy of Ain't She Sweet sold for 60$, a Beatles Again album still in the shrink wrap with the green Apple sticker sold for 58$ while another Perry Cox item, this time a NM Beatlemania album sold for an incredible 231$!
Today, on September 13, 2011, was released the CD version of the new remastered version of the best selling album "1". Indeed this new release was available on itunes as a digital download since September 2nd, but saw a CD release made in Canada this morning. Early copies were sold with give away posters of the colorful Avedon pictures featured in the earlier release from 2000. The CD featured a yellow sticker stating "27 classic No.1 singles - remastered".
Also, US and UK official stores are selling a limited edition hand numbered print of the Beatles 45s, made especially for this remastered issue. Apparently only 250 copies of these prints are available for 75$
The time was May 1977 and I was just finishing my undergrad university degree in Ottawa. I recall trying to finish a paper for one of my courses after classes had ended .. I had been granted an extension and it was very quiet as I sat in one of the rooms in the Arts Tower at Carleton University. Only the Carleton Campus radio station to listen to on that sunny day when I would rather be outside ... I had moved on from The Beatles more than seven years in terms of musical taste but all of a sudden there was screaming from the speakers over my head and I heard someone announce .. "and now here they are .. The Beatles" !!! Instantly I was a Beatles fan again just as I was finishing my University degree.
Capitol of Canada was issuing "The Beatles Live At The Hollywood Bowl" and these were recordings made at this famous outdoor concert venue way back in 1964 and 1965. This Beatles fan's immediate reaction was that Capitol had stopped scraping the bottom of the barrel (eg red and blue double LP sets) ... they were now licking the bottom of the barrel !
Still .. my interest was piqued and the album became a birthday gift for me in August of that year …
But what did The Beatles think of this reissue of scream-laced material ? At this time, all four ex-Beatles were enjoying much success with their solo careers. Their solo albums were competing in the LP charts with their original Beatles recordings.
Capitol of Canada was now aware of the value that lay in their vaults. The old albums were selling consistently and now in 1977 they had something new (again) to add to the catalogue. The Canadian operation went into high gear to promote the album, running against the likes of platinum albums like Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours", etc.
A special 6 page press kit was prepared. One side was in French and the other side (3 pages) was in English.
Also, stickered promotional albums were sent out to industry contacts (pluggers, radio stations, etc.). These promotional albums came with a promo sticker on the back cover and inside included a 10-page typewritten bio history of The Beatles. There was also a one page handout called The Beatles Live !
Most stock editions of the album included a small yellow contest form (French on one side and English on the other).
The album was also manufactured and issued on cassette and 8 tape in Canada as follows: Cassette - 4XW-11638 (US inlay card with black spine, yellow paper labels, yellow contest insert folded inside) 8 track tape - 8XW-11638 (Canadian slick, black shell, yellow contest form folded inside)
All Canadian album jackets featured slicks with the die-cut tickets that were printed by Ever Reddy. The printer's logo appears at the bottom of the spine of the gatefold jacket. Albums, cassettes, and 8 track tapes were all issued in tight shrink wrap.
At the time this album was issued in Canada, Capitol was starting to press albums using their own in-house pressing operation .. after years of using third parties like RCA, Compo, and Columbia. In fact, many of the early pressings of the "Bowl" LP are Columbia pressings.
There are three different pressings of this Lp from 1977 in Canada: All versions have MASTERED BY CAPITOL machine-stamped in the run out area on each side.
Side 1 run-outs: SMAS-1-11638 G-14 ML (handwritten)
Side 2 run-outs: SMAS-2-11638 G-16 ML (handwritten)
Side 1 run-outs: SMAS-1-11638 G-17 ML (handwritten)
Side 2 run-outs: SMAS-2-11638 G-14 ML (handwritten)
Side 1 run-outs: SMAS-1-11638 F-13 Wey (handwritten)
Side 2 run-outs: SMAS-2-11638 F-13 Wey (handwritten)
Side 1 run-outs: SMAS-1-11638 G-14 ML (handwritten)
Side 2 run-outs: SMAS-2-11638 G-16 ML (handwritten)
Capitol of Canada went as far as creating some very cool plastic store displays just to promote the LP. These displays were shown in the "press kit" that was created to promote the new album to retailers across Canada. The display was huge .. approximately 48 inches high by 28 inches wide. ... and it had pockets to hold 4 covers of the Hollywood Bowl album. A Beatles collector in British Columbia obtained one of these from the Kelly's Stereo Mart in Vancouver many years ago and front and back views appear in the two pictures below.
It is estimated that approximately 200 of these large plastic displays were manufactured for distribution to the larger record retailers across Canada. Try and find one of these today !
Very large rolled paper posters were also created in May 1977 to promote and support the special "They Came Back ... Live" contest that was mentioned on the little yellow forms inserted into the stock albums.
Was the expensive cross-Canada promotional push by Capitol of Canada in May of 1977 worth it ? The answer is a resounding "maybe" ... perhaps The Beatles could have sold a live album without the promotional materials and the expenses to run a national contest. This would not happen in the same way again. Beatles albums as they were issued by Capitol of Canada in the 1960s did not have such promotional expense.
Our Australian friend has been working on a similar type of website: a "labelography" of Australian Beatles LPs. It is very detailed and features many unique record sleeves and compilation albums, much like the 6000 series in Canada. Take a few minutes to visite the website I AM THE PLATYPUS at http://www.beatlesaustralia.com/ .
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