Information about Rolling Stones CDs on the London label

Information about CDs by The Rolling Stones on the London label

Last change: 24-MAR-2011

Last added: pictures of "Out Of Our Heads" (2nd pressing)
press on the images to enlarge!

Which pressings of the London CDs are available?

Work in progress. If you have details to add or errors to correct, please email.
Especially, I am interested in adding more matrix no.s of the CDs.
Also: Are all CDs identically soundwise??? Are all matrix no. correct? As different matrix no.s indicate a (slightly) different content, what is the difference in each case?

The CDs by The Rolling Stones on the London label have been issued in Germany, France, USA, Japan, Australia, Korea, Brazil, Argentina, any others? If you can add info, please contribute!

Germany

17 CDs on the London label have been issued in Germany. Six pressings of the CDs can be distinguished in total. All pressings of each have the same catalogue numbers:

The Rolling Stones	820 047-2
12 x 5	820 048-2
Out Of Our Heads	820 049-2
Now!	820 133-2
Decembers Children	820 135-2
got LIVE if you want it!	820 137-2
Aftermath	820 050-2
Between The Buttons	820 138-2
Flowers	820 139-2
Their Satanic Majesties Request	820 129-2
Beggars Banquet	800 084-2
Let It Bleed	820 052-2
'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!'	820 131-2
Hot Rocks 1	820 141-2
Hot Rocks 2	820 142-2
More Hot Rocks 1	820 515-2
More Hot Rocks 2	820 516-2

1st pressing:
CD: Very old style London "ear" ffrr logo on CD, example:

Full tracklisting is printed on the CD, inner ring of the CD is silver, no further writing on the inner ring inside of the matrix no.:

Available in this pressing (only!):

Name	CD matrix no.	# of pages of booklet	red bar "digitally remastered"? (example)	"London" logo on cover? color? where?	picture of cover	MFSL mentioned on back cover?
The Rolling Stones	820 047-2 01 #	4	Yes	Yes, black, upper right		No
Beggars Banquet	800 084-2 02 # 800 084-2 03 #	2 or 4	Yes	no!	front cover / back cover	No

The pressings 2 to 6 feature a new design of the CD:

The London logo on the CD is available in either "old style" or "modern style":

old style	new style

Usually, the tracks are not listed on the CD:

except for a few titles of the 2nd pressing:

2nd pressing:
CD: old style London label, inner ring of the CD is silver, no further writing on the inner ring inside of the matrix no.:

Available in this pressing (only!):

Name	CD matrix no.	# of pages of booklet	red bar "digitally remastered"? (example)	"London" logo on cover? color? where?	picture of cover	Full tracklisting printed on CD?	MFSL mentioned on back cover?
The Rolling Stones	820 047-2 01 #	4	Yes	Yes, black, upper right (UR)		Yes	No
12 x 5	820 048-2 01 #	4	Yes	Yes, black, UR	front cover / back cover	Yes	Yes
Out Of Our Heads	820 049-2 02 #	4	Yes	Yes, black, lower left (LL)	front cover / inside cover / back cover (outside) / back cover (inside)	Yes	Yes
Aftermath	820 050-2 01 *	4	Yes	Yes, black, LL	Yes	Yes	No
Between The Buttons	820 138-2 01 *	4	Yes	Yes, black, UR		Yes	No
Their Satanic Maj. Req.	820 129-2 01 *	2	No	No	Yes	No	No
Let It Bleed	820 052-2 01 *	2	No	Yes, blue / red, UR		No	No
Hot Rocks 1	820 141-2 01 * 820 141-2 02 #	4	Yes	No	front cover / back cover	Yes	Yes
Hot Rocks 2	820 142-2 01 *	4	Yes	No	front cover / inside cover / back cover	Yes	Yes

All 17 Stones London CDs are available in pressings 3 to 6. Things become a bit more organized:

12 page booklet with ads for all Stones CDs on the London label
no red bar "digitally remastered" anymore on the front cover
no mentioning of MFSL anymore (except for Hot Rocks 1, Hot Rocks 2, Between The Buttons, Out Of Our Heads, and 12x5 in some pressings)
no tracklisting printed on the CD
"CD is manufactured in West Germany" on the back cover:

Most of the CDs have the blue / red London logo on the front cover, except for: 'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!', Their Satanic Majesties Request, Now!, Hot Rocks 1+2, More Hot Rocks 1+2

3rd pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old and new style London label are available, inner ring of the CD is silver, "MADE IN GERMANY BY PDO" or "MADE IN W. GERMANY BY PDO" printed on the inner ring:

backcover:

CDs with old London logo carry no imprint below the bar code on the upper right.
CDs with new London logo carry a logo below the bar code on the upper right.

4th pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old and new style London label are available, inner ring of the CD is silver, "MADE IN GERMANY" printed on the inner ring:

backcover: I think that all CDs carry the

logo below the bar code on the upper right.

5th pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old style London label (only!), inner ring of the CD is silver, "MADE IN GERMANY BY PDMC" printed on the inner ring.
backcover: I think that all CDs carry the logo below the bar code on the upper right.

6th pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old and new style London label are available, inner ring of the CD is clear:

backcover: I think that all CDs carry the

logo below the bar code on the upper right.

France

1st pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old and new style London label are available, inner ring of the CD is silver, no further writing on the inner ring, "MADE IN FRANCE BY PDMC" printed on the right side of the CD:

Picture from german CD, french CD looks identical!

backcover:

no indication of country of manufacture on the lower left:

CDs with old London logo carry a imprint below the bar code on the upper right.
CDs with new London logo carry a logo below the bar code on the upper right.

2nd pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old and new style London label are available, inner ring of the CD is silver, no further writing on the inner ring, "MADE IN FRANCE BY PRS" printed on the right side of the CD:

Picture from german CD, french CD looks identical!

booklet: The backside of the booklet carries the imprint ''IMPRIME EN FRANCE. MONTREUIL OFFSET''.

3rd pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old and new style London label are available, inner ring of the CD is silver, no further writing on the inner ring, "Made in France by PDO" printed on the right side of the CD:

Picture from german CD, french CD looks identical!

backcover:

CDs with old London logo carry a imprint below the bar code on the upper right.

I have seen several 2nd pressings from France which have "CD is manufactured in West Germany" printed on the lower right of the back cover!?!?

4th pressing:
All 17 Stones London CDs are available.
CD: old and new style London label are available, inner ring of the CD is clear:

backcover:

CDs with old London logo carry a imprint below the bar code on the upper right.
CDs with new London logo carry a logo below the bar code on the upper right.

Here is some information about the and logos:
These are price codes for the French market. BA stands for "Barclay Records". (CBS (now Sony) price code was CB, EMI (Pathé Marconi) was PM, etc.)
The fact that some German pressings also carry the logo can be explained by the fact that these pressings were also sold in France. Pretty confusing, eh?

Here is a little info about Barclay records: Mr. Barclay was one of the very special guests at Mick Jagger and Bianca's wedding and party. He was a man of the French record industry and got the
distribution of the Rolling Stones catalogue in France from 1982 for all the pre-Universal period. Barclay issued some great - really - vinyl issues in 1982, but never issued own compact discs till 1990. In that year, they managed to issue an EP (re-issue), a 2LP set and, at last, a 2CD set (including 'Hot Rocks' 1 & 2) plus a promo-only CD (Les Années Stones) all timed to coincide with the Paris concerts of the Urban Jungle Tour. The mass production of Rolling Stones London compact discs was started in France in 1992. So I think that the first pressing from above is from 1992.

Japan

The London CDs have been issued in Japan four times with different catalogue numbers. I don't know anything about different pressings of each version.

Also, several (mostly compilation) albums not available on the European London label were issued in Japan. In the last edition of the Japanese London CDs, both US and UK versions of each album were issued, see the discography for tracklisting.

In total, there were 24 London CDs available in Japan, seven more than in Europe (the 2 CD versions of Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks and the Singles Collection 3 CD set not counted).

CD title	P33L series 1985	P33L series 1987	P25L series 1989	POCD series 1991	POCD series 1995	POCD series (USA) 1997
The Rolling Stones	---	P33L 25014	P25L 25031		POCD-1911	---
Englands Newest Hitmakers	---	---	---		POCD-1936	---
12 x 5	---	P33L 25008	P25L 25032		POCD-1912	POCD-1960
No. 2	---	P33L 25015	P25L 25033		POCD-1913	---
Now!	---	---	P25L 25034		POCD-1914	POCD-1961
Out Of Our Heads	---	P33L 25010	P25L 25035		POCD-1915	POCD-1962
Decembers Children	---	---	P25L 25036		POCD-1916	POCD-1963
Aftermath (UK)	---	P33L 25006	P25L 25037		POCD-1917	---
Aftermath (US)	---	---	---		POCD-1937	---
got LIVE if you want it!	---	---	P25L 25038		POCD-1918	POCD-1965
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (UK)	---	P33L 25016	P25L 25039		POCD-1919	---
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (US)	---	---	---	POCD-1056	POCD-1931	POCD-1964
Between The Buttons	---	P33L 25009	P25L 25040		POCD-1920	POCD-1966
Flowers	---	---	P25L 25041		POCD-1921	POCD-1967
Their Satanic Majesties Request	---	P33L 25001	P25L 25042		POCD-1922	POCD-1968
Beggars Banquet	P33L-50002	P33L-25021	P25L 25043		POCD-1923	POCD-1969
Through The Past Darkly (UK)	---	P33L 25017	P25L 25044		POCD-1924	---
Through The Past Darkly (US)	---	---	---	POCD-1057 CD / back	POCD-1932	POCD-1970
Let It Bleed	---	P33L 25001	P25L 25045		POCD-1925	POCD-1971
'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!'	---	---	P25L 25046		POCD-1926	POCD-1972
Hot Rocks 1	---	P33L 25011	P25L 25047		POCD-1927	---
Hot Rocks 2	---	P33L 25012	P25L 25048		POCD-1928	---
Hot Rocks 1964 - 1971 2 CD set	---	---	---		---	POCD-1973/74
More Hot Rocks 1	---	---	P25L 25049		POCD-1929	---
More Hot Rocks 2	---	---	P25L 25050		POCD-1930	---
More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) 2 CD set	---	---	---		---	POCD-1975/76
Singles Collection 3 CD set	---	---	---		POCD-1938/40	---

--- = not issued
??? = issued but catalogue number unknown to me, if you know it, please email.

USA

Australia

As far as I know, only "The Rolling Stones" (1st CD) is available as London CD and Australian pressing. It has the same order number as the European CDs: 820 047-2.
CD: The CD looks different from European CDs:

The cover is printed on thinner paper than European CDs.
backcover: On the lower left side of the back cover, it is stated:

frontcover: The front cover is also interesting. It shows the same artwork as the later German editions (with the 12 page booklet) but it is one big foldout paper: front of frontcover / back of frontcover. Although the frontcover lists all European London CDs, I am quite sure that the other CDs sold in Australia were actually pressed in Germany.

Korea(!)

Apparently, at least Hot Rocks 1 and 2 have been pressed in Korea as well. The CDs look authentic, not like a bootleg:

Only two differences can be noticed between the Korean Hot Rocks 2 and a German Hot Rocks 2:

"Made in Korea" on the CD
On the lower left corner of the rear insert it does not have the "CD is manufactured by PolyGram in Hanover, West Germany. Printed in West Germany" notations:

The rest looks identical! The CDs sound quality is as good as the West German ones. Does anyone have more information?

Brazil

In the mid 80s, the Stones CDs on the London label were also pressed in Brazil (the back cover of the CD below says "(C) 1985"). I don't have all information, so as an example, here is the Aftermath CD. It is possible that there were different pressings in Brazil but I don't have any detailed information so far.

CD:

pressed SONOPRESS (currently owned by BMG) and licensed by FONOBRAS
contains the MFSL (NOT ABKCO) CD, with the same catalog #,820 050-2; exact same running time as the Euro pressings (53 Minutes, 45 Seconds; back cover says music approx. 52 min 48 sec)
old style London logo
additional "PolyGram" on CD

backcover:

"(C) 1985 THE DECCA RECORD COMPANY LTD., LONDON,ENGLAND"
special logo and "PolyGram" in lower right corner

frontcover:

localized sticker "Satisfaction Years"
ABKCO-ish booklet front border "Digitally Remastered From..." at the bottom of the CD front cover. Very confusing as this CD definitively contains the 14 track version of the Aftermath CD!!

Argentinia

The Stones CDs on the London label were (are? see hologram on front cover!) also pressed in Argentinia. Again, I don't have all information, so as an example, here is the Hot Rocks 2 CD. It is possible that there were different pressings in Brazil but I don't have any detailed information so far. It may also be possible that the Argentinian CDs are bootlegs or not properly licensed but I can't say anything definitive about that.

CD:

pressed in Argentinia by Industria Argentinia and licensed by FONOBRAS
sound: according to Alan Karr: "on listening, it sounds like the tracks were taken not from the 820- digital master but from a MONO source - perhaps The Singles Collection. A much harsher mix & sound. So- unlike the Brazilian CDs which ,except for their wacky ABKCO-ish booklet border trim seem to be sonically equivalent to the Germans, the Argentineans aren't. Hot Rocks 1 was not very good, Hot Rocks 2 sounds close."
old style London logo

backcover:

looks identical to later European covers (eg. Germany, 3rd pressing)
no country of manufacturing specified

frontcover:

looks identical to later European covers (eg. Germany, 3rd pressing)
very interesting: the CD case has a hologram sticker as used in Europe and USA since the late 90s. To me, this indicates, that the London CDs are still available in Argentinia in the shops!

Much of this information has been collected by Erich Seitz.
Thanks to Gert van Houts, Ronald Coston, Joachim Ritter, Alan V. Karr, Dennis, Jan de Bruijn, Charles Oliver, Emile Schwarz, Bert van Kalker, Jesse, Luca Accialini for valuable information and pictures.

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Andreas Wiethoff