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Tracklisting & More Information
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. I'm In Love With My Car
CONDITION
Disc:
This record remains in superb near 'as new' condition with no spindle marks around the centre and little sign of play.
The labels are the familiar 'crest' logo Queen label with '166' hand numbered onto the A-Side label.
Sleeve:
The unique sleeve has gold lettering with white EMI Records lettering & logo and 1978 Export logo on the front. Along with the hand-written number on the reverse is the lettering 'dp delga press limited' along left hand flap and 'Printed in England' in bottom left hand corner.
This is number 166 out of just 200 produced.
Being a special commemorative disc handed out at a luncheon, these were never available for retail sale. Needless to say, many of the luncheon attendees were not equipped with convenient carrying tools for safely returning home with their gift from EMI, so the sleeves tend to be in a variety of condition. It is fair to say that not many exist without some blemishing, except those that were in presentation packages for delivery to VIPs.
There is a little light creasing visible to the corners of the sleeve and a few scuffs although none sufficient to cause any paper loss.
The edges show a degree of edge scuffing that smeone has attempted to correct at some point in its history with a purple felt tip. Mercifully this has not extended onto the main face and can only be seen if you look very carefully at some points on the edge.
Other than that, it remains in very nice condition indeed and together with the vinyl certainly makes up one of the best higher number [non-VIP] copies we have seen. This particular copy came from a former EMI PR Executive who helped to organise the event.
Possibly the ultimate Queen collectible and certainly the most coveted amongst collectors.
Hand numbered in black felt pen on back of the sleeve and on the 'b' side label (all copies were hand-numbered on the label, some on the a-sides and some on the b-sides).
The full colour 'Night At The Opera' crest labels are smooth & glossy apart from a 1" diameter around centre hole which is a rough matt finish and has the wording "Special Limited Edition" printed.
Machine stamped matrixes of "EMI2375A-3 Blair" & "EMI2375B-1".
BACKGROUND
Released on October 31st 1975, 'Bo Rhap' entered the charts the following week at No. 47, climbing to No. 1 three weeks later, where it stayed for an incredible nine weeks, helped by a memorable innovative video.
Three years later, Queen had gone from strength to strength, creating stadium anthems such as 'We Are The Champions' and 'We will Rock You', but it was 'Bohemian Rhapsody' that was remembered when EMI was awarded the prestigious Queen's Award To Industry For Export Achievement. Beating off competition from thousands of other manufacturers, EMI's International Division won the title due to the massive increase in exports of records by British artists.
Justifiably proud, Paul Watts, then General Manager of EMI's International Division, decided to commemorate the award with the release of a special single. The choice of artist was easy.
The then current vogue for coloured vinyl seemed to the the ideal way to present this special edition of 200 copies: "We came up with the band's original colors - purple and gold, as on the 'Queen I' cover," Watts remembered. "These colors signified Queen in a way. We decided on a maroon and gold sleeve and a single in purple vinyl." But it wasn't to be: the project became a corporate event, with EMI Records Ltd (and not just EMI the label) getting in on the action. Paul Watt reluctantly relinquished control of the project to "the team upstairs", imploring them to "make sure you do it right!"
But as Watts had feared, there was a blunder: "Lo and behold, when the record came back from the factory, it wasn't purple at all, but blue! It was a cock-up, but as we only had 200, it wasn't worth changing it." At the EMI pressing plant in Hayes, Middlesex, Production Controller John Tagg had no idea that the vinyl should have been purple, and - acting on corporate directives - pressed the record in blue. "The blue granules were specially formulated for the project," he remembered.
Pressing the run of 200 blue vinyl singles from the usual minimum of 1,000 or 1,500 black vinyl records was no easy feat, with Tagg and his team having to isolate the special edition from the rest of their system. Getting a pure blue strain of vinyl was also time-consuming, and the Queen single took around three days to produce, costing an exorbitant £4 to £5 per copy, where the usual rate was 50p. To finish off the record, full-colour "Night At The Opera" crest labels were printed and each disc was hand numbered on the A-side and again on the back of the special purple-and-gold sleeve.
Although John Tagg claims that the record was "very much a limited edition" of only 200 and that all the materials associated with the pressing were destroyed afterwards, some unnumbered test pressings or end-of-run copies did slip out. These come with finished labels but no sleeves.
EMI's International Division was formally presented with the Queen's Award To Industry for Export Achievement at a three-hour luncheon in the Cotswold suite at London's Sellfridge Hotel on Wednesday, 26th July 1978. EMI directors and management were out in force, but Her Majesty was absent, sending instead the Vice Lord-Lieutenant Of Greater London, Admiral Sir Charles Madden as her representative. the group themselves were also noticeably absent, being holed up in Montreux, Switzerland, recording the "Jazz" album and holding a typically extravagant party for Roger Taylor's 29th birthday
The initial 10 copies of blue vinyl singles were framed and given to the members of Queen's entourage and EMI executives.
7" RECORD
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