1

February 1963 R 4983 Parlophone

Perhaps it was possible to import "Love Me Do" from Great Britain, but "Please Please Me" was the first of the norwegian-pressed Beatles-singles. The cover may, however, possibly be an import from Danmark. The "Leave My Kitten" alone-cover is from the same photo session..(mouseover). Due to it's limited availability this single didn't chart in Norway!

2

May 1963 R 5015 Parlophone

On "From Me To You" a photo appears for the first, but certainly not the last time on a norwegian single. This photo is used again and again on norwegian Beatles-singles this first year. We had no idea press photos of The Beatles were so scarce... Highest chart position: 9

3

 August 1963 SD 5946 Odeon

The first domestic release that strayed from the british single releases. Twist And Shout-single "borrowed" this cover photo from the british EP-release by the same name."Boys" was on the b-side. Highest chart position: 7 (in 1964)

4

September 1963 R 5055 Parlophone

It's "that picture" again. There are collectors who remember that the first pressing of "She Loves You" was with a red cover (like here), others swear that it was green. A red 1963-cover has yet to surface, so this is a 1967 version. For a green 1963-edition: click the picture. This was the Beatles first no.1 chart hit in Norway and it spent two weeks at the top.

5

November 1963 R 5084 Parlophone

The first editions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" from 1964 had orange as the extra colour on the cover, but a danish advert on the back. This pure norwegian version is from 1967. Click the photo for the danish one. Highest chart position: 1 (where it spent three weeks)

6

March 1964 R 5114 Parlophone

"Can't Buy Me Love" can also be found with orange as the main colour, as well as a super rare black/white edition. And as you can se...: that picture again. The Beatles million-selling single only made it to position no. 3 in the Norwegian charts.

7

March 1964 SD 5958 Odeon

The photo from "With The Beatles" is recirculated on this single: "All My Loving"/"I Saw Her Standing There", another single that wasn't released in the UK. Over here it charted, and it's highest position was no. 2.

8

May 1964 DK 1619 Odeon

The domestic release "Roll Over Beethoven" managed to get George a single-a-side quite early here in Norway. This item is also available in a more orange-y colour, click the photo for evidence. Top chart position: 2. 

9

June 1964 DK 1622 Odeon

And here he steps forward as the main person on the cover. As well as "that picture" again! Half the songs from a UK  EP, this single didn't chart in Norway (but the imported EP "Long Tall Sally" went to no. 2 here) 

9B

Nice to include the name of the band on the sleeve, which was missing on the first edition. Also a bit differently colourized, one can safely say.

10

July 1964 R 5160 Parlophone

A photo from the Beatles visit to  Paris in 1964. The picture was taken outside the hotel they stayed in,  George V.

A Hard Day's Night/Things We Said Today spent one week at no. 1 in the charts.

11

September 1964 R 4949 Parlophone

Finally, "Love Me Do" also appeared as a norwegian  pressing, no doubt because it sold well as an import. A tasteful picture sleeve, and as a bonus: the rare "Ringo" - edition of the song! Now where did they put that mastertape..? It didn't chart, though.

12

September 1964 ND 7436 Odeon

The Odeon-logo at the bottom of the left corner was violet, otherwise this cover was in black/white. "I Should Have Known Better"/"And I Love Her" was a no.1 for two weeks.

13

October 1964 DP 562 Parlophone

A funny thing: A cover with pictures of only TWO Beatles! Did they look that much alike that the record company made a mistake? This norwegian release spent two weeks at the top of the charts.

14

November 1964 R 5200 Parlophone

A norwegian drawing was the basis of this picture cover. The drawing was also used on the first norwegian Beatles-EP (below). A huge hit in this country, the single spent seven weeks as a no.1.

15

January 1965 ND 7438 Odeon

This was the Beatles best selling single in Norway in the sixties, the two songs from Beatles For Sale only spent three weeks at the top of the charts, but it sold really well over time. This cover was also for sale in yellow, and on that edition it's pretty hard to see what the picture was depicting... 

15B

...which may have been the reason why on the 1967-re-release one completely re-designed this sleeve. Megarare!

16

March 1965 R 5265 Parlophone

The "Beatles For Sale"-photo was called to duty as the decoration for this single. Four weeks at no.1 in Norway for "Ticket To Ride".

17

July 1965 R 5305 Parlophone

A photo from the filming of  Help! Norwegian singles were rarely this much "up to date", picturewise. The Beatles helped themselves to a healthy six weeks stay at no.1 with "Help!"

18

August 1965 SD 5985 Parlophone

One of the rare singles, because it didn't sell so well. I t barely managed to sneak in among the top 10 singles at 10. Eleanor Bron is the lady in the picture, and the title is mis-spelled...

19

October 1965 ND 7442 Odeon

Another Help!-photo accompanied this single. By looking at the front cover, it appears that "Act Naturally" is the A-side here, which was not the case. A girly favourite, "Yesterday" returned the boys to the top of the charts for another five weeks.

20

December 1965 R 5389 Parlophone

"We Can Work It Out"/"Day Tripper" has the same cover picture as in Denmark. Another one from the Help! movie... and a no.1 for seven weeks.

21

January 1966 SD 5987 Parlophone

Just like this one, from the opening sequence of "Help!". The cover is also available in nuances of blue, insted of lilac like this one (Click to see). Also covered by The Overlanders, but The Beatles beat them to the top, and spent four weeks there.

22

May 1966 R 5452 Parlophone

Norway then stopped releasing extra titles as singles for a long while after "Michelle".  Paperback Writer/Rain - a revolutionary single, with a not-so-revolutionary cover. The norwegian buyers liked it though, and sent the single to no.1 for four weeks.

23

Juli 1966 R 5493 Parlophone

Not that the Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine picture sleeve was very innovative either, but some development can be traced. Unlike the LP which halted at no.2 on the albums charts, this single was a no. 1 for seven weeks. 

24

March 1967 R 5570 Parlophone

The norwegian Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane-cover looked a bit like the one used on single no 22, and sold alongside the british import-cover. Together they spent six weeks at the top of the charts in Norway. Engelbert Humperdink, go home!

24B

The british cover was in full colour and must have been more in demand in those days, but the norwegian one is a lot harder to find now...

25

June 1967 R 5620 Parlophone

This single was in the shops a short time after the song had been performed in the first ever satelite-transmitted tv-show Our World, which was an event on norwegian TV too. Four weeks at no. 1 swiftly followed. 

26

November 1967 R 5655 Parlophone

The same photos were used on the swedish edition of this single, but the norwegian cover was a lot more psychedelic :)

Click the sleeve for a comparison!

The single said "Hello no. 1" to the charts and waved "Goodbye" after five weeks.

27

March 1968 R 5675 Parlophone

Now we really started to import sleeves from Sweden, in order to have full colour covers. A stylish cover and a great picture, this one. "The inner light" is missing a word from the title, though. It failed to reach no.1, halting at no.2 in the singles charts.

28

August 1968 DP 570 Parlophone

The Hey Jude-cover suffered from the fact that the photo was taken two tears earlier, and thus not really up-to-date with The Beatles' "look". The photo is from one of the videos for Paperback Writer or Rain. Six weeks at no. 1 in the charts.

29

April 1969 SD 6061 Apple or Parlophone

At last another domestic release again. A "mad day out" photo had the honour of adorning this single, which was ok, in keeping with it's time and good. The songs are from the mono "White album": Back In The USSR/Don't Pass Me By. It failed to chart.

30

April 1969 R 5777 Parlophone

The Get Back-single was the first single to be released in stereo. Another "mad day out"-photo, but this time the picture didn't quite illustrate the Beatles' "looks" from the time of the recording. It went to no. 1 in the chart and spent six weeks there.

31

May 1969 R 5786 Apple

Released around the same time as the Get Back-single, The Ballad of John and Yoko still struggled it's way to the top of the charts, where it stayed for three weeks.

32

October 1969 ND 7485 Apple

And suddenly it's back to a sleeve printed in Norway and a goodbye to the full colours image. But a nice cover and a photo that fits into the time of the song isn't all that bad... It didn't land them another no. 1 though, as George's ballad stopped it's climbing at no. 2.

33

March 1970 R 5853 Apple

The final single in England was this one, the norwegian cover is a bit softer as it was printed on paper, not cardboard. It was probably printed in Sweden, since it's in colour. A solid no. 1 for five weeks. 

34

July 1970 7E-006-04514 Apple

The final Beatles-single in Norway, The Long and Winding Road had the honour of having another locally printed cover. As did the first of the solo-singles from the former fabs, until we once again got singles printed (and pressed) in Sweden, and later Holland. And no, it didn't chart.

EP1

1964: GEOS 225  

EP-s used to be a 4-tracks 7-inches record with a thicker cardboard cover than the singles. "The poor man's LP" was one of the nicknames of these records, which were more expensive than a single, but cheaper than an LP. This is the first of the three norwegian EP's. 

EP2

1966: GEOS 245  

MICHELLE / Drive My Car / Run For Your Life / Girl: The cover was printed in Sweden, but tho logo of the printer's logo is missing on some of the copies we've seen. Norwegian label.

EP3

1966: GEOS 262   

Yellow Submarine / For No One / Eleanor Rigby / Good Day Sunshine: the cover was printed in Denmark. Norwegian label.Thanks to Lennart Löveström for the scan.

EP#

And all the usual british EP's were also available for sale in norwegian record shops. Of all EP's released in Norway, only two made the singles charts: Long Tall Sally was at no. 2 and Magical Mystery Tour stopped at no. 5.