SWAN Label

 
Swan was a small independent company founded in the late 1950s in Philadelphia. Label artists included Billy Ford and the Thunderbirds, the Quaker City Boys, Billie & Lillie, and "the explosive" Freddy Cannon. The label lasted until 1967.

In late 1963 EMI was involved in legal sanctions against Vee-Jay Records - and Capitol Records was still not interested in a Beatles contract. The Swan label agreed to release the next U. S. Beatles single She Loves You and did so in September, 1963. The single went nowhere. After Capitol Records finally decided to distribute Beatles records and Beatlemania exploded, Swan re-released the single which went on to No. 1 and became Swan's biggest hit. Swan released one other Beatle single, the German version of the same song, Sie Liebt Dich. Both singles were backed with I'll Get You.

For a time, all Swan record labels carried the words "Don't Drop Out", a message to American teens to stay in school.


 
ORIGINAL ISSUE (September 1963)
She Loves You / I'll Get You  4152 (mono)

Red print on a glossy or flat white background.

Glossy label variations:

1) "DON'T DROP OUT" is not printed on the label
2) "DON'T DROP OUT" is printed on the label
3) "DON'T DROP OUT" and "Produced by George Martin" are printed on the label
"DON'T DROP OUT" is not printed on the flat white label.
wide print
narrow print

 
 
ORIGINAL ISSUE (September 1963)
She Loves You / I'll Get You  4152 (mono)

Blue print on a glossy white background. "DON'T DROP OUT" is printed on the label.

 


 
 
SECOND ISSUE (March 1964 with picture sleeve)
She Loves You / I'll Get You  4152 (mono)

Labels have red or maroon print with the song title in quotes.

 


 
 
SECOND ISSUE (March 1964 with picture sleeve)
She Loves You / I'll Get You  4152 (mono)

Labels have a flat or semi-gloss black background with silver print.

song title is in quotes DON'T DROP OUT; song title is in quotes DON'T DROP OUT; song title not in quotes
DON'T DROP OUT; song title is in quotes; "Produced by George Martin" is printed on both sides or the A-side only
DON'T DROP OUT; song title is not in quotes; "Produced by George Martin" is printed on both sides or the A-side only

 
 
SINGLE
Sie Liebt Dich / I'll Get You  4182 (mono)
Title and translation on the same line; flat white label with red print Translation below title; wide red or orange print; glossy or semi-gloss white label Translation below title; narrow red or orange print; glossy or semi-gloss white label

 
 
PROMOTIONAL
She Loves You / I'll Get You  4152 (mono)
Sie Liebt Dich / I'll Get You  4182 (mono)

The labels on all Swan promotional singles have black print on a white background. Some include a double or single "X" marking. Rare versions have one of the songs on one side and unpressed vinyl and a blank label on the other.

standard
blank sided

 
 
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