1. LONDON TRI CENTRES L1037- HL8199
This is the first part of our fascination with the London label, it was the first Rare Record Label "us collectors knew back in dem early days" that was universally known to be rare & wanted & still are, even the MOR orchestra ones! The TRI CENTRES info you can read elsewhere, but here we attempt to show which Londons had which Tri Centres. The ones up to 8109 were first issued on thick tri, starting in October 1954 but could have been repressed on long thin tri or standard thin tri over the months to March 1955. Decca only first pressed 45s for the UK in October 1954, but the blue large centred Decca later London export series actually started in 1950. See the last paragraph below for more & the last photo below for the very first UK pressed R&B 45.
Some of these titles would have sold to Jukebox operators only, which is why some are nearly always NOC copies & stuck in centres, a bad idea as few are glued neatly & they fall out anyway so why bother really? Some records we show below are copies we sold before & remembered the copy!
The idea of all these sections is to keep Record Collecting alive, if you are a Collector & see one on our pages & then want to buy it as you didn't know it existed, then job well done!
EXPLAINING THE THREE TRI CENTRE STYLES.
Look at the 3 copies of Earth Angel on 45 as pictured below: the first one is a THICK TRI with a bigger tri centre & larger parts attaching to the record, but with no cut-in indents to leave a clean fit on a large centre USA type player. Then look at the 2 other two tri centres: LONG THIN TRI is a bigger centre with a deeper cut-in & more attached to the rest of the 45. The familiar STANDARD TRI is the smaller centre with the thinner centre prongs & a smaller cut-in area.
The legendary Penguins 'Earth Angel' 45-HL8114 exists on all 3 centre types showing it got pressed 3 times. The long thin one is taken from the VRC book, we've only seen the other 2. The alleged 'large centre hole' RC tediously lists is just the thick tri removed, experts, eh? The UK issue has the same edited intro versions like the USA 45, the longer full versions only surfaced in the 70s, in the UK on a UA 2LP set & the recent Dootone pressing has the long versions. But it may have been just as few as 50-100 copies of the 45 pressed each time due to the rarity, as the '3rd press' thin tri still has 'B+B' codes. The Penguins 78 interestingly must have been pressed in Jan 1955 on the Gold 78 label then around Apr 1955 on the Silver top 78 label as 8134 (Apr 1955) on 78 exists as a Gold Print, though 8142 (Jun 1955) is a silver top. The 78 would have sold more & guesstimate 500 copies of each type. But whether they all actually sold or were recycled back as unsolds (eek!) is unknown, though these were pressed at a transitional time giving 3 45s versions doesn't mean you can easily find one! We've gone up to 8150 in July 1955, as if a rogue late thick tri exists March 1955 then a long thin tri might possibly exist in July 1955. Until we see otherwise, the list below is accurate.
Our Tri Centres page shows a very late Bill Haley Brunswick 05405 from March 1955 which must have been an odd press of a few hundred & not the very first press either as it has 'U+U' codes. From research, this appears to be a late one-off & we have seen another copy. By this time the standard thin tri & still a few last long thin tri were the normal pressings. Thick tri may exist to 8130 therefore.
Are there Large Centre UK release Londons? No! Beware of amateurs trying to state UK Londons L or were originally pressed with large centre to get you to buy their no-centre copy, this often heard guesswork is totally untrue. All Decca product for UK release was made with a centre from Oct 1954 onwards. Only proper exports with clearly different numbering may have large centres as made, as with the P18155 pictured below. Note the 7000 series were all pressed with centres if UK pressed, if few still have them. See our Tri Centres page to see how neatly a thick tri can be removed & often the centre was smoothed leaving no centre traces.
The (Italian?) London P 18100 Export series. These are seemingly from 1954-55 from ones that turn up. Usually Italian artists though one German one P18135 by Franz Winkler Trio exists on a 78. Vico Torriani on P18153 and P18155. P18156 is by Roberto Cardinali are on 45s, black labels with Gold print and the Horizontal line you find on the Blue USA Exports & some of the earliest UK 45s as our Gallery shows.
Why all this change in Tri Centre types? The thick tri centre didn't actually remove neatly and likely resulted in broken records as it needed a lot of force to remove! USA Capitol & Columbia actually gave up on the centres before UK Decca even started pressing 45s, likely for similar reasons (see the Tri Centres page). The Long Thin middle size tri centre, introduced Feb 1955, is much easier to remove, but still leaves bits to impede playing on a US style large centre player. That is why the standard thin tri began in June 1955. On popping out the centre, remember it was their record to do with as they wished, having no idea people would care 50+ years later, the standard tri leaves no bits on 95% of attemps (play with some worthless ones) but you sometimes find label tears at the connecting points!
LONDON bravely issued some USA R&B tracks in 1953-54 on 78 only.
How these would have been expected to sell when the UK was locked into tame ballad orchestra pop is a mystery. It was new and unknown & kudos to London for trying. Pity no John Lee Hooker 45 was issued! They are rare to excessively rare but oddly RC prices them quite low & prices realised aren't much either, on those few that have turned up. Listing table at the base of this page. There are other pop R&B flavoured 78s like Hadda Brooks (4x78s) and Josh White's folk-blues (10x 78s) & some boogie instrumentals. UK Vogue & Mercury issued other R&B 78s like Swallows, Dominoes, Lucky Millinder, Wynonie Harris & The Ravens. With London in the 1958-60 era there are more very rare 78s, might picture those too one day, though apart from seeing rarities, the 78s didn't appeal much.
A strange UK London export P18153, P18155 + P18156 all by the same artist offered on ebay to a weak response as no-one has ever heard of them! They look 1954 pressings with the line across. See the blurry pic of London 8014 for a similar type of label with the line. An ebay sale from 2004. Without seeing them hard to tell if really large centres like the Blue/Gold exports to USA. These Blue-Gold exports are not UK London product, but USA London which issued UK Decca pop & some UK hits can be found in the series where the UK 78 only exists. Someone should do a listing of these B+G exports as they always get bids £10-40 on ebay when offered.
Early London 45s had a few Demos that were not issued on standard stock copies. We had the Lew Williams Cat Talk from 1956. It still appears joyfully in RC as £50 as we paid this for it years ago from a RC contributor. London got the master tapes so it sounded crisp unlike the poor sounding USA 45. If anyone kept our better ebay listing photo, let us know, we only have this! Another 1956 London Demo we've seen (ebay sale) is Little Richard. This was the USA B-side of 'Tutti Frutti', 'I'm Just A Lonely Guy'. London decided to couple 2 hit A-sides instead not knowing if such wild music would get any sales, so 'Guy' was unissued until an EP later. An Everly Brothers 1962 demo was unissued says the RIS book & rumours of another Spiders 45 Demo & a Five Notes (both likely 1956 too) were around years ago in the RIS supplement, though with no other proof, we don't know.
How late does London go with Thick Tri Centres? If that Bill Haley Brunswick we have from March 1955 exists as Thick Tri, then possible for Londons to the same month, ie 8130 exist too, but assume they don't until they turn up. There may be other Decca group thick tris from March 1955 though. Long Thin Tris appear to start Feb 1955 so that Haley may be a one-off. Long Thins exist of 8142 as shown in the VRC book, but having had a standard tri with 'B+B' codes, who knows? The other Haley Londons are easier to find. Sundown Boogie was actually an early 1952 Holiday cut & has to be the earliest of his with the R&R sound. Greentree Boogie is less R&R sounding but earlier at 1951. Both were BH + Saddlemen credits on the original Holiday issues. Some of these early Gold Londons are extra rare be they typical pop or the more interesting R&B or C&W type. To try to collect the full set on 45 or 78 must be pretty near impossible. Not many are on Popsike to check them, we've not exactly had lots & even in 78 collections they don't turn up. Some may have been pressed in low hundreds & if unsold they were returned and you know what happens to returned stock that's worth more as raw material in hard Post War Britain? Recycled, mate! Listen closely to your Bill Haley Rock Around The Clock, you might just hear the Penguins all mixed up in the background...
Unlike other Decca product from 1954-55, no London 45s had the semi-glossy labels like Brunswick & semi-glossy as Capitol did. London 45s had the flat black paper as they did years after. Some of the really earliest EPs had the semi-glossy labels and also the FFRR Decca ear logo. Capitol was pressed by Decca until EMI got the UK rights. The earliest UK CL14500-50ish do a good job of imitating the Decca pressed semi-glossy labels. The 'Decca' label issues themselves are visually interesting, with Glossy Blue with Gold print and also Pale Blue flat paper with Silver print depending on which issue. Charlie Kunz hit on Decca 10419 is on flat pale blue with a thick tri, a different Decca logo and 'B+B' codes, whereas 10255 and 10456 are Glossy blue with Gold Print. Sadly most 1954-55 Decca 45s beyond the chart hits are very rare but musically uninteresting easy light pop of the day. In 1956, the silver band around the label edge disappeared, similarly in 1959 on Coral as Buddy Holly 'Matter' is found in both types.
No UK Decca issues were made large centre, only the Blue-Gold Decca & London Export ones generally featuring UK Decca artists. In 1950 UK Decca pressed USA London released 45s in the UK on "Decca" blue/gold 75000 series, seen numbers go to at least 75057 on a 1952 Josh White that was on a UK London 78. Considering the first 45s were only issued in 1949, UK Decca pressing these for export as early as 1950 is surprising. USA also issued these 45s on their 30000-34000 series, similar to UK EMI using a different 45 series 7M, SCM etc. In 1952 the Decca name, as it was owned by different owners UK to US changed to London for the UK pressed exports and the USA 78s London numbers ie 1200-1400 series were used & Demos of 45s & 78s can be found. Most of these 45s are Pop styled though several UK Chart hits can be found in the series. Why UK Decca pressed exports of these 45s is a bit of a mystery as USA pressed London 45s of The (Four) Keys on 30027 (on 1950 RCA pressed vinyl) and Sticks McGhee on 978 (1951 styrene press like the 1st Atlantics) exist. It seems these exports were used in many countries not just USA though you find UK pressed EPs & LPs with USA covers for use in the USA & even 1960s Rolling Stones LPs UK London export pressings, matching the US track order. 60 years later records will have travelled the globe so UK pressed London 78s turning up in USA when USA had their own USA pressed ones blurs the issue. See below for some photos, including the Very First UK R&B 45 from 1950!
