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ELVIS PRESLEY Heartbreak Hotel (Extremely Rare 1956 UK
one-sided demonstration metal based methyl cellulose lacquer
for the King's debut 78rpm single on His Master's Voice in
Britain. Presley signed with RCA on November 21, 1955, arriving
on the scene while the label was still licenced to EMI - Thus,
between May 1956 & January 1958, 15 hit singles were released
by Elvis in the UK on the pale blue HMV Pop label. The first hit
'Heartbreak Hotel', was initially sent to HMV producer Wally
Ridley for consideration. He was said to be sceptical & later
admitted he didn't understand more than a couple of its words,
but decided to release it anyway. The stuffy 1950's British press
took an instant dislike to the track, but all that was about to
change, as 'Heartbreak Hotel' quickly stormed the charts &
became Elvis' first gold hit in America reaching number 1, soon
to peak at number 2 in the UK. This collector's acetate has a
custom black on white factory label one side with 'Demonstration
Record Not For Sale' print, as well as the 'Mills Music - Mills
House - London WC3' address & a circular 'Emidisc... EMI Sales
& Service Ltd' stamp on the back. The playing side is annotated
on the label with the artist name, song title & catalogue detail.
Very few of these would have been produced, usually as a means
for the sound engineer to test the sonics before the finished
article, & even fewer are said to be left in existence - in
hindsight, it's amusing to think for such a monumental Rock N
Roll hit that there would have been slight trepidation for the
song at this early stage, but RCA did not want to lose out, having
signed Elvis from Sun Records for the then-astronomical sum of
$35,000! Complete with the original British red & white die-cut
company sleeve, the acetate remains in Very Good condition.
There are multiple hairlines & scuff marks to be expected but
these are all light in nature & the disc plays through with no
jumps or sticks. The label writing is clear & this would surely
stand proud as a major showpiece in any serious Elvis collection
POP182)
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