Images to come.
PRINTERS AND PRODUCTION
Throughout the 1960s and well into the 1970s, EMI (Australia) relied on four Sydney-based printers to manufacture record sleeves and labels:
These companies also supplied EMI (Australia) with a variety of other printed material, including cassette inserts, pamphlets, folders, booklets and point-of-sale displays.
Lithographic plates were sourced from Associated Photo Engraving, Erskineville.
Although sleeves produced by the four printers differed slightly in their construction and finishing, all followed the same basic manufacturing principles.
PRINTING METHODS
In the early 1960s, Australian printers remained heavily reliant on letterpress printing, a process with clear limitations when reproducing detailed photographic artwork. Full-colour images, subtle tonal gradations and fine shadow detail were difficult—and often expensive—to reproduce accurately.
By the late 1960s, however, newer printing technologies had begun to improve the quality of locally produced sleeves. These included offset lithography and the installation of a Klischograph at F. H. Booth & Son, EMI’s principal sleeve printer. Together, these developments allowed for progressively better reproduction of photographic artwork.
ARTWORK REPRODUCTION
Because of union rules—explained in greater detail on the "With The Beatles" album page—EMI (Australia) was not permitted to use imported film negatives as source material for locally printed sleeves.
Australian sleeves therefore had to be either redesigned or reproduced from photographs taken of an imported sleeve. As film is an analogue medium, photographing an existing sleeve introduced an additional generation into the reproduction process. This resulted in a loss of colour accuracy, fine detail, contrast and overall brightness compared with the original artwork. The effects are particularly noticeable on the colour-intensive Australian sleeves for Please Please Me and Rubber Soul.
LP SLEEVES
Australian LP sleeves were generally made from a single piece of cardboard, folded in half, with the rear panel glued to two flaps extending from the front cover.
Before April 1968, these flaps were almost always glued to the outside of the rear panel, creating what collectors commonly refer to as a "flipback" sleeve. From April 1968, sleeves with the flaps glued inside the rear panel began to appear progressively, and by late 1969 this had become the standard method of construction.
The cardboard used ranged from uncoated stock to coated board—finished either with a plastic coating or, more traditionally, a clay-based white primer—and, at the upper end, fully laminated board.
The stock and finish selected for a particular title were generally determined by cost, anticipated sales, the expected length of the pressing run, retail price, market positioning and the materials available to the printer. EMI (Australia), however, consistently favoured the more economical option, even for major releases, and higher-quality finishes were generally adopted only where commercially justified or specifically required.
By the late 1970s, rising production costs and changing industry practices had made lamination the exception rather than the norm.
EP SLEEVES
Australian EP sleeves used a similar one-piece construction. External flipback flaps remained in use until 1969, with three distinct variations known to exist.
From 1969, internally glued flaps began to appear as existing stocks were depleted, with the transition completed by approximately mid-1973. This change coincided with the replacement of coated cardboard by cheaper uncoated stock.
Both styles are particularly susceptible to heavy ringwear and seam splitting.
When the 70000-series EPs were reissued in September 1979, they were housed in uncoated cardboard sleeves, but this time a red-coloured adhesive was used. On many surviving examples, the adhesive is visible along the seams or as small, irregular blotches on the rear cover.
By the late 1980s, sleeve quality had deteriorated further, with the material becoming more akin to heavy paper than cardboard.
SINGLES SLEEVES
Australian Beatles singles were generally issued in generic company paper sleeves. The principal exceptions were 'Strawberry Fields Forever'/'Penny Lane' and 'Let It Be'/'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)', both of which appeared in picture sleeves broadly similar to their UK counterparts.
'Twist And Shout'/'Back In The U.S.S.R.' was also issued in a picture sleeve, although this featured a locally designed cover.
Examples of singles sleeves can be seen on the "Single Sleeve Gallery" page or individual singles pages.
MONO AND STEREO IDENTIFICATION
EMI (Australia) normally manufactured a single sleeve for both the mono and stereo editions of an LP. Where both formats were available, the sleeve carried both catalogue numbers on the upper-right corner of the rear cover and, generally, on the spine. Stereo copies were identified by a STEREO sticker wrapped across the spine and onto the front and rear covers.
Before 1968, the STEREO sticker was printed in gold, black and white. From early 1968, it was replaced by a black-and-white version. Following the deletion of EMI's mono catalogue in June 1969, both the STEREO sticker and the mono catalogue number were gradually removed from sleeves. The timing varied from album to album, depending on the quantity of existing sleeve stock. The subsequent releases of Abbey Road and Let It Be instead had the word STEREO printed directly on the front cover.
For The Beatles, the arrangement was reversed. Its sleeve carried both mono and stereo catalogue numbers on the spine, with the word stereo printed in the upper-right corner of the rear cover. Mono copies were identified by a black-and-white MONO sticker placed over the printed word "stereo".
Two variations of this sticker are known. One simply stated MONO, while the other used a wraparound-style design similar to the corresponding STEREO sticker. Despite its layout, the latter was not wrapped around the spine; it was applied flat over the printed "stereo" text on the rear cover.
DISPLAY SLEEVES
Sleeves intended for retail counter displays had the words FOR DISPLAY PURPOSES ONLY printed in black at the centre of the lower rear flap. This practice appears to have ceased by the end of the 1960s.
DELETION STAMPS
Records returned to EMI (Australia) following cancellation or deletion were sometimes marked with a distinctive stamp on the rear cover. The use of this particular stamp appears to have been confined to the second half of the 1960s.
INNER SLEEVES
Throughout most of the 1960s, Australian LPs and EPs were housed in thick, clear polyethylene inner sleeves, manufactured by Deco Plastics Pty Ltd, Sans Souci/Caringbah. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles were notable exceptions, as both were originally issued with paper inner sleeves similar to those supplied with the corresponding UK releases. Copies of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are also known with German-manufactured pinstriped inner sleeves.
During the second half of 1969, the thick plastic LP inner sleeve was replaced by the thinner, more familiar antistatic sleeve.
By the mid-1970s, Australian EPs were generally issued without an inner sleeve altogether.