Theben Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Hi there, could I please have some help identifying a physical graffiti pressing please? I know it’s not a first pressing as it has the WB logo on sides 2-4 however side 1 doesn’t have the WB logo on the label. The vinyls are stamped SSK 89400 A1, SSK 89400 B5, SSK 89400 C2 and SSK 89400 D1 Inner: A Swan Song / Atlantic recording distributed by WEA Records Ltd., ℗ & © 1975 Sleeve printed in England by Gothic Print Finishers Ltd., London SE9 2EQ All songs published by Joaneline Music, Inc. Sleeve: Swan Song / 484 Kings Road, London SW10 Cullderstead Ltd., trading as Swan Song A Swan Song / Atlantic recording distributed by WEA Records Ltd., ℗&© 1975 Any help identifying this would be greatly appreciated, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pb! Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 I would guess the pressing plant had a leftover label from a previous edition. Interesting to collector loonies but I doubt t affects the value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 It has the W logo which immediately rules out being a first pressing. This from "Neil" on the internet... Warner Bros. Records was created in 1958. Warner Bros. purchased Reprise Records in 1963. Warner Bros. was sold to Seven Arts Productions in 1967 and Seven Arts also purchased Atlantic and Atco Records (subsidiary of Atlantic). Warner Bros.-Seven Arts company was sold to Kinney National Company in 1969…so Kinney now owned Warner Bros, Atlantic, Atco, Reprise. Elektra label was acquired in 1970. In 1972 the company was renamed WEA Corp. after the three major labels, Warner Bros. Elektra and Atlantic. Swan Song was created in 1974 and Atlantic (WEA Corp as the legal entity) was given the production and distribution rights by messrs Grant, Page et al. Now, that’s the facts over and done with! Here’s the conjecture…the ‘W’ logo doesn’t begin to appear on Atlantic labels until ‘around’ 1975. The very first LP issue on Swan Song was The Pretty Things ‘Silk Torpedo’ LP in 1974 – no ‘W’ logo as you’d reasonably expect. Then came “Physical Graffiti’ in February 1975…no ‘W’ logo on the first pressings (in my opinion). Then came The Pretty Things again with ‘Savage Eye’ in 1975 (don’t know of the month) but again no ‘W’ logo. Next up is Led Zeppelin with ‘Presence’ in March 1976 and this DOES have a ‘W’ logo, as do all subsequent Swan Song labels after this. So I would propose that a ‘Physical Graffiti’ label with a W logo is a reissue from 1976 onwards. Controversially, if you have a copy with both non ‘W’ labels and ‘W’ labels, I suggest that the printer was using up old stock of pre-printed ‘blank’ Swan Song labels that were from 1975 (so non-‘W’ version) along with 1976 ‘W’ labels. The artist and track listing information would then be a single-colour black overprint onto these labels. The only other thing I would point out is that the label typography changed in 1979 – look at early releases and compare the “Made in UK” on early releases with “Manufactured in the UK” on 1979 issues as another clue, along with the lettering style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.