"REQUESTS"
Parlophone GEPO 70013
Released 18 June 1964*
Original recommended retail price: 15/6
EMI (Australia)’s first locally compiled Beatles EP, released during the 1964 tour and reaching No. 1 in most capital cities.

*This long-accepted "official" EMI (Australia) date may not be correct
Tracks
Side 1: Long Tall Sally / I Call Your Name
Side 2: Please, Mister Postman / Boys

Matrix Information
Side 1: (mono) 7AXPA695
Side 2: (mono) 7AXPA696.2

June 1979
Side 1: (stereo) 7AXPA695
Side 2: (mono) 7AXPA696

Overview
Released in the midst of the Beatles' 1964 Australian tour, Requests marked EMI (Australia)'s move to exploit the EP market with locally compiled releases, much as it had already been doing with singles.

It is often stated that the first two tracks were simply taken from the UK Long Tall Sally EP. That is only partly correct. EMI (Australia) certainly adopted the track sequence from side one of the British EP, but the company was unwilling to wait for a UK reference disc to arrive. Instead, with a copy of the US The Beatles' Second Album already on hand, it dubbed 'Long Tall Sally' and 'I Call Your Name' directly from the American vinyl. The front cover artwork was also adapted from that US album, with the reverse using photos from the November 1962 Astrid Kirchherr "chair session".

To complete the EP, EMI added 'Please, Mister Postman' from the With The Beatles LP and 'Boys' from the Please Please Me LP.

Thus Requests was born, and, remarkably, was released in Australia at least one day before the UK release of Long Tall Sally.

The timing could hardly have been better. With Beatlemania at fever pitch during the group's Australian visit, Requests reached the top of the singles charts in most capital cities, driven particularly by the popularity of 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Boys'.

By the time the follow-up, More Requests, was prepared, EMI (Australia) had received a copy of the UK Long Tall Sally EP. The company therefore took the opportunity to use its artwork and to include the two tracks from side two of the British EP.

Requests remained in print until December 1978. In June 1979, EMI (Australia) recut this EP and the other Australian 70000-series Beatles EPs for reissue with revised artwork. For the recuts, EMI (Australia) went back to stereo tapes but mastered in mono, ostensibly to “maintain the feel of the original sound”. The more practical explanation was that EMI had temporarily misplaced PARLO 99, the original mono compilation tape containing the EP tracks. Oddly though, for this EP, both 'Long Tall Sally' and 'I Call Your Name'—taken from the Rock 'N' Roll Music album production master tape PARLO 419—play in stereo. This reissue first appeared in September 1979.
Chart Performance

Brisbane

(QLD)

Sydney

(NSW)

Melbourne

(VIC)

Hobart

(TAS)

Adelaide

(SA)

Perth

(WA)

Chart Entry

30-May-64

05-Jun-64*

06-Jun-64

29-May-64

30-May-64

19-Jun-64

Highest Position

1

1

7

1

1

3

Weeks In

20

18

14

14

23

11
Listed as "Requests featuring Long Tall Sally" except * "Requests featuring Boys/Long Tall Sally"
It's possible that the EP hit the streets earlier than the release date, given the chart entries near three weeks before 'official' release

Chart Entry

06-Jun-64

-

-

-

-

-

Highest Position

32

 

 

 

 

 

Weeks In

5

 

 

 

 

 
Listed as "I Call Your Name"

Chart Entry

20-Jun-64

-

-

-

-

-

Highest Position

29

 

 

 

 

 

Weeks In

5

 

 

 

 

 
Listed as "Please Mister Postman"
Yellow/Black Style 'A'
AUEP70013YBA.a

S1: BOOSEY & HAWKES (logo) - LEEDS MUSIC
S2: TU-CON MUSIC - CASTLE MUSIC

Tracks 1.1 and 2.1 - Title & Publ. on same line
AUEP70013YBA.b

S1: BOOSEY & HAWKES (logo) - LEEDS MUSIC
S2: TU-CON MUSIC - CASTLE MUSIC

As AUEP70013YBA.a except spacing variations, notably side numbers
AUEP70013YBA.c

S1: BOOSEY & HAWKES (logo) - LEEDS MUSIC
S2: TU-CON MUSIC - CASTLE MUSIC

Tracks 1.1 and 2.1 - Title on own line
AUEP70013YBA.d

S1: BOOSEY & HAWKES (logo) - LEEDS MUSIC
S2: TU-CON MUSIC - CASTLE MUSIC

As per AUEP70013YBA.c except spacing variations, notably side numbers
AUEP70013YBA.e

S1: BOOSEY & HAWKES (logo) - NORTHERN SONGS
S2: CASTLE fac - TU-CON MUSIC

'Northern Songs' is publisher of track 1.2
Unique font for all non-template text
Yellow/Black Style 'B'
AUEP70013YBB.a
AUEP70013YBB.b

Unique layouts (both labels)
Italicised tracklist (side 2)
AUEP70013YBB.c

Unique font for all non-template text (both labels)
AUEP70013YBB.d

Unique font for all non-template text (both labels)
No quotation marks around REQUESTS (both labels)
Music publ. credit for track 1.1 is 'Penjane'
Music publ. credit for track 1.2 is 'ATV Northern Songs'
Music publ. credit for track 2.1 is 'United Artists'

Copies with this label variation also exist with a smaller pressing ring; the result of EMI (Australia) installing new Toshiba-EMI automatic presses in 1980 and changing the 7" mould the following year