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Worldwide planned Pennyroyal Tea releases
This document discusses planned Pennyroyal Tea singles.  UK Geffen UK was to release their own singles. The EMI plant in Hayes near London was to press the 7" (GFS 71 - sleeve found) and 12" (GFST 71) records, and Nimbus would press the CD promo (NIRPRO) and retail CD single (GfSTD 71 - insert found). Cassette singles would also be made (GFSC 71). Singles were supposedly ordered and sold, but not shipped, to UK retail outlets, but according to later info even that probably never happened. When it was known that Kurt had comitted suicide, Geffen UK ordered all production to stop. If anything had been made, they had to destroy the items. As of that, no finished products of the 7", 12", CS, or CD single ever left the pressing plants, if they were made at all. The vinyl records may have gotten to test pressing stage, but not even that is sure. There was a competition in Kerrang! magazine were you could win a 7" test pressing, but Kerrang! never received the test pressings from the label. The NIRPRO CD promos were delivered to Geffen's office, but sent back shortly after to be destroeyd. The release date would have been either Monday, March 28, or Monday, April 4 (all formats). Rob Fellows, an MCA/ Universal UK sales rep, doesn't recall the sales team getting as far as to present the single for presale. That would've been done two weeks before the intended release date. That contradicts my earlier information, which says that the singles were ordered by and sold to UK retail outlets, but that information also came from a very reliable source, so who knows. The art department seems to have worked independently from the pressing plants, as a few 7" sleeves and a CD insert has been found. A few sleeves are usually sent to the label to check if they as intended. Here are some info sheets you could get if you sent in the form found on the UK CD release of the "All Apologies" single. The first mentions that Nirvana has a third UK single coming up, but they are not sure which song it will be. In the next one it's decided, it will be a remix of "Penny Royal Tea".  Nirvana tour news  Nirvana tour news update  Holland/ Germany 7" singles would have been made on mainland Europe, either in Germany or Holland. This is discussed more on the GES X test pressing page.  Importers Even though the artwork was made in USA, like all Nirvana artwork for standard releases, they would not have made their own singles. Three Nirvana singles were made in USA and released on DGC; Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, and Lithium. All three were released on cassette and CD, with standard picture artwork. 7" retail singles were released of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Come As You Are, but those were jukebox singles without picture sleeves. They came in generic blue DGC sleeves. At the time, the 7" singles market for major labels in USA was more or less dead (but there was still a market for independent labels). 12" promos were made for both singles, the Smells Like Teen Spirit 12" promo having artwork. No vinyl editions were made of Lithium. To summarize, no Nirvana 7" picture sleeve singles were released in USA on Geffen/DGC 1991-1994, nor would they make one for Pennyroyal Tea. Nirvana hadn't released a 7" picture sleeve single in USA since the Sub Pop days, and some split singles on indie labels. In Bloom, Heart-Shaped Box, and All Apologies weren't even made in USA at all. Promos were made for all those, though, so it is probable that a Pennyroyal Tea CD promo (PRO-CD-4xxx) would have been made. All these three singles were imported from Europe by stores, that would most likely have been done with Pennyroyal Tea, too. Every Nirvana single from 1991 has been released in Australia on Geffen. No vinyl, always just CD and cassette. There is no reason to believe that they wouldn't make a CD and a cassette single for Pennyroyal Tea as well. The American chromalins and films were most likely sent to Australia too, for them to make the required regional amendments. The catalog numbers would have been GEFDM-21xxx and GEFCS-19220, respectively. However, Australian releases were often released a little while after the American and European releases. It was common to first import American or European releases, before the domestic pressings were ready. As an example, the Heart-Shaped Box single was imported from Germany and UK about a week before the official Australian release date at HMV. As were most other Nirvana singles. There was no plan for an Australian tour in the near future, but Nirvana singles were supposedly very popular in Australia, as in Europe. Importing is actually cheaper for the stores than to buy local made releases. But they are often sold for more money, because they get them before the domestic release date. However, you can't just import as much as you want to in Australia. The strict import laws prevents stores from importing only by demanding that a large amount has to be pressed locally, so that the local manufacturing industry survives. Imported releases would have to carry an "Authorized Import" sticker, that is, if it was authorized. HMV would add their own stickers, usually silver circular stickers with black text stating "HMV Import". Not so anymore, as most of the major music stores only carry locally made products. Still, the Sliver Best Of The Box compilation were first available as US imports, on the US release date, November 1 2005. Australian pressed discs weren't available before November 21. The both cost the same, $24.95 AUD. From this we can only assume that German or UK singles would be imported, and that Australian pressings would be made a little bit later. There is no evidence that any German singles were ever exported to Australia. Various Australian record shops owners say that none made it out there in 1994. However, one of these record shops owner was on a buying trip in Korea, where he met a person who had four singles, imported from overseas when they were new as part of a larger batch, to then be distributed throughout South East Asia, possibly including Australia, before Geffen Australia would start pressing their own.  Other countries French CD singles would probably also be made, though I have not heard anything regarding how far the process came there. Either just a two track cardlseeve single (GED 219xx) would be made, or that and a three track slimline case single (GED21907), made by SNA and/ or MPO. In Japan, CD singles would have been made. Maybe there would also be a Mexican CD promo, as there were for both All Apologies (CDX1337) and Heart-Shaped Box (CDX-1285).
Thanks to Rob Heron, Nirvana Live Guide, Ross Harkness (Nirvana tour info scans), Rob Fellows, and Craig Mills.

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