Please Please Me /
Ask Me Why

45.72090.1.2 is the slightly more common 1964 repress made from the original 1963 pressing plates. The first pressing being issued as the band was not yet known here in Canada, the original 1963 run was pressed in very small quantities, enough to ship to radio stations as promotion, and a few copies in main shops around the country. The pressing plates were not used to the end of its viable life and were still in good condition, making them available in case of a repressing, which was the case for this very repress.

Availability

This second variation (45.72090.1.2) still with no dash and number, was available for a short time in early 1964, until new plates were needed (-2). These no dash 1964 pressings are the next best thing after the true 1963 pressing.

It is unknown how many more copies were made from the original plates in early 1964, but when these original plates were broken or too old, they were readily replaced by a further generation of plates. These later plates featured smaller matrix numbers, as well as a "-2" number after the original matrix number (see 45.72090.1.3).

RCA kept pressing copies and replacing plates (-2, -3 etc.) for a few years, until demand was met. Copies up to -3 can be found (see next entry 45.72090.1.3). In this sense, "no dash copies" are either 1963 or early 1964 copies, while -2 or -3 were pressed sometimes between mid 1964 and mid 1966.

General Information

It took a few other releases before Beatles sales started to increase in Canada, but after Beatlemania truly took off (after the release of She Loves You and the Ed Sullivan Show), Beatles records were starting to be in higher demand, so Capitol of Canada repressed their "back catalogue" with their old plates waiting to be reused (e.g. Love Me Do, Please Please Me and From Me To You). Luckily for collectors today, Please Please Me saw some credit changes, so the 1964 repressings are easy to identify with certainty, unlike Love Me Do which remained virtually identical.

Beyond the different credits, the paper texture is different (more of a "mustard" yellow and a bit spotty/"translucent").

Pressing Information

45.72090.1.2 was cut from the same "no dash" pressing plates as 45.72090.1.1 (prepared directly from a UK 45 sent to the Canadian head office). The matrix numbers are therefore IDENTICAL to 45.72090.1.1.

Side A: 7XCE 17117
Side B: 7XCE 17118

Considering subsequent pressings (45.72090.1.3) went all the way to at least -3 copies between 1964 and 1966, it is fair to assume that these "no dash" plates were used until they were worn out or broke, so there could theoretically be up to a few thousand "1964 no dash copies" out there.

As a reference, a stamper was usually capable of pressing up to 10 000 discs, but as a few Canadian collectors have highlighted, Canadian operations were a smaller market and had a tendency to pay extra attention to quality control and would often not "abuse" the plates until the end, but would change them earlier to ensure proper pressings. With that in mind, one could assume that up to 5000 copies were probably pressed with these first no dash plates (or less if the plates broke earlier than expected). This repress nonetheless seem to surface a little less often than the 64 no dash Love Do (45.72076.1.2), so there might fewer copies out there.

All in all, Please Please Me sold more copies than Love Me Do, with 80 000 copies vs 50 000 copies, but Please Please me only saw -3 copies while Love Me Do went all the way to -7. This can be accounted for by the fact that Love Me Do had more copies produced for export to the USA.

Sleeve

1964 copies (until 1966) were sold in a generic THIN FLAT black Capitol sleeve:

Sales

Sales of original first pressings were insignificant. Only later in 1964 when Beatlmania really took off, did Please Please me start selling in significant numbers, outperforming Love Me Do with around 80 000 copies in 1964. (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3)