ELO UK Singles - Withdrawn or Not Issued
There were 4 ELO UK singles that were either withdrawn or planned to be issued and then were not issued.
A: Roll Over Beethoven
B: Manhattan Rumble
- Withdrawn Issue
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Label: Harvest
Cat No: HAR 5063
Issue Date: 26 Jan 1973
Format: Black Vinyl
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Demo & normal sale issues were pressed and released, then it was withdrawn shortly after issue
Rumour was it was withdrawn because Roy Wood's name was on the B Side...
A: DayTripper
B: Daybreaker
- Planned Issue
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Label: Warner Bros
Cat No: WB 16456
Planned Issue Date: Aug 1974
Format: Black Vinyl
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Warner Bros planned to released in the UK the live single "DayTripper" from the album "The Night The Light Went On In Long Beach"
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It was cancelled and in the end only issued in Holland and Germany.
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No copies exist.
A: Turn To Stone
B: Mister Kingdom
- Planned Re-Issue
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Label: Jet Records
Cat No: S JET 103
Planned Issue Date: May 1978
Format: Black Vinyl
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Jet Records changed record distributor on May, 6th 1978 from United Artists to CBS.
This prompted 3 of ELO's singles (Rockaria!, Telephone Line & Mr Blue Sky) to be re-pressed and re-issued with new Jet Cat. Numbers.
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Turn To Stone was also due to be re-issued and was allocated a cat. number, but as the original single had only reached no 18, the re-issue was cancelled at the last minute.
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White label test pressings do exist, unsure if any general for sale to the public copies exist.
In a email exchange with a ELO collector, an ex-Jet Records employee did once confirm it was released, but no copies have ever been found.
A1: Mr Blue Sky
A2: Across The Border
B1: Telephone Line
B2: Don't Bring Me Down
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Label: Jet Records
Cat No: Jet ELO 2
Planned Issue Date: April 1981
Format: Black Vinyl
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Four Light Years Box Set was announced on 28 March 1981 in Music Week trade press for the release on 4 April 1981, as well as the Cassette edition of Four Light Years and Three Light Years on the same day.
In this add it was also announced that a four track 7" single with :
A1: Mr Blue Sky
A2: Across The Border
B1: Telephone Line
B2: Don't Bring Me Down
Would be issued along with a big poster and steamer campaign.
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We all know that the LP and Cassette Box Set were released, but there was no EP released/pressed and no posters were ever seen.
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Surprisingly the EP single was announced on 18th April 1981 in the singles releases page in Music Week trade press.
On that page Music Week made reviews of singles, and they got the
Chart Certs of Mr. Blue Sky EP (Jet ELO2, CBS)
(this meant that it was sure that the singles listed WOULD reach the charts, so there was no further reviewing needed)
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What happened here, could only be explained by :
Jet records would had planned to release the EP together with the Box Set, so they introduced it in their promo offers.
(Which was necessary, as without the announcement in the Retailer Magazine, no Dealer would know that they can order the records)
The EP was announced on 18th April 1981 because Jet Records (like all other companies) had placed their announcements in Music Week trade press magazine.
The clerks at Music Week printed what info they got from the record companies, the ELO 2 EP WAS NOT reviewed here, it was just mentioned.
(Unlike public/regular Music Press magazines where physical records were sent to the critics for reviewing.)
This is the only Music Press add (of the EP) we have ever seen.
But this “mistake” (made by Jet Records and Music Week) could explain, why the EP was always listed as released in later Record Collector reviews about ELO, and the “Afterglow” Discography.
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If Jet would really have pressed “some” physical EPs, there might be someone who possess a copy.
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And then there was the EP sleeve design, re-arranged for the use of Ticket To The Moon / Here Is The News.
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And Rob Caiger stating that there was no physical EP found in the archives.
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Summary:
So for me, the mentioning of the ELO 2 EP in Music Week is not a proof that the ELO 2 EP ever existing.
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It is a proof that the announcement were made to Music Week trade press, but then Jet decided at last second not to manufacture the record.
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And that announcement explains why some believed the EP is existing!
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Full credit to Patrik Guttenbacher - Face The Music Fan Club, Germany.
