Late London Tri Centres 8900-9062 - Record Info pages at select45rpm

LONDON TRI CENTRES 8900-9062

Exclusive!! Never before published info & photos
about all the LONDON tri centres from 8900 to 9062. You can see from the London listing some were issued months out of sequence & many 8900s are on Round Centres only, despite errors in Record Collector, eg 8906 is a round only & a strange looking one too, looking more like an EMI (but it isn't). Another of this odd type is 8928. By mid 1960 the more standard London (Decca) type centre with the ridge on the centre was the normal type. the 'flat' looking centres are therefore the earliest ones from 1959 - early 1960, though you'll find repressings with later centres! See the table below for all confirmed Tris, some noted as Round may exist as Tri. All have been found on at least the Round Centre copy.

As a minor note, silver top London started with 8859 Billy Vaughn, making 8858 The Treniers being the last black top, not including the 70s retro ones. Several earlier 8800s were repressed with the silver top as is typical with steady selling 45s of the era.

• Yes, up to 9062 now. Heard rumours of 9062 in 2009 but the seller wouldn't send a photo. One on ebay proves it's real & maybe it's the same copy? Any more?? The codes on 9062 Tri are "C+C", 9053 is "C+C" again showing these late Tri's are just done usually later at random for reasons unknown, maybe in-house test copies. The later Golds were later pressings too. The 2 round copies of 9062 we have are both "U+U" codes.

Heard a reliable rumour of 9070 (Johnny Cash) as a TRI. This is a March 1960 release opening the possibility of TRIs to 9086. Elvis 1st 78 on HMV POP 182 may be on a deep red gold print as Ronnie Hilton POP 198 is? Need to see them.

Through seeing on-sale records after having started this page, some Tri's are turning up that we never knew existed in all our years shuffling vinyl. These late Tri's from 8950 onwards are mostly extra rare in comparison to the Round ones. Why has no-one seen some of these until now? 8959, 8961, 8979, 8990, 9006, 9026, 9053 & 9062 are new discoveries to us after decades shuffling vinyl! Never seen another 9013 (Marv Johnson) since, making these Tri's part of an extra short press run.

London 9006 Carl Mann 'Pretend'/'Rockin' Love' we can do more comparisons to, having found another thicker press like the tri, but as a round, we can add some more info. The Round is "K+C" codes, the Tri is "C+K" codes. All is identical to the closest detail except for the centre. We have 2 other later copies to check with. One is "C+K" (faintly stamped) with round centre, but the thinner gap centre type (see the Beatles Decca Contract type 2). The other is round with the more usual wider gap with very faintly stamped "K+I". Both centres are with a 1960 type bump in the middle, not the very early flat centre as shown below. Is this of any interest?

WHY ARE SOME SO RARE? It appears the later Tris were pressed 'almost' as in house test copies or "After Hours" work for their extreme rarity & this rarity has not been fully realised (as with many of the early silvers being pre Gold) due to the lack of research! In years of collecting by ourselves & info from others who grew up with the records, the rarity of many of these Tri's post 8950 is just 1-5 known copies? Only this article & advancing years will get more brought out to see the reality & those that are around as-yet undiscovered will be found. Only those working at Decca in 1959-60 could tell how many they put in the TRI centre pressing/cutting machine instead of the Round centre newer one. For all we know the Tri might have been an in-house test copy not intended for sale, as Tri was the old-fashioned Rock & Roll type centre.

RARITY NOT EQUALLING VALUE (yet!) As these are still pretty unknown as we are the first to properly research this, prices are still growing as collectors realise firstly the Existence & then the Rarity of these late Tri Centres. Some are exceedingly rare compared to how often you see the Round centres. Watch the prices rise! Collectors have been keeping these since the late 1960s when Record Collecting started getting popular, as the Mike Raven London listings in Music Mags reveal. These records will come out as time passes & only then will the rarity be found. Some "Rare" records are being revealed to be not so rare as more emerge, but as people say "Rare" instead of Valuable & Wanted. Collectors in all fields like to keep unknown rarities secret, not realising one day they'll be selling them & if the market is unaware the prices won't be right if just using Auctions to sell.

On recent finds, the Tri of those post 8950 is always with a later Buckingham code, C and K often found. Smaller selling records therefore wouldn't have got a Tri pressed, as the chart data & better selling records as Tri centres in the table shows. 8962 Wink Martindale we have a Tri with 'BB+A' codes. Based on that information, there could be at least half a dozen more Tri Centres to find, artists like Billy Vaughn did sell steadily in those days.

The earliest Round centres, eg 8903, 8906, 8908 were actually issued later than the number suggests, see the table below. The first "Real" round-only (unless anyone knows it's a Tri) is 8922 in Aug 1959. So round centres started Aug 1959 & if you found high grade EPs you may confirm this with the cover codes, eg 8.59 with an early flat centred round record in it.

BUCKINGHAM [Decca] and GRAMOPHLTD [EMI] codes were used on approx 1000-2000 pressings before they were replaced as worn out. Exact numbers depended on many factors naturally. A 1963 copy of the Beatles 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' still with the first label style has 'ARO' and 'APD' CODES, meaning 325th stamper on the A side and 350th on the B side (or is it 360th?). Either way, it shows over 300 stampers there was about 15% tolerance here. 1000-2000 pressings per stamper = 325,000 to 650,000 copies, though the higher seems more likely as the record sold a million very fast.

February 1960 seems to be the last Tri Centre month, covering to 9066, so we'll show to 9066 & see. Brunswick 05819 Carl Dobkins (Jan 60); Coral 72376 Buddy Holly (Sep 59); Decca 11213 Bryan Johnson (Feb 60); Felsted 122 Kathy Linden (1959); Melodisc 1516 PHil Sullivan (1959); Kalypso XX12 Count Lasher (1960); RCA 1170 Perry Como (Feb 60); Vogue 9163 Amos Milburn & 9164 Arthur Lyman (Feb 60); seem to be the last Decca pressed Tri's on 45s, though some labels have a lot of rare but lousy 45s you never see making it hard to be certain. EPs will be even harder to do! Collectors selling up after 50 years will throw up more surprises for sure. Seem to remember RCA 1171 Pat Suzuki as a Tri too.

Many of the Tris exist as Round too, though not all were depending on factors such as sales or the need to repress them on the newer equipment. The low-selling ones pre 8920 are likely to be Tri only, but that's not so important to check here, maybe only 8901, 8902, 8919 are Tri only as the rest we've seen Tri & Round. Some may have only got the Tri press a month or more after the Round was first made, so as with the Golds, the Tri in this series may not be the first, ie the Wink Martindale 8962 Tri has later and higher code numbers, ie BB+A and I+G. Sammy Turner 8963 Tri has 'B+C' codes. This data all concerns Black issues only, the Orange Demos were erratic in centre type, a 2 x 1 side demo pair could have 1 tri centre & the other solid centre. 8950 exists as a Tri demo, but no issue seen so data is blank. Note # = Chart Hit.

In the table below is our own confirmed Tri or Round. "P" means we have a genuine photo of the item. Some Round may exist as Tri & we may be aware of it, but no picture/record proof means we don't publish it. Or we look silly like many "expert" books before us when rumours prove wrong. 8914 we had a Tri copy before & the A side has an odd misprint HTL 8914 instead of HLT 8914. We have seen a Tri Demo of 9022 & a German Tri of their issue of 9021, in case "rumours" are only those inaccurate vague ones.

This list is not complete as more are rumoured to be Tri and no doubt several more will appear over the years, but until we see them, we won't state it beyond "Rumoured" & only a genuine photo is proof. Finding all the photos wasn't easy. Some of the pics that weren't ours were our copies we sold years ago. The thing is collectors have known about some being Tri for decades, but sharing the info is never thought about & where would you share it perhaps is the problem. It'll only further collecting with more facts known, so when these collectors sell up, their previously-unknown records will find the right buyers as the info on them is finally known! As with any photos, there is a tiny chance of fake photos, but the ones here look right due to subtle details.

DON'T DISMISS BUYING ROUND CENTRED COPIES OF THESE now you know the Tri exists!! The TRI of some of these is genuinely unfindable & even the collectors since the 1970s have never seen them on TRI. As stated above, some of these TRI could be existing in SINGLE FIGURES for the amount of Round copies vs TRI that there are. Some did sell well over several months without charting, eg Carl Mann 'Pretend' but the TRI, which is our copy, is perhaps the ONLY ONE LEFT? Dare we be so bold? Yes! Did the Tri machine mess up & that is why our copy is slightly damaged by the label as all others were rejected & this one sneaked out? Who knows? Until more than 5 turn up, the term "Ultra Rare" is deservedly used as in other collectable item worlds. Look how many "Ultra Rare" Robert Johnson 78s have sold as on Popsike for $$$$. Old collectors are selling up top rarities but they'll be unseen for another 20-30 years. These rare TRIs should be 'out there' by now if they were more common. But they aren't (yet).

LONDON DEMOS from 1959-60 should be 1 sided, but you do find odd "In-House" demos with 1 artist & label on one side & any other Decca related label on the other, ie London/Decca, London/RCA, London/Durium etc. Very rarely do you find London on both sides. These are purpose-made records & despite the In-House status we've seen these called years ago, it appears they were treated like any other demo as times & catalog numbers are added as you find on other demos. Usually 1 side is a more valuable item than the other though we had Everlys backed with Carl Mann 8934-8935. These 1 sided 45 demos appear to have started in mid 1956 & continued until December 1960 as we've had 9248 as a 2 sided proper demo yet November 1960 issued 9231 Johnny Tillotson as a 1 side. We've also had 9255 as a 1 side demo with "Everyday" but also strangely seen the 2 sided version. 9272 & 9276 Ronnie Love & Miracles soul faves are both 2 sided demos.

SILVER TOP TRI REPRESSINGS of earlier numbers.
See Photos of those we've found below. You find a lot of Black Top Tri repressings of Golds (without the large catalog number & matrix, post Mar 1957) & even Round Centre ones (from 1961 usually) still with the pre Silver Top labels. But as the Silver Top Tri design only existed for 9 months from May 1959 to Feb 1960, few would need a total repress & resetting the label into the new style as old label stocks would be used unless they'd run out, so you do find clearly 1959 pressings (a large 'ET' stamped in the deadwax being one clue) but still using 1958 label stocks. You find 1955 glossy Gold Brunswick on 1961 round pressings, eg Red Foley and the 1st Chuck Berry round 1961 press uses 1956 labels as do others repressed to cash in on later hits eg Lloyd Price on 8438. Some repressed Silver Top Tris are therefore extra rare beyond hit records of a few months before & we'll add photos of those Silver Top Tris we find below once we have found more photos. The oddest repress must be 8253 Pat Boone as a round 1960 press totally omitting his name from the A side label! Round repressings of Tris are plentiful & some like the Little Richard were repressed in 1964 to cash in on other events & records. Yet to see any 1950s tracks on original numbers as any press later than 1964 though due to the Beat era, but after many got reissued with new numbers from Spring 1968. Once of the few to still carry the old number is Little Eva's hit on 9581 which exists as early 70s pressings. Only by knowing the news of the era would anyone know why Clyde Mc Phatter 8525 got a London-Atlantic repress in 1963, as did Chuck Willis 8635. Repressings of any titles clearly relate to how UK Decca's relationship with the USA label was. Certain labels stayed with Decca many years & some got their own UK Labels. Most of the good sellers, chart hits or not were likely on a short license much as CD reissues are today, with some artists being reissued by several companies. From looking also at some artists later successes, London certainly missed out not keeping certain 45s on catalog, but did release some Oldies LPs.

The UK EPs often stayed on catalogue for longer than the 45s & even some obscure ones on all the Tri centre Decca group from the 50s can be found as 60s pressings some after the artists found chart hits on other USA Labels, eg the Roy Orbison 1957 EP. Another thing with EPs we've not seen explained is EPs started in 1954 with Thick Tri centres, semi gloss paper with Gold Print & the FFRR logo, and by 1959 the Silver Top tri as with the 45s. But then there are all maroon labels with a much smaller 'London' word & clearly 1959 releases. These were not exports as they are too easily found as such.

Ones we know exist as Silver Top Tri repressings: 8172, 8253, 8403, 8386, 8506, 8784, 8803, 8817, 8819, 8834, 8841, 8844, 8846, 8850, 8852, 8855. Likely more of the big names exist, but they're not easily found. See the Photos below.

The 1959 UK Stereo London 45s there are just 4 of these. London SLW 4001 - Duane Eddy: Yep!/Peter Gunn. London SLD 4002 - Pat Boone: For A Penny/Wang Dang Taffy-Apple Tango. London SLU 4003 - The Fleetwoods: Come Softly To Me/I Care So Much. London SLU 4004 - Martin Denny: Quiet Village/Llama Serenade. 2 of these have turned up online & as they are Silver Top Tris they belong in here. Sadly we know absolutely nothing about these beyond what the RIS book printed. For them to still have the centres maybe they weren't for a Jukebox. But exported to, or for use where details are lost in time. Not having BIEM NCB means they weren't for Holland. They'd not export USA recordings back to USA & there are USA Stereo 45s of these titles.

IF THIS PAGE HAS HELPED YOU & YOU CAN FILL ANY GAPS, DON'T BE SHY, LET US KNOW! SEE OUR LONDON GALLERY
Thanks to those who've helped so far.

167 records 8900 to 9066 all (issued ones) now found.
69 found on Tri, 5 rumoured as Tri. 4 were unissued, maybe Demos exist.

Added Brunswick 05817 & 05819 as a really rare Tris. Note 1959 date on 05819, not 1960 as on 99% of rounds!

8900	Rick Palmer	-unissued-	8985 P	Ernie Fields #	TRI
8901 P	Gerry Mulligan	TRI	8986	Roger Williams	ROUND
8902 P	Nick Todd	TRI	8987 P	Tony Reese	TRI
8903	Gloria Smith (Sep 59)	ROUND	8988 P	Drifters #	TRI
8904 P	Tu-Tones (Jul 59)	TRI	8989	Don French (Demo on Tri)	ROUND
8905	Vernon Taylor	-unissued-	8990 P	Jan and Dean	TRI
8906	Clyde Mc Phatter (Aug 59)	ROUND	8991	Steve Wright	ROUND
8907	Wildcats	-unissued-	8992	Don Costa	ROUND
8908	The Jordan Brothers (Jan 60)	ROUND	8993 P	Jerry Lee Lewis	TRI
8909	Jerry Wald	-unissued-	8994 P	Wailers	TRI
8910 P	Pat Boone #	TRI	8995 P	Eternals	TRI
8911	Larry Williams (Jan 60)	ROUND	8996	Billy Vaughn	ROUND
8912 P	Jack Scott # (Aug 59)	TRI	8997	Sammy Salvo	ROUND
8913	Bo Diddley (Sep 59)	ROUND	8998	Paul Gayten	ROUND
8914 P	Kings IV	TRI	8999	Jane Morgan	ROUND
8915 P	Dee Clark #	TRI	9000	Clyde Mc Phatter	ROUND
8916 P	The Chipmunks #	TRI	9001	Gene Autry	ROUND
8917 P	Ray Charles	TRI	9002	Kenny and Corky	ROUND
8918 P	Sammy Turner	TRI	9003	Gary Stites	ROUND
8919 P	Dave "Baby" Cortez	TRI	9004	Eric Jay	ROUND
8920 P	Billy Vaughn	TRI	9005 P	Fats Domino #	TRI
8921 P	Chuck Berry	TRI	9006 P	Carl Mann	TRI
8922 P	Addrisi Brothers	TRI	9007 P	Duane Eddy #	TRI
8923 P	Louis Prima & Keely Smith	TRI	9008	Joe London	ROUND
8924	The Skyliners	ROUND	9009	Ray Charles	ROUND
8925 P	Jane Morgan	TRI	9010	Ralph De Marco	ROUND
8926 P	Chordettes	TRI	9011	Jaye Sisters	ROUND
8927 P	Ricky Nelson #	TRI	9012	Sheiks	ROUND
8928	Johnny Cash	ROUND	9013 P	Marv Johnson #	TRI
8929 P	Duane Eddy #	TRI	9014	Rosemary June	ROUND
8930 P	Johnny Tillotson	TRI	9015 P	Sandy Nelson	TRI
8931	Sonny Williams	ROUND	9016	Dale Hawkins	ROUND
8932 P	Ray Sharpe	TRI	9017 P	Johnny & Hurricanes #	TRI
8933 P	Tony Bellus	TRI	9018	Andy Williams (Saint Bernadette)	ROUND
8934 P	The Everly Brothers #	TRI	9019	Nelson Trio	ROUND
8935 P	Carl Mann	TRI	9020	Coasters	ROUND
8936 P	Jan and Dean	TRI	9021 P	Ricky Nelson	TRI
8937 P	Don Cornell	TRI	9022	Eddie Cochran (TRI rumoured)	ROUND
8938 P	Coasters #	TRI	9023	LaVern Baker	ROUND
8939 P	Bobby Darin #	TRI	9024 P	Titus Turner	TRI
8940	Eugene Church (TRI rumoured)	ROUND	9025	Vernon Taylor	ROUND
8941 P	Jerry Lee Lewis	TRI	9026 P	Sanford Clark	TRI
8942 P	Fats Domino #	TRI	9027	Irving Joseph	ROUND
8943 P	Jerry Wallace	TRI	9028	Debbie Reynolds	ROUND
8944 P	Eddie Cochran #	TRI	9029	Pat Boone	ROUND
8945	LaVern Baker	ROUND	9030	Dion & The Belmonts	ROUND
8946	Ruth Brown	ROUND	9031	Bobby Freeman	ROUND
8947	Vinnie Monte	ROUND	9032	Barrington Brass Band	ROUND
8948 P	Johnny & Hurricanes #	TRI	9033	Steve Clayton	ROUND
8949 P	Clovers #	TRI	9034 P	Bobby Darin #	TRI
8950	Earl Nelson	ROUND	9035	Bo Diddley	ROUND
8951	Chuck Vedder	ROUND	9036	Sonny Anderson	ROUND
8952 P	Billy Vaughn	TRI	9037	The Fontane Sisters	ROUND
8953	Delicates	ROUND	9038	The Hilltoppers	ROUND
8954 P	Crests	TRI	9039 P	The Everly Brothers #	TRI
8955	Hollywood Flames	ROUND	9040	Jerry Wallace	ROUND
8956	Gene and Eunice	ROUND	9041	Ernie Freeman	ROUND
8957 P	Andy Williams	TRI	9042	Wink Martindale	ROUND
8958	Wailers	ROUND	9043	Jim Lowe	ROUND
8959 P	Sanford Clark	TRI	9044	Bobby Day	ROUND
8960 P	Henri Rene	TRI	9045	Paul Evans	ROUND
8961 P	Neil Sedaka	TRI	9046	Sam Cooke	ROUND
8962 P	Wink Martindale #	TRI	9047	Dorsey Burnette	ROUND
8963 P	Sammy Turner #	TRI	9048	Johnny Tillotson	ROUND
8964	Bobby Day	ROUND	9049	Buddy Brennan	ROUND
8965	Bud and Travis	ROUND	9050 P	Duane Eddy #	TRI
8966	Mel Robbins (TRI rumoured)	ROUND	9051	Ray Smith	ROUND
8967	Jules Farmer	ROUND	9052	Champs #	ROUND
8968 P	Paul Evans #	TRI	9053 P	Larry Williams - Baby Baby	TRI
8969 P	Eartha Kitt	TRI	9054	Mickey & Kitty	ROUND
8970	Jack Scott (TRI rumoured)	ROUND	9055	Joe Turner	ROUND
8971	The Skyliners	ROUND	9056	Googie Rene Combo	ROUND
8972	Rusty and Doug	ROUND	9057	Fireflies	ROUND
8973	Addrisi Brothers	ROUND	9058	Ray Charles	ROUND
8974 P	Pat Boone	TRI	9059	Tracy Pendarvis	ROUND
8975	Bo Diddley	ROUND	9060	Dale Hawkins	ROUND
8976	Martin Denny	ROUND	9061	David Seville	ROUND
8977 P	Atmospheres	TRI	9062 P	Sammy Turner - Paradise	TRI
8978	Wes Bryan	ROUND	9063	Jan & Dean	ROUND
8979 P	Johnny Cash	TRI	9064	Sonny Burgess	ROUND
8980 P	Jerry Keller	TRI	9065	Little Richard	ROUND
8981	Barbara Carroll	ROUND	9066	Smiley Wilson	ROUND
8982 P	Jerry Fuller	TRI	10563P	Charlie Gracie ( Dec 1978)	TRI
8983	Anita Bryant	ROUND	10571P	Ritchie Valens (Jul 1979)	TRI
8984	Keely Smith	ROUND


ˆLONDON 8906 Early Round	ˆLONDON 8928 Early Round

ˆLONDON 8959 Early Round	ˆLONDON 8890 Early Round repress

ˆLONDON 9008 Extra Rare!	ˆLONDON 8997 Extra Rare!


ˆLONDON 8172 Silver Top Tri	ˆLONDON 8386 Silver Top Tri

ˆLONDON 8784 Silver Top Tri	ˆLONDON 8817 Silver Top Tri

ˆLONDON 8819 Silver Top Tri	ˆLONDON 8834 Silver Top Tri

ˆLONDON 8841 Silver Top Tri	ˆLONDON 8844 Silver Top Tri

ˆLONDON 8846 Silver Top Tri	ˆLONDON 8852 Silver Top Tri

ˆLONDON 8855 Silver Top Tri