UK 7" [Rough Trade RT195]
Australia 7" [Rough Trade/CBS 650364-7]
Europe 7" [Line 108945 (in black vinyl)]
Germany 7" [Line LIS1.00020B (in blue vinyl)]
Holland 7" [Rough Trade RT195]
Sweden 7" [MNW RT195]

Shoplifters Of The World Unite
London
Half A Person

UK 12" [Rough Trade RTT195]
Europe 12" [Line 608.945 (black vinyl)]
Germany 12" [Line LIEP3.00009 (green or pink-white marbled vinyl)]
Spain 12" [Nuevos Medios 41-243 M]
Sweden 12" [MNW RTT195]

Additional information:
Early copies of the UK 12" were sold in a plastic carrier bag with the word "Shoplifter" on one side and the front artwork on the other (view).

Original plans were to release "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby" as the a-side of this single, with the same b-sides. Plans were scrapped by Rough Trade after the 12" test pressing stage. These white label test pressings bear the same catalog numbers as the "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" 12", and have become highly collectible. To make collecting the Smiths even more interesting, some stock copies (about 900) of "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" on 12" were mispressed with "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby" on a-side as it was originally intended. These are also very collectible, although not as much as the scrapped test pressings.

Artwork information:
Elvis Presley photographed by James R. Reid (his hairdresser) in 1955. This was his first ever press shot. View uncropped and untilted original here.

Etchings on vinyl:
UK 7" and 12": ALF RAMSEY'S REVENGE / none
Alf Ramsey was a football manager in the sixties.

Additional release date information:
UK: 26 January 1987

Chart peak information:
UK: 12

Promotion:
UK: White label copies of the 12" were used for promotion. The labels were actually pink instead of white. A 12"x24" promo poster and/or a postcard were occasionally slipped inside the sleeve. Some stock copies of the 7" were also sent to radio with a plugger sticker on the sleeve and/or a press release.

Germany: Stock copies of the black vinyl edition of the 7" format were dispatched to media with an Ariola press sheet.

USA: A one-track promotional 12" of "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was distributed later in the year to promote the "Louder Than Bombs" album. This item has unique artwork and is discussed on the "Louder Than Bombs" page.