Overview
Despite its slightly misleading title—the first Beatles single was not released in Australia until 1963—The Beatles Australian 20th Anniversary Singles Collection is perhaps the best way to obtain, in one package, all 34 Australian Beatles singles issued by EMI (Australia) up to October 1982.
The collection was compiled by Phil Israel, with assistance from Bruce Hamlin.
Phil recalls: "I put together a box set of the Beatles singles and did all the covers for each single. EMI (Australia) wasn't keen on the idea but they didn't stop me. I never asked for permission from EMI or Apple - I just did it. When it was released, EMI UK were really unhappy about the package but when they saw how well it did, they decided to go with the blue packaging".
[Webmaster's note: EMI UK did indeed release its own Beatles singles collection in a blue box two months later, under catalogue number BSCP 1. EMI (Australia) began importing the UK set in mid-1983, meaning Australian consumers could choose between the locally produced and British collections]
Bruce recalled: "When we got to do the singles box set, I suggested the cover notes. 'OK, then write them, Bruce', which I did—a full page on each record. 'Too much; edit it down yourself'. Then they did a second chop job, reducing them to just the couple of lines they actually used.
"Then I suggested we put the list of the top 34 into the booklet too. 'OK, good idea', they said. 'Well,' says I, 'I'm gonna need the sales figures'. I settled for the ex-factory figures as they also included the returns of what the shops didn't sell but sent back to the factory".
EMI (Australia) recut 11 singles specifically for the collection, these being titles that were then out of print. When combined with the singles already recut in 1976, this left 13 original 1963–70 pressings that EMI (Australia) considered suitable for continued use. Further details can be found on the individual single pages.
Bruce explained: "For cost reasons, EMI only wanted to recut the singles that had been deleted and thus no pressing plates existed. Eleven singles had been deleted and no pressing parts held, so I got to nominate my choice of source tapes for the 22 songs".
Each single was housed in a cheap paper picture sleeve featuring stills taken from newsreel footage of the Beatles' 1964 Australasian tour. The sleeves were made from a single piece of paper glued along each side, rather than using the more traditional folded construction, and are consequently prone to splitting. It is also quite common for the records to become caught in the glue, leaving them either stuck inside the sleeve or with paper and adhesive residue around the outer edge of the disc.
The collection included a six-page insert containing brief details of each single, together with a table ranking the 34 releases in descending order of sales. Images of the insert appear below.
Most boxes contained newly manufactured pressings with black Parlophone labels and updated typesetting. Some early boxes, however, included existing stock and may contain any combination of the following:
- A8143 Rock And Roll Music / Honey Don't: orange Parlophone label
- A-8693 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da / While My Guitar Gently Weeps: Apple label
- A-8793 The Ballad Of John And Yoko / Old Brown Shoe: Apple label
- A-12000 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / With A Little Help From My Friends // A Day In The Life: existing pressing with earlier pressing ring
Evidence indicates that the singles could also be ordered individually with their picture sleeves until the available sleeve stocks were exhausted. Thereafter, the singles reverted to generic EMI sleeves, around mid-1987.
The complete boxed collection was offered through the World Record Club during 1983 under catalogue number 92195, identified by a sticker bearing the number affixed to the cellophane-wrap sealed outer packaging.
Picture-sleeve images appear below—click each image to enlarge. Label variations can be viewed under the relevant individual single entries as SILVER/BLACK STYLE 'C'.
