← Back to Formats List
Cassette Tape Variations
Cassette tapes were introduced in Canada as late as the fall of 1968 or early 1969. Cassettes could/would have been imported from the USA prior to this. The timeline for cassettes is still quite confusing since although a general consensus can be made for dating the different variations, some titles were offered much longer on some variation types than others, and some were only issued on specific designs throughout the decades. For example, some Apple titles remained on the early blue spine design until the early 80s, while, generally speaking, the blue spine design made way for the black spine sometimes in the 70s. Some titles were simultaneously released on both designs, whiles others were only found on either design. The criteria defining which title was released on what design remains pretty mysterious. If you have information that can help detail, clarify or rectify this archive, please do contact us through the CONTACT page, as we would like to make this reference website as accurate as possible.
Overall, there appears to be ten main series of cassettes tapes, all of which have their (many!) "sub-variations":
1. Blue Spine With Three Bars
Early cassettes had a blue spine and paper labels on a white plastic shell, but were used until the mid 1970s. These are found with white paper labels as well as black shells with silver print. This first series most likely overlapped with the black spine series as some titles from up until 1978 were found on this variation. Some copies are found without the three white bars, possibly made from US artwork.
2. Light Blue With Three Bars
Light Blue spine tapes with black bars seem to have been found around 1978-1980 and were used for tapes sold at a lower mid-price point. These align with the green budget label SN series of LPs. They are similar in design to black spine tapes and have been available simultaneously. Tapes from the late 1970s up until 1982 often featured a beige shell.
3A. Black Spine With Three Bars
Black spine tapes were found quite early as well and overlap with blue spine issues. (It is not known what made a release blue or black spine). They too had paper labels (white and/or yellow) on a white plastic shell. White paper labels were used until the mid 1970s, when yellow paper labels were used instead, around 1978. Black spines were used quite extensively, until around 1982 where they were found housing white shells with black print as well as black shells with silver prints.
3B. Light Blue 4N with AB Square
Light blue cards with no bars and 4N numbers coincide with the Green Budget label reissues from around 1980-1982. These were used for tapes sold at a lower mid-price point and were issued simultaneously as the yellow and black card tapes (similar in design) used for regular albums.
4A. Black and Yellow SDR
Black and yellow SDR tapes (a unique Canadian format) were found between approximately 1982-1983 and featured a new technology that was soon standardized to the American XDR version of the format. These are found with beige or black shells with printed text.
4B. Light Blue SDR
Light Blue SDR tapes appeared at the same time as the regular black and yellow SDR tapes (1982-1983), and were used for tapes sold at a lower mid-price point, focusing for example on some solo releases as well as compilation albums (the black SDR tend to focus more on the core catalogue).
5A. Black and Yellow
Black and Yellow spine tapes were found for a short while after the SDR tapes (possibly because the SDR brand was changed to the USA XDR around that period), and seem to be a transitional design before color inlay tapes appeared around 1985. Most have the period-correct "Capitol-EMI" legal text, while some (later?) copies have an MPL / Under License text.
5B. Light Blue 4N
Light blue cards with no bars and 4N numbers coincide with the Green Budget label reissues from the mid 1980s. These were used for tapes sold at a lower mid-price point and were issued simultaneously as the yellow and black card tapes (similar in design) used for regular albums, from 1983-1985.
6. Color Inlay 4XT Series
The color inlay design introduced around 1985 was unique to Canada and is the series that was produced for the longest period of time, between 1985 and 2000. It is also the series that has seen the most variations (4X number, C4 number, XDR, Apple logo and gold UK formats). Early tapes feature the "80s computer font", after which the typeset changed to a more traditional "Times New Roman font" in the late 1980s. Please note that white shells were also used sporadically in the late 1980s.
7. Color Inlay C4 Series
The C4 numbering appeared around 1991, while bar codes were introduced shortly after. Tapes that mention "EMI Music Canada" would be from after 1993, and most likely between 1995 and 2000. There are many subvariations, notably, with / without bar codes (7A, 7B), XDR (7C)or found with the Apple logo (7D, 7E). White shells were also used sporadically around 1994-1995, after which clear shells were introduced in 1995.
8. GOLD inlay C4 Series
These were used between 1987-1995 and were used mainly for UK format albums (like the CLJ vinyl record series). There is also an instance of McCartney's RAM album on the gold card, but ths seems to be a rare occurrence besides the Beatles UK album series.
9. XDR Clear Shell, 4T 0 7777 Series
These are the last Canadian tapes to have been produced, and only a handful of titles have been documented. They seem to have been produced between 1995 and 2000. They are found in either regular color inlay cards (9A), or on the UK format gold cards (9B).
10. Apple 2.0
When Apple was reborn and started to produce new material, the color inlay design was dropped for these new releases (while the color inlays remained for previous release reissues), and EMI adopted a custom design approach. These are found in Canada between 1993 (starting with the remstered reissue onf the red and blue albums) and 2001 (ending with the "1" album cassette issue) when EMI stopped producing cassettes domestically and started importing them instead (cassette sales were becoming marginal at this point).
Be mindful that dating these might prove to be difficult, so most dates here are educated estimates. If you have information that can help detail, clarify or rectify this archive, please do contact us through the CONTACT page, as we would like to make this reference website as accurate as possible.
For a detailed account of early cassettes in Canada, please also refer to Piers Hemmingsen's book: The Beatles' Canadian Discography part 1.
