Decca labels explained

Decca SXL releases (stereo, 12")

England Dark (black) labels

For collectors only the SXL ED1 'Original recording' and the purple SET Decca label are of the highest value. However also on the first mono orange/gold UK pressings there are some real gems, recordings which never where reissued in stereo. For me as a music lover I'm sometimes unimpressed with the quality of first SXL pressings: sometimes noisy, badly pressed, bad quality vinyl used in the record pressing plant. I must suggest this situation was bettered with the appearance of ED2, ED3 and ED4 pressings. However in China and Japan this is less important as they are looking fore the genuine stuff: ED1 Blueback!

ED1

• Black/silver wide band label, deep groove, rim text at 10 o'clock starts with "Original recording by"
• Approximately 1958 - 1965
• Although this label design was gradually phased out from 1966 on there are still releases from 1968 that carry this label.
• 

---

ED8

• Black/silver wide band label, deep groove near the outer edge of the label, rim text at 10 o'clock starts with "Original recording by"
• Approximately 1958 - 1959
• This label can only be found on a few SXL releases.
• 

---

ED2

• Black/silver wide band label, deep groove, rim text at 10 o'clock starts with "Made in England by"
• Approximately 1965 - 1968
• 

---

ED3

• Black/silver wide band label, no deep groove, rim text at 10 o'clock starts with "Made in England by"
• Approximately 1968 - 1970
• 

---

ED9

• Black/silver wide band label, no deep groove, rim text at 10 o'clock starts with "Original recording by"
• Approximately 1968 - 1970
• This label design was exclusively used for represses.
• Example Release
  

---

ED4

• Black/glossy silver narrow band label
• Approximately 1970 - 1979
• See also note on ED5 below.
• Example Release
  

---

ED6

• Black/glossy silver label, no ffss banner
• 1974 only (?)
• This label appears on very few SXL releases only.
• Example Release
  

---

ED5

• Black/matte silver narrow band label
• Approximately 1977 - 1979
• This can be hard to distinguish from the ED4 label. The only difference is in the silver print which appears more matte on ED5 labels, due to the ink used that is free of heavy metals.
• Example Release
  

 

England White labels

EW1

• White/black narrow band label
• Approximately 1973 - 1974
• Sometimes described as promo labels, although these were more probably intended for export.
• Example Release
  

 

England Red labels

ER1

• Red/silver narrow band label
• Approximately mid to late 1970s
• Used in box sets and for price reduced issues only (?)

 

England Blue (teal) labels

EB1

• Teal/silver narrow band label
• Approximately early to mid 1970s
• Used in box sets only (?)

 

Holland Dark (black) labels

HD1

• Black/silver narrow band label, "Made in Holland" at bottom
• Approximately 1980 - 1983
• Used after Decca's UK pressing plant in New Malden was shut down
• Example Release
  

 

France Yellow labels

FY1

• Yellow/silver wide band label
• Approximately 1958 - 1959?
• Most probably the first French SXL label
• Example Release
  

 

France Dark (black) labels

FD2

• Black/silver wide band label, the only word in the rim text at 10 o'clock that runs within the silver band is "Tous"
• Approximately 1959 - 1962?
  

---

FD1

• Black/silver wide band label, the words in the rim text at 10 o'clock that run within the silver band are "Tous Droits"
• Approximately early to mid 1960s
  

---

FD3

• Black/silver wide band label, no rim text at the top of the label
• Approximately early to mid 1960s
• This label design was used for recordings by the French Decca branch 

 

France Orange labels

FO1

• Orange/silver wide band label, groove near the outer edge of the label
• Approximately 1960s
• Example Release
  

---

FO2

• Orange/silver wide band label, no groove
• Approximately late 1960s - 1970s
• Example Release
  

---

FO3

• Orange/silver wide band label, no groove, the rim text cuts through the wide silver band
• Approximately late 1960s - 1970s (?)
• Example Release
  

---

FO4

• Orange/silver wide band label, no ffss logo
• Approximately late 1960s - 1970s (?)
• This label design was used for recordings by the French Decca branch 

 

German Dark (black) labels

GD1

• Black/silver label, Langspielplatte at bottom
• Approximately 1958 - 1960
• Example Release
  

---

GD2

• Black/gold label, large Decca logo in an oval, Decca in black
• Approximately 1960 - 1962
• There is also a slightly later version with a smaller Decca logo that is not in the labelography
• Example Release
  

---

GD3

• Black/gold label, small Decca logo in an oval, Decca in gold, Royal Sound logo
• Approximately 1964 - 1967
• There is also a slightly earlier version without Royal Sound logo that is not in the labelography
• Example Release
  

---

GD4

• Black/gold label, Decca logo in a box, Royal Sound logo
• Approximately 1967 - 1970
• Example Release
  

 

Spain Dark (black) labels

SD1

• Black/silver wide band label, rim text runs both on top and bottom of label
• Approximately 1958 - 1971
• There are at least 3 different pressing ring variations in existence
• Example Release
  

---

SD2

• Black/silver wide band label, rim text runs only on top of label
• Approximately 1971 - 1979
• Example Release
  

---

SD3

• Black/white wide band label
• Approximately early 1980s
• Example Release
  

 

Decca SET releases (stereo, 12")

England Purple labels

EP1

• Example Release