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)