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Making Sense Of Emi In Central America
Topic Started: Oct 22 2014, 08:01 PM (251 Views)
socorro
Level 5
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I can't believe I waited so long to do this, but I just checked out the solo Nicaragua singles on Ed and Garfield's site.

To my great surprise, there were several Nicaragua singles that apparently came out in late 1974 and possibly early 1975. They include:

George's Dark Horse, which was released in November 1974 in the US and February 1975 in the UK.

John's #9 Dream, released in the US and UK in December 1974.

Paul's Junior's Farm, released in the US and UK in October 1974.

Ringo's Snookeroo, released in the UK in February 1975.

My understanding had always been EMI moved its Central America operation from Nicaragua to Guatemala in 1973, and that a handful of Beatles records were made in Panama to assist this transition.

Now, however, my best guess is that the transition was a multi-year process from 1973 to 1975, during which records might be made in Nicaragua or Guatemala as demand required and production capacity allowed, with the Panama pressing plant available in emergencies.

This is yet another reminder that the truth tends to be a lot less "rational" than the framework we (and I know I'm not the only one) try to impose on ambiguous events.

It is also another reminder of what an outstanding resource the applerecords.nl site is.
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Jae
Level 3
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As per my spreadsheet (seriously, call me biased but it really is a great guide to these things ;)), the cessation date is 1975, which is the last recorded EMI reference I have. SISA was not mentioned in the 1976 list of Latin American/Caribbean licensees. Indeed, DIDECA Guatamala was EMI's 1976/77 licensee of the year, with 136% sales growth - quite possibly attributed to taking over the pressing for EMI (remember, DIDECA was already a Capitol licensee since around 1970 and was pressing Capitol/Odeon titles - but I've mentioned this all before).
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socorro
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Thanks Jae.

The part that is harder for me to understand is how to square the sequence of releases in Guatemala with the proposition that they did not start until 1976.

I worked this out in considerable detail but I can't find my notes. The gist of it, though, is that Hey Jude (Odeon 3399) was definitely issued in 1977 because it has the 100 Years of Recorded Sound logo on the rear sleeve

Based on the close catalog number and the fact that ti was released elsewhere in 1977, I suspect that Hollywood Bowl (Odeon 33106) was released the same year.

This suggests that Rock & Roll Music (Odeon 3376) probably was issued in 1976, the same year it was issued elsewhere.

I suspect that 20 Greatest Hits (Odeon 33215) was issued in 1982, the same year it was issued elsewhere.

In rough terms, therefore, it looks like DIDECA was issuing about 20 LPs per year on its Odeon label.

If Rock & Roll Music (Odeon 3376) corresponds to the year 1976, it seems more likely than not that the Red Album (Odeon 3331) and Blue Album (Odeon 3332) date to 1974, and Sgt. Pepper (Odeon 333) dates to 1973, or maybe even late 1972.

Hence my belief that the transition from SISA (Nicaragua) to DIDECA (Guatemala) was a messy, multi-year process.
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Garfield
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Some records exist twice, Only you is released on green apple in Nicaragua and then on EMI label in Guatemala !!!
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Jae
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socorro,Oct 24 2014
01:47 AM
Thanks Jae.

The part that is harder for me to understand is how to square the sequence of releases in Guatemala with the proposition that they did not start until 1976.

I worked this out in considerable detail but I can't find my notes.  The gist of it, though, is that Hey Jude (Odeon 3399) was definitely issued in 1977 because it has the 100 Years of Recorded Sound logo on the rear sleeve

Based on the close catalog number and the fact that ti was released elsewhere in 1977, I suspect that Hollywood Bowl (Odeon 33106) was released the same year. 

This suggests that Rock & Roll Music (Odeon 3376) probably was issued in 1976, the same year it was issued elsewhere.

I suspect that 20 Greatest Hits (Odeon 33215) was issued in 1982, the same year it was issued elsewhere.

In rough terms, therefore, it looks like DIDECA was issuing about 20 LPs per year on its Odeon label.

If Rock & Roll Music (Odeon 3376) corresponds to the year 1976, it seems more likely than not that the Red Album (Odeon 3331) and Blue Album (Odeon 3332) date to 1974, and Sgt. Pepper (Odeon 333) dates to 1973, or maybe even late 1972.

Hence my belief that the transition from SISA (Nicaragua) to DIDECA (Guatemala) was a messy, multi-year process.

No, as I posted above, DIDECA Guatamala was affiliated with *Capitol* as far back as at least 1970. You may recall we had the discussion of Capitol v EMI licensees before with Peru's IEMPSA - similar situation here.

It simply appears here that EMI consolidated its licensees (no doubt prompted by regional instability) and decided to maintain the arrangement with DIDECA and cut their arrangement with SISA. There's no doubt in my mind that both DIDECA and SISA were pressing vinyl for Capitol and EMI concurrently between (at least) 1970 and 1975 (remember, they would have pressed more than just Beatles records. ;)).
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