Been offered a pre issue of Frankie Valli & TFS 'The Night '(still one of my fave tunes )Plain white label with YMW 3002 B-1 stamped in the deadwax. Anyone know if its good and proper, and any idea of value?

Cheers all, Magoo

Been offered a pre issue of Frankie Valli & TFS 'The Night '(still one of my fave tunes )Plain white label with YMW 3002 B-1 stamped in the deadwax. Anyone know if its good and proper, and any idea of value?

Cheers all, Magoo

Hi Martin,

I may be wrong but my suspicions are that you have a real find there.

My understanding of events is:

"The Night" was actually issued twice by Mowest UK. The first issue was abandoned due to faults at the pressing plant and records recalled and destroyed. Thus the first issue is a very rare record.

Of those records in the first press, some were perfect except for one detail - they had no labels - or rather they had labels but these were white and not printed at all. Thus first issues with plain white labels are incredibly rare. As yours is stamped in the same way as the latter issue (it's an unusual font, check the match), my opinion is that it is real.

It is not a pre-release though but a first issue. Manship auctioned one of these a while back but no idea what it fetched. I would think it's pretty bloody close to a one off and therefore, to the right collector, extremely valuable.

What I am a bit vague on is the release numbers. I think that the first issue was 3002 although it may be 3022, I'd check that stamp mark again if I were you. The second issue was definately 3024 though.

Can anyone else add more detail or confirm/disprove the above. I'd like to know and I'm sure Martin would!

Cheers,

John.

Edited June 23, 200817 yr by John Alden

Hi Martin,

I may be wrong but my suspicions are that you have a real find there.

My understanding of events is:

"The Night" was actually issued twice by Mowest UK. The first issue was abandoned due to faults at the pressing plant and records recalled and destroyed. Thus the first issue is a very rare record.

Of those records in the first press, some were perfect except for one detail - they had no labels - or rather they had labels but these were white and not printed at all. Thus first issues with plain white labels are incredibly rare. As yours is stamped in the same way as the latter issue (it's an unusual font, check the match), my opinion is that it is real.

It is not a pre-release though but a first issue. Manship auctioned one of these a while back but no idea what it fetched. I would think it's pretty bloody close to a one off and therefore, to the right collector, extremely valuable.

What I am a bit vague on is the release numbers. I think that the first issue was 3002 although it may be 3022, I'd check that stamp mark again if I were you. The second issue was definately 3024 though.

Can anyone else add more detail or confirm/disprove the above. I'd like to know and I'm sure Martin would!

Cheers,

John.

The first issue of "The Night" (3022) was a regular stock copy with the usual Mowest label. It was not 'abandoned', you could buy it in any UK record shop as a new release. I bought mine 'over the counter' in the normal manner - actually, 'behind the counter' to be more exact, as I was working in a record shop in North East London when the first Mowax 45s came out, and came in.

It didn't sell very well, and was - like most 45s that don't sell very well - quickly deleted. But there was nothing even remotely wierd about the 3002 stock copy - and, as I said, it was available everywhere in the UK, to anyone who wanted to buy it.

It sounds like you've been offered a test pressing. I think that the standard run of these pre-release white labels - run off for office use, to check for audio defects, pressing anomalies etc. before proceeding with the actual 'label'ed up' stock copies - would probably have been no less than 5 and no more than 15, which would have been the industry standard back then.

I would imagine that nobody at EMI would have saved these as a 'future northern collectable' and that very few of them have survived.

Been offered a pre issue of Frankie Valli & TFS 'The Night '(still one of my fave tunes )Plain white label with YMW 3002 B-1 stamped in the deadwax. Anyone know if its good and proper, and any idea of value?

Cheers all, Magoo

Magoo,

We auctioned this White Test press which had with it a EMI letter headed note more or less stating. "Sorry there's no label with this promo, there has been a fault at the factory". Personally I've never seen a #3002 promo with a label, it may exist I've just can't remember seeing one.

This white label promo with the note. Sold for £117. Tony is correct in saying the 3002 was on general release but never sold diddly, so that is pretty rare also, we auctioned a copy and it sold for approx £71.00 in comparision to the #3024 reissue it is very rare.

Hope that helps

John

Magoo,

We auctioned this White Test press which had with it a EMI letter headed note more or less stating. "Sorry there's no label with this promo, there has been a fault at the factory". Personally I've never seen a #3002 promo with a label, it may exist I've just can't remember seeing one.

This white label promo with the note. Sold for £117. Tony is correct in saying the 3002 was on general release but never sold diddly, so that is pretty rare also, we auctioned a copy and it sold for approx £71.00 in comparision to the #3024 reissue it is very rare.

Hope that helps

John

I used to have "the night" on a one sided issue ?,label on the blank side no info just blank not white.

Magoo,

We auctioned this White Test press which had with it a EMI letter headed note more or less stating. "Sorry there's no label with this promo, there has been a fault at the factory". Personally I've never seen a #3002 promo with a label, it may exist I've just can't remember seeing one.

This white label promo with the note. Sold for £117. Tony is correct in saying the 3002 was on general release but never sold diddly, so that is pretty rare also, we auctioned a copy and it sold for approx £71.00 in comparision to the #3024 reissue it is very rare.

Hope that helps

John

Thanks for that John. Looks like I've had a result!

Magoo

Magoo,

We auctioned this White Test press which had with it a EMI letter headed note more or less stating. "Sorry there's no label with this promo, there has been a fault at the factory". Personally I've never seen a #3002 promo with a label, it may exist I've just can't remember seeing one.

This white label promo with the note. Sold for £117. Tony is correct in saying the 3002 was on general release but never sold diddly, so that is pretty rare also, we auctioned a copy and it sold for approx £71.00 in comparision to the #3024 reissue it is very rare.

Hope that helps

John

I agree with you. John - the nearest thing I've seen to a 'proper' demo of 3002 is a stock with a 'Factory Sample - Not For Sale' sticker on the '"Touch The Rainchild" side (I've got one of these, so has Tony Ellis) and I think that's probably about as close as you can get. I'll ask my mate Bob, who's a Four Seasons obsessive and who will know for sure, if anyone does!

Both FV and this one, the 1st issue on the label were sent out as promos / demos with white labels as John said with a covering release sheet expalining the absence of proper Mowest labels.

HOUSTON, THELMA MOWEST 3001 DJ NO ONE'S GONNA BE A FOOL FOREVER / WHAT IF WHITE LABEL +REL.S

Both FV and this one, the 1st issue on the label were sent out as promos / demos with white labels as John said with a covering release sheet expalining the absence of proper Mowest labels.

HOUSTON, THELMA MOWEST 3001 DJ NO ONE'S GONNA BE A FOOL FOREVER / WHAT IF WHITE LABEL +REL.S

Here's the Thelma Houston scan:

And the Franki Valli & 4 Seasons one:

Thanks for that John. Looks like I've had a result!

Magoo

....well yes except it doesn't sound like a very good record anymore

And yes I do know we all loved it in the 70s.....but today?

I used to have "the night" on a one sided issue ?,label on the blank side no info just blank not white.

yeah i used to have one as well, ken. mine was the 3024 issue. got a 3002 issue with factory sample sticker on at mo. don't know about in the 70t's but to me the record still sounds good. once a good un why would it change .

BRI.