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Bohemian Rhapsody - Blue + Scarf & Goblet

QUEEN Bohemian Rhapsody (Extremely rare original 1978 UK in-house BLUE vinyl 7" specially pressed for the luncheon commemorating EMI attaining the Queen's Award To Industry For Export Achievement, in a unique custompurple & gold presentation sleeve - hand numbered 82/200 on label & back of sleeve, complete with a pale blue embroidered scarf & an etched EMI glass wine goblet. As most of these rare items left the luncheon in handbags & pockets, there is naturally enough a little creasing & scuffing to the sleeve, but nothing so serious as to mar the 'feel' of the piece. The scarf too has a couple of stains from the attendant debauchery but these could be carefully cleaned out. Once again, so minor as to only need to be mentioned for completeness' sake. All items are complete & undamaged, having survived not only the luncheon, but also the stagger home & thirty years in storage - The ultimate Queen collectable!)

Price Info
N/A  
Product Availability Currently Unavailable - You can request the next copy of this item
Release Year 1978 - 46 years ago
Condition Unless stated otherwise in the description above, all items are in at least excellent condition - so please read our descriptions carefully. We try to sell items as close to Mint condition as possible, and many will indeed be close to brand new and/or unplayed. Others may be 'used' - and all will meet our strict grading and are 100% guaranteed.
Shipping Cost Add item to your basket to see shipping quote
Format 7" vinyl single (7 inch record / 45)
Record Label EMI
Complete Stock List Go to Queen or visit our Queen collectors store
Product Catalogue No EMI2375
Music Genre Rock
Country Comes from UK Comes from 'UK'
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Tracklisting & More Information

History Of The Blue Vinyl Bohemian Rhapsody

On Wednesday 26th July 1978, a special dinner was held at the Selfridge Hotel in London to commemorate the fact that The International Division of EMI Records Ltd had been awarded the prestigious 'Queen's Award To Industry For Export Achievement'.

As Queen were a significant contributor to EMI's export sales and as a play-on-words with the 'Queen's Award', it was decided to manufacture a special limited edition of the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' single to mark the occasion. The single was pressed in a translucent royal blue vinyl, with a special purple and gold sleeve. The intention was that the vinyl was originally intended to be purple to match the sleeve but due to an error at the pressing plant they came out blue!

A limited run of up to 300 were pressed, but only 200 records and sleeves were numbered by hand, mostly on the a-side label and the back of the sleeve.

This special single was distributed to the EMI bosses, captains of industry and journalists who were present at the dinner. In fact, a large variety of commemorative freebies were distributed to the assembled throng, including:

A wine glass, engraved with the 'Queen's Award' logo.

A pale blue silk scarf, embroidered with the 'Queen's Award' logo & 'Queen's Award For Industry' tag. Some of the scarves were in a passport style folder.

A pen, presumably also with the same logo.

As well as these, all attendees would have had an invitation, a ticket and a menu. According to sources, it was largely pot-luck who at the dinner received which of the freebies and it was mainly first-come-first-served.

A special 'EMI Records International Division' outer-envelope was also manufactured. Roughly A4 in size and shaped to resemble a carrier bag, there is some uncertainty what this was for, which makes it seem likely it was simply another freebie given away at the dinner. Whatever it was, there seem to have been very few of them made!

All the freebies seem to be much rarer than the blue vinyl records themselves. However, this is probably because they have become separated over the years. None of them mention Queen in any way, so someone selling their blue vinyl in the 1980s may not have thought the buyer would have been interested in a seemingly unrelated item. It is only in recent years that the full set of items has become desirable.

Over the years, the blue vinyl has become the top-of-the-league item in any list of Queen collectables. The full monty (comprising numbered vinyl, sleeve, outer envelope, glass, scarf, pen, invitation, ticket and menu) would be worth a King's ransom. Even an unnumbered vinyl with no sleeve would be a worthwhile addition to anyone's collection.


Value over the years
Over the last ten years, the value of a blue vinyl has gone up and up and up. While some of this was undoubtedly due to hype, the current high values are holding firm and even, for a copy with all the trimmings, still going up.
This amazing collection comprises the following :-

Blue Vinyl Bohemian Rhapsody 7" hand numbered 82/200 on the label and back of the sleeve.

A pale blue scarf, embroidered with the Queens Award logo with 'Queen's Award To Industry' tag.

A wine goblet etched with the EMI logo and the Queen's Award 1978 logo.

The jewel in the crown of any collection, without doubt.



7" RECORD  
Recording Artist Queen
Product Title Bohemian Rhapsody - Blue + Scarf & Goblet
Product Information Queen Bohemian Rhapsody - Blue + Scarf & Goblet UK 7" vinyl single (7 inch record / 45).
Language All tracks are sung in English, unless otherwise stated in our description.
Additional info
Artists Related To Brian May, Catherine Porter, D-ROK, Darkness [Dance], Eddie Howell, Freddie Mercury, Heavy Pettin, Hilary Hilary, Ibex, John Deacon, Larry Lurex, Left-Handed Marriage, Minako Honda, Roger Taylor, Smile, The Cross, The Immortals, The Others [1960S], Tim Staffell, Wire Daisies
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