BEATLES BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO CENSORED NEW ZEALAND SINGLE

$

293

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The Ballad of John and Yoko / Old Brown Shoe Single

Censored/edited version of The Ballad of John and Yoko for radio airplay

Apple label

Issued exclusively to New Zealand radio stations in 1969, by His Master's Voice (New Zealand)

Around fifty (50) copies pressed

No retail distribution

NZBC (New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation) sticker on label

No matrix information on 'A' side (The Ballad of John and Yoko); regular matrices on 'B' side (Old Brown Shoe)

Original radio station 'play date' card

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They don't come much rarer than this particular pressing of the The Ballad of John and Yoko / Old Brown Shoe single from New Zealand. The product of a more conservative era, the appearance of the word, "Christ" (as in, "Christ, you know it ain't easy") was considered offensive enough, by the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, to warrant the pressing of a so-called 'radio-edit' that excised "Christ" from the track (not merely by 'bleeping' the offensive word but by editing it out altogether in a seamless - kind of - process).

New Zealand was not the only country to press copies of an edited version of, The Ballad of John and Yoko; Australia also requested the edit. Recent research by Australian Beatle expert, Jaesen Jones (author of "An Overview Of Australian Beatles Records") suggests that the edited master - used to produce the New Zealand and Australian radio pressings - may have actually been edited/provided by E.M.I. (UK) and not, as many collectors have presumed H.M.V. (NZ) or E.M.I. (Australia) (the edit contained on the NZ and AU 'radio-airplay' singles are identical).

Despite containing a different edit to the retail release, the radio-edit single looks identical to its consumer counterpart and utilises the exact same label and catalogue number (NZP. 3329). However, an examination of the deadwax of the radio-edit reveals precisely nothing - i.e. no matrix information in the deadwax - where the standard, unedited, retail pressing has 7XCE.21306 inscribed in the deadwax.

Considering that there were only about fifty (50) NZBC radio 'branches' throughout New Zealand in 1969, it's a no-brainer that these radio-edit pressings were rare items even at the time - let alone 43 years later, when the number of surviving copies have, quite likely, dwindled due to being retired (replaced with the unedited version), irrepairably damaged and chucked in the bin, or lost. But even if all pressed copies are still extant, fifty or so is so small a number that the collectible value of just a single copy would still be high.

Accompanying the vinyl record, in this auction, is the original NZBC radio station 'airplay' card (see 'zoomable' pictures, above) on which is stamped the dates in which this particular record was played - the first date being 6 July 1969; and the last being 7 July 1986 (seventeen years, within a day, of its first play). The card also has handwritten information stating that the record, "...is an edited version O.K. to play". The Side 1 label bears a yellow/black sticker, "NZBC".

As a bonus, a copy of the standard retail version of, The Ballad of John and Yoko / Old Brown Shoe, from the same period will be included with the edited pressing.

CONDITION - VINYL RECORD
The record itself is in VG+ condition (amazing considering the rough handling that radio station 45's got), and plays through without stick or jump. 'Crackle' and 'pop' can be heard in places throughout the track but this is of minimal impact and does not compromise linear playback. Halogen lighting is never kind to the surface of vinyl records and placing this record under such a light source reveals an abundance of surface scoring - which is simply not deep enough to adversely affect linear playback of the record (as my pre-listing listening check demonstrated).

CONDITION - LABELS
The labels are in generally excellent condition (please see 'zoomable' pictures, above), without pen/pencil notation or rips/tears. The 'NZBC' sticker must be considered integral to the 'collectability' of the record (establishing provenance along with the airplay card) and so is not regarded as a blemish for the purposes of this auction. Rim-scoring is evident on the same area of both labels where the profile of the vinyl is highest and therefore would be in friction with the turntable whenever played.