Beatles 1986 Japanese Mono LPs

Just picked up a really nice, mint condition complete set of these. I have to say I'm very, very pleased with them. Not only do they look great with their translucent red vinyl but they sound pretty darn fine too.

Having A/B'd a couple of them with 60s UK original monos, there really isn't much in it. The UK originals have slightly more bottom end but other than that, they do sound very similar.

Anyone else have these? I seem to think a few forum members do have these (or maybe the 1982 Japanese monos). I think they're great!

 

A complete set... Nice! I've lost out on a couple of auctions on some single ones I wanted, but I'd love to find a whole set....Will you tell me what you paid?

 

Yeah, a whole set! How much?

inperson

 

"He is red... kill him!"

I have several, not a complete set, though I don't know if they're the earlier or later eighties issues. The vinyl is quiet, and the mono sound is the best I've heard. I paid between $15 and $20 each, about fifteen years ago. The current prices on eBay are frightening.

 

Prices are pretty frightening over here too! I've PM'd those of you who asked how much I paid, because I'm in the UK the equivalent prices in US Dollars are really scary due to the current exchange rates. To put things into perspective though, I've seen mint mono UK original White Albums going for nearly what I paid for this set!

Cheers,

 

86 & 82 Japanese Mono

I have both of these red vinyl Japanese sets as well as the 82 UK mono re-issues. I prefer the 1986 set. They were pressed in very limited quantities and have a really nice OBI. I find the sound pretty much equal between the 82 and 86 Japanese sets.

 

Great pick up, enjoy! As I've said before, overall I think either the 1982 or 86 Japanese red mono pressings are superior to the 1982 UK monos.

The gold standards are obviously still the original Y&B Parlophones - they are what they are and nothing can "beat" them of course. But personal preference wise, for those titles I have in both formats, I find myself returning more to the Japanese pressings. Better sonic detail, absolutely whisper quiet surfaces - I don't have any records that better them in that aspect - and while there has been some high end EQ tweaking it's as artfully done as can be, nothing like the overkill in that area on the Japanese EAS reissues from around the same period. The 1986 pressings sound a SHADE brighter to my ears but it's really, really subtle, nothing I find to worry about.

 

Go here:

http://yokono.co.uk/collection/beatles/japanese/lp/lp.html

You'll be able to determine which issues you have. At the prices you paid, you got an incredible bargain. Take care of them...

Apparently, 10,000 copies each title were pressed in each of the two years these were issued--so rarity places a part in the price escalation for sure. But I tend to think it's the sound quality that has the greatest part. Like Kipper15 said, they are very close to UK 60s presses, so it's almost like getting an original UK Beatles lp, but new. And if you've searched and searched for 60s UK presses that are both undamaged with excessive groove wear AND less than US$100 apiece, you can see how these Japanese editions become more attractive.

Generally speaking, in Japan both the 1982 and 1986 edition of Sgt. Peppers fetches a minimum of Y10,000 in record stores, sometimes much more. Other titles perhaps 10-to-20 percent less. But, in the year and a half since I bought my set, I have only seen them twice--I saw a Sgt. Peppers '86 edition and a Yellow Submarine '82 edition. All these 80s red vinyl monos are extremely rare in Japan as well. People just don't let go of them very often.
And when a record store gets a hold of one, it immediately goes up on the wall display.
Dale

 

Agreed on all points.

Dale

 

A good site

Thanks for the reference site. These discs are well cared for. When I moved a few years ago, I carried these myself rather than trust them to the movers.

Apparently I have 3 monos from 1976 (US covers), 4 monos from 1982, 4 monos from 1986, and a 45RPM 12" Love Me Do (both versions) of unknown date. I have three stereo issues from 1976, and an odd Beatles in Italy whose obi says "Beatles 40." All have the EAS prefix.

Does a yellow-and-black Parlophone label automatically mean an original pressing?

 

No. The reissue 1982 UK monos are also yellow and black, although there are some relatively easy to identify label differences compared with the originals (do some Forum searches on this), and - an even easier to spot characteristic IMHO - they are PAPER thin, some of the thinnest records in my collection, while the original 1960s Y&B pressings are on medium to heavy vinyl.

 

That is true. The most obvious and easily spotted difference is the word "MONO" on the labels of the 1982 reissues, which does not appear on the 1960s originals. Also, the 1982 LPs do not have laminated sleeves.

 

Actually, there are dozens of small variations on the labels...if you go back to yokono.com and study the UK pages, you'll see jpgs of the various labels and some pretty good descriptive detail. It's really a great website if you're into that kind of thing. I think there are a few Beatles aficionados around here...

http://yokono.co.uk/collection/beatles/uk/lp/uk_lp.html

Dale

 

From what I've been led to believe EMI officially listed the UK mono albums as continually in print until 1986. Theoretically at anytime until then you could special order them. I have seen 70's mono copies of Please Please Me and Sgt Pepper on the black and silver label. Does anyone know more about this?

 

Mono versions of Please Please Me, Help!, and Sgt Peppers were repressed on the 1 EMI Box label in 1969.

 

I've seen a 'small mono' mono copy of PPM with the red printed EMI inner sleeve and black and silver label which I think was from around '69/70 but never any others.
I'm not sure that EMI were still offering mono Beatles after 1970. There may well have been copies still in stock available but these would have soon dried up.
Decca however..thats a different story. They had many many 60s LPs and 45s available to order right throughout the 70s. I ordered NEW copies of 'Watcha Gonna Do About It' and 'My Minds Eye' in 1977, still in company sleeves. 'WGDA' with blue unboxed label and 'MME' with dark blue boxed. My best friend got 'THEM AGAIN' LP red label mono. These were not shop stock but ordered specially thru Decca. How I wish I could go back in time with a few hundred quid...what I'd buy, oh my!

 

Ben is correct - the mono black/silver label reissues date from mid-1969, but limited to 3 titles and only available for a very short time, literally only a few months before they were deleted. These are VERY rare so look after them and hang on to them!

You are partially correct about mono LPs being available until 1986. The original monos were deleted in 1969 so it was actually the UK monos that were reissued in 1982 that were supposedly available until 1986. These reissues were quite hard to find over here in the UK - even in 1982. I think these reissues may have been officially deleted in '86 but stocks had depleted long before then. I remember trying to order some of the in 1984 and had no luck at all.

 

Correct. In fact, I think they may have been officially deleted in 1969. I do have some reference material which lists all the deletion dates somewhere, I'll see it if I can dig it out.

 

Speaking of mono issued Beatles lp's. I bought a bunch of Beatles stuff from a seller in France in the group of Lp's was a light blue label 70's style Rubber Soul I took a chance on these and the Rubber Soul because I collect copies of Rubber Soul. Long story short I was absolutely shocked when I pulled the Rubber Soul from it's cover to find it is a MONO pressing yes a Blue 70's style label not to be confused with the darker blue one from the 60's this thing plays in mono. It has the Lso catalog number on cover and label I've never been able to find out anything about this other than it's French and sounds really good nice bottom end like the Orange label 60's pressing I have, anybody know anything about this, and yes to my ears the UK yellow and Black mono still sound best.

 

My guess is it is probably a transitional pressing, made whilst the LSO catalogue numbers were still being used (prior to the 2C prefix being used from 1970 onwards) whilst the light blue label more common to the 2C pressings being phased in.

I've got a couple of early 70s 2C French stereo LPs which are light blue labels but have other LPs listed on the back of the sleeve with the LSO catalogue numbers. In the same way a few mono LPs were pressed on the UK black/silver Parlophone label as that was being phased in, I suspect something similar happened in France.

 

I think most of them were imported into the USA to meet collector demand if I'm remembering correctly.

 

This could well have been the case with those '82 mono reissues. I couldn't believe it when my local record shop said they couldn't get them from EMI, even though they were still in print at the time.