Strangeness in the SP-3700s.

[Andrew T.]

Since I am numerically oriented, I am aware that A&M has had a number of small numbering series with different original list prices over the years. One of these, the SP-3700 series ($7.98 ), began with Eat It by Humble Pie (SP-3701, 1973), and went on to include albums by Peter Frampton, Quincy Jones, Supertramp, Herb Alpert, Styx, and the Police, to name but a few.
The strange thing is this: I can't seem to find reference to anything issued between Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits Volume Two by Cat Stevens (SP-3736, 1984) and The Dream of the Blue Turtles by Sting (SP-3750, 1985). Any creative explanations for the 13 phantom SP numbers in between?
NP: Ghost in the Machine by the Police (SP-3730)

 

[Rudy]

It almost looks as though SP3750 were arbitrarily chosen--IIRC, it was the last one in the 3700's, and the next would have been something like SP3900 for an Amy Grant compilation. The 3900's appear to be some kind of special series also, mainly soundtracks and compilations, but also a few standard LPs like two by Janet Jackson, a Joe Jackson, etc. This was into the CD era though, so this may have accounted for limited LP releases on these titles, if I had to guess.

FYI: LPJim and Mr Bill are both numerically oriented. You three together would be quite dangerous. I'm lucky to remember my own phone number sometimes!

 

[Mr Bill]

I'll check my records when I get home. Nothing is coming to mind here at work (does it ever?) but is is possible that 37xx ended around the time of Cat Stevens' release and later on it was revived for Sting at 3750, sort of like a new series starting there.

There is precedence for this: Horizon, A&M's jazz imprint has two instances of this. The series' only double LP was SP850 and Horizon was killed in the early 740s. Later it was revived as a gospel label within the Word/A&M deal and releases started up with SP750.

--Mr Bill
realizing how sick it is to be number obsessed...

 

[Tim Neely]

Most of the time, when A&M created a new numbering system, it's because the list price was different than those records in the main numbering system. I know that the 3900 series was $1 more than the regular 4000 series (which by the mid-1980s was getting close to 5000), with a $10.98 list compared to $9.98 for the regular series by the end of the 1980s.

The 3700 series, once it was used for single discs, had a $1 higher list price than the 4000 series. Based on when it becamse used for single discs, I suspect the "7" in "3700" stood for "$7.98" when most LPs had a $6.98 list price in the same way that the "5" in "3500" stood for "$5.98" when most LPs had a $4.98 list price. Eventually, the 3700s became the place for any A&M album that was $1 more than the industry standard. Once the industry standard became $9.98, I think the Sting LP 3750 was A&M's first $10.98 list album. But the label must have gone a year between albums that it felt "deserved" a higher list price, so they decided to move the higher-priced LPs to 3900 to distinguish from some of the 3700s that were still in print.

This was not the first time A&M skipped numbers as an attempt to distinguish a new list price. When the price of 45s went up in 1974, from 99 cents list to $1.29, A&M skipped from 1548 to 1601. And after another list price change for 45s in 1981 (and a change in label design), A&M skipped from 2292 to 2300. Then, after yet another list price change, A&M skipped from 2450 to 2501. That was the last "skip" until the infamous decision to go from 3023 back to 1200 in 1988. Then, when A&M made 45s non-returnable in 1989 and changed the label color from black to dark blue, it skipped from 1277 to 1401.

 

[W.B.]

They didn't just change the catalogue series back in early July of '74; in the case of the 45 series, they changed the matrix numbering set. When the 1600 singles series commenced, the matrix block started at the 11600 set. (By the time of #1548, the matrix series was heading towards the 2700 mark.) And I noticed Ode's 45's went from the 66000 to the 66100 series.

And some catalogue numbers of stuff already on the charts (from other labels) were being changed. ABC had at least three such cases: "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus (12010, formerly 11427), "Billy, Don't Be A Hero" by Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods (12011, formerly 11435) and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" by Steely Dan (12014, formerly 11439). A few Atlantic singles had some changes, notably "Then Came You" by Dionne Warwicke & Spinners (3202, formerly 3029). O.C. Smith's "La-La Peace Song" on Columbia was originally issued in 1973 as 4-45863 and reissued in the summer of '74 as 3-10031.

And finally, I.I.N.M., the list price of 45's prior to July 1, 1974, was $.98; the hike to $1.29 was correct.

 

[Rudy]

I have a vague memory of a Billboard article I once read, maybe someone can verify. Weren't some labels numbering their singles in decreasing order? The idea was that the lower numbers (and hence, newer singles) would show up near the top of a numerical (by catalog number) list.

 

[W.B.]

I have a vague memory of a Billboard article I once read, maybe someone can verify. Weren't some labels numbering their singles in decreasing order? The idea was that the lower numbers (and hence, newer singles) would show up near the top of a numerical (by catalog number) list.

Oh, that was the Warner group of labels (i.e. Warner Bros., Elektra, Atlantic) after 1982.