Arkay
Lunatic Member
I got a call from my favorite LP "bird-dogger" today and picked up 150-160 LPs, including some nice classic rock, including multiples from the Beatles, Yes, Pink Floyd and others. Some were duplicates of LPs I had, but some were different: Finally got a nice copy of PF's "The Final Cut", and my first Canadian pressing of the Beatles blue album (I have other pressings).
But what I've found interesting isn't an LP at all, it's a 7" EP (extended play) disk. Same size and large hole as a typical 45 rpm single, but cut at 33-1/3. This one is "The Flying Platters Around the World", from 1958 or 1959. It's the same group as The (original) Platters. In the 1950s, the addition of the word "flying" and the ethnic costumes from different nations that the band members wear on the cover, added the romance and glamor of travel, I suppose.
There is also a full-sized LP version put out with the exact title and cover art. Besides the size, the only difference in the cover is a white strip across the top of the small EP where the Mercury logo is, instead of just the logo on the cover art area. Check out the pics of these:
Here is the full-sized LP version:
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the_platters/the_flying_platters_around_the_world/
Here is the small EP cover that is very similar to the one I got today, but not the same (which I'll explain shortly):
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/the_platters/the_flying_platters_around_the_world/
Looking at those, the 7" EP containing four songs found on the full-sized LP makes sense. This could have been a promotional item for people to sample the songs, in the hopes that they'd step up to the full-sized LP. Or it might have been a way to get all those teenagers with small/portable players with 7" platters a way to purchase music they could play on those things, while giving them twice the songs that would fit on a 45 rpm recording. Whatever, it seems okay.
HERE IS THE WEIRD PART:
On the EP that I found, with identical cover art, the four songs are all famous Platters songs that are NOT on the full-sized LP version! The EP that I have on it has on it Only You, The Great Pretender, The Magic Touch, and Harbor Lights --NONE of which appears on the LP.
The printing on mine lists those songs, as do the labels on the disc itself.
What is even weirder is that the fourth song on the front and back cover - Harbor Lights-- was neatly cut out and removed (a rectangle was removed from the printed surface of the paper). A label reading Harbour Lights was stick over the cut-out on the back. Perhaps there was an error with that one song only, and this was someone's way of correcting it?
I'm wondering if they printed up a bunch of jackets with blank spaces across the top, and when the EP with the original songs didn't sell well, decided to stick a disc with guaranteed-selling songs inside, and correspondingly print something else across the top, when perhaps someone screwed up the printing? Just speculating here.
I've seen a couple websites list this EP as "rare". How do I know which version they are referring to, and if what I have is perhaps some freakish super-rarity? The one in that pic appears to have a different number than mine, indicating a different record: Mine is EP-60.128. A Google search of this number reveals some copies, but every listing I see that has any indication, shows the song titles that match the LP, just like the ones in that pic above, not the titles that appear on mine.
So what kind of unusual weirdo EP have I found?
I rarely encounter these small EPs, at all. Were they relatively rare? Were they unpopular? I imagine they were aimed at people who had those small players with 7" platters on them, so they could enjoy more songs? Or were they more like a teaser or sampler, to promote the full LP? This one fits in two songs per side, instead of the usual one song (obviously it can because of slower speed). Was that the marketing angle? Were these used in Juke boxes?
I think I have a few of these now (4 or 5), but never really paid much attention to them before today. Does anyone collect these? Are they worth paying attention to or getting, or are they just a largely forgotten and unwanted audio-historical footnote? How does their sound compare to the regular 33s, or the small 45s?
Just curious about this oddball one, and seldom see these discussed on AK, so I thought I'd bring it up and see what comes back... fire away!
But what I've found interesting isn't an LP at all, it's a 7" EP (extended play) disk. Same size and large hole as a typical 45 rpm single, but cut at 33-1/3. This one is "The Flying Platters Around the World", from 1958 or 1959. It's the same group as The (original) Platters. In the 1950s, the addition of the word "flying" and the ethnic costumes from different nations that the band members wear on the cover, added the romance and glamor of travel, I suppose.
There is also a full-sized LP version put out with the exact title and cover art. Besides the size, the only difference in the cover is a white strip across the top of the small EP where the Mercury logo is, instead of just the logo on the cover art area. Check out the pics of these:
Here is the full-sized LP version:
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the_platters/the_flying_platters_around_the_world/
Here is the small EP cover that is very similar to the one I got today, but not the same (which I'll explain shortly):
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/the_platters/the_flying_platters_around_the_world/
Looking at those, the 7" EP containing four songs found on the full-sized LP makes sense. This could have been a promotional item for people to sample the songs, in the hopes that they'd step up to the full-sized LP. Or it might have been a way to get all those teenagers with small/portable players with 7" platters a way to purchase music they could play on those things, while giving them twice the songs that would fit on a 45 rpm recording. Whatever, it seems okay.
HERE IS THE WEIRD PART:
On the EP that I found, with identical cover art, the four songs are all famous Platters songs that are NOT on the full-sized LP version! The EP that I have on it has on it Only You, The Great Pretender, The Magic Touch, and Harbor Lights --NONE of which appears on the LP.
The printing on mine lists those songs, as do the labels on the disc itself.
What is even weirder is that the fourth song on the front and back cover - Harbor Lights-- was neatly cut out and removed (a rectangle was removed from the printed surface of the paper). A label reading Harbour Lights was stick over the cut-out on the back. Perhaps there was an error with that one song only, and this was someone's way of correcting it?
I'm wondering if they printed up a bunch of jackets with blank spaces across the top, and when the EP with the original songs didn't sell well, decided to stick a disc with guaranteed-selling songs inside, and correspondingly print something else across the top, when perhaps someone screwed up the printing? Just speculating here.
I've seen a couple websites list this EP as "rare". How do I know which version they are referring to, and if what I have is perhaps some freakish super-rarity? The one in that pic appears to have a different number than mine, indicating a different record: Mine is EP-60.128. A Google search of this number reveals some copies, but every listing I see that has any indication, shows the song titles that match the LP, just like the ones in that pic above, not the titles that appear on mine.
So what kind of unusual weirdo EP have I found?
I rarely encounter these small EPs, at all. Were they relatively rare? Were they unpopular? I imagine they were aimed at people who had those small players with 7" platters on them, so they could enjoy more songs? Or were they more like a teaser or sampler, to promote the full LP? This one fits in two songs per side, instead of the usual one song (obviously it can because of slower speed). Was that the marketing angle? Were these used in Juke boxes?
I think I have a few of these now (4 or 5), but never really paid much attention to them before today. Does anyone collect these? Are they worth paying attention to or getting, or are they just a largely forgotten and unwanted audio-historical footnote? How does their sound compare to the regular 33s, or the small 45s?
Just curious about this oddball one, and seldom see these discussed on AK, so I thought I'd bring it up and see what comes back... fire away!
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