THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE Japanese promo-stamped LP with a biography

Besides the white label promotional (WLP) LP with a typographical error on the Obi, there is another collectible for the first pressing vinyl copy of the Japanese issue of THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE (SOPL-239). In Springsteen's world discography featured in Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries and C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus Publishing), if you check the Records and promotion only items of interest section of Japanese releases, you'll find the description for the second album, "Promotion copies came with a 5 page biography." I own two copies of the WLP (one with the Obi and the other missing it); however, neither of which came with the biography. So, I've been wondering if the biography was lost from these copies as they are second-handed. Or did it really come originally with the WLP copies?

A copy of WLP with a typo-Obi (left) and a promo-stamped regular copy with a 4-page fold-out booklet (center & right)

Then, I came across a used vinyl copy of the album with a booklet that includes the biography. It is not a 5-page but a 4-page, A4-sized fold-out booklet and the record label is not WLP but a regular one with a "SAMPLE - NOT FOR SALE" stamp on Side A only (as pictured above). I am not confidently sure if this particular copy with the booklet indeed corresponds to what is mentioned in the Blinded By The Light book, but I guess it is likely. In addition to the biography, the booklet is full of information including the introduction to the man and his music, the second album reviews taken from Billboard, Cash Box and Real World (in both original English description and its Japanese translation), and a concert review from Cash Box on a performance at Max’s Kansas City, NYC (again, both in English and Japanese).

Album discography on the bottom of the last page

The album discography is also featured in the booklet although back then there were only two official releases; at that point, the first album was not released yet in Japan. So, neither "Japanese" title nor domestic catalog number (CBS/Sony SOPL-248) is given and the US catalog number (Columbia KC 31903) is cited instead.

Advanced WLP LPs released in Japan were often accompanied with advertised flyers and xeroxed copies of fact sheets that were stapled together. Promo booklets, however, rarely occurred especially in the vinyl era (On the other hand, various booklets have been published coincidentally with the CD releases for the albums such as THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD, GREATEST HITS, THE RISING and a series of the paper sleeve reissues). As far as I know, there is only one other example of a promo booklet that has been issued for the vinyl release. Extremely limited numbers of the WLP copies of DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (25AP1000; first pressing with a colorful vertical Obi) seem to have come with a gorgeous 20-page booklet, which will be featured on this blog sometime in a future.

THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE Japanese white label promo LP: A typo on the Obi

What's wrong with this cover?
(Japanese white label promo copy)

THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE, Springsteen's second album originally released in the US in November 1973, is his debut album in Japan that is issued in March 1974, as can be known by the catalog number (CBS/SONY SOPL-239) which precedes that assigned to the initial copies of the first album GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J. pressed in Japan (CBS/SONY SOPL-248). This is a fact well known, but there is a less known fact that the album could have been released at least one month earlier (i.e., February, 1974) than the actual release date. Why?  Take a look at the album cover pictured left, which explains the reason of the delayed commercial release.

A proofread error on the obi of the white
label promo LP (right) has been corrected
for the commercial release (left).

Shown above is the front sleeve of the white label promotional copy for the Japanese LP with the original vertical Obi. If you check the sleeve carefully, you may notice that something is wrong on the vertical strip — that is, there is a typographical error on the Obi which misprints the first two of the large, red-inked Japanese characters or Kanji, in a reverse order (which, of course, does not make any sense). For those who do not understand or are not familiar with Japanese, the typo is easily recognized when the Obi from the advanced promo copy (on the right in the right-hand picture) is compared to that of a regular stock copy (left); the error is indicated by proofreading marks. Thus, the one-month delayed release was caused by this error which should have been corrected before the release of the advanced white promo LP.  
By the way, what does the sentence of these large fonts mean? It is a "Japanese" title given to a foreign album. In the vinyl era, it was a customary practice for Japanese record companies to provide any foreign LP/single release with a Japan-specific title because back then, the companies believed that such additional titles in Japanese would help attracting consumers to domestic releases over imports and thus promote the sales of records. However, it was impossible to modify or change the design of an LP sleeve with Japanese fonts without artist's permission, which explains at least partly why Obi strips were developed and common to most Japanese LP and 12" releases. Interestingly (and oddly enough), such a "Japanese" title did not necessarily reflect a faithful translation of the original English title, and often unrelated, questionable one was created. For Springsteen's second album, the "Japanese" title can be reverse-translated into something like "THE CRY OF YOUTH (or THE SHOUT OF YOUTH)".  Weird even to me who uses Japanese.

This "delayed release" story is officially spoken in a reminiscent essay penned by the then company staff at Music Publishers Division of CBS/SONY Japan, which is published in the vol. 5/no. 5 issue (October 1987) of the Japanese magazine SWITCH. This issue of the magazine is a special edition that features Springsteen on the cover and as the main article entitled "GREETING TO ASBURY PARK, N.J." To the best of my knowledge, the typo on the Obi strip is only found with the white label promotional copies. This fact makes the white label promo, if the typo-carrying Obi remains still retained, much rarer and more unique than the stock copies for which the Obi has been corrected.

Just 30 years ago ...

Exactly 30 years ago tonight, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band played the last of 8 concerts to conclude the Japan leg of the BORN IN THE USA World Tour. If my memory is correct, the final 8th concert was not originally planned but added for the public demand. It was a weekday (Tuesday) and the curtain time was set at 6:00 PM, a few hours earlier than in the US, due to the regulation here (i.e., concerts must be finished by 10:00 PM). Back then, a poor student managed to get two tickets through mail order, escaped early from school together with his classmate, and headed for Osaka Castle Hall where he saw finally what he had eagerly been waiting for. A good memory of youth.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: THE AGORA SHOW Part I & II (2 x 2LP)

Typical old US bootlegs in a bad sense.
Rated one of the worst vinyl Brucelegs, in my opinion.

THE AGORA SHOW Part I and II are two double-LP sets of vinyl bootleg on the Modern Jazz Records label (matrix BS2000A/B/C/D and BS4000A/B/C/D, respectively), capturing the entire performance of the concert on the 9th of August, 1978, at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, OH. Needless to say, this show is one of the five radio broadcasts of the legendary DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN Tour. It was around Christmas time back in 1981 that I obtained these bootlegs at an import record shop. As I was already enthralled by exciting DARKNESS tour bootleg releases (i.e. PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE and WINTERLAND 1978), my expectations were high for these titles, which resulted in total disappointment after the first listening. In fact, the two bootleg records represent a typical example of what inferior bootleg is all about: crummy packaging, wrong and insufficient track information, and low-quality sound. Therefore, I had paid no attention to them until recently, when the Agora concert became available to purchase from Springsteen’s official live download site.

Agora vinyl bootleg reissues on Raring Records
(not in my possession)

To me, sloppy slick cover artwork is OK, as I rather love good old amateurish appearance of classic vinyl Brucelegs produced in the US back in 1970s, such as HOT COALS FROM FIERY FURNACE and YOU CAN TRUST YOUR CAR TO THE MAN WHO WEARS THE STAR. However, the lousy sound of THE AGORA SHOW boots is inexcusable considering the source of the recording (i.e. FM broadcast), which is the main reason I had ignored these records completely for long. Although I know little about the story behind these poorly produced bootlegs, there are variations in the color of the paper insert such as yellow and lime green, and they were reissued under different labels (Raring Records) with completely different slick covers. It was a customary practice that, in order to make more money, greedy West Coast bootleggers often released a same bootleg over and over in different sleeve/package or under a different title, which may suggest the Californian origin of the Agora bootlegs.

One of the two 1978 radio broadcast upgrades from
mid-1980s, along with "FOR TRUE ROCKERS",
the Winterland show bootleg

In mid-1980s when the popularity of Springsteen and the demand for his legendary live recordings at the peak, the Agora concert was re-released in Europe (possibly in the former West Germany) under the title of THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF in the 4-LP box format, as I already mentioned in the previous post (April 16th). Significantly improving the sound quality and package over the previously circulated bootlegs, this new upgraded version was the definitive bootleg of the Agora concert in the vinyl era, which revealed what the live performance really was. In an old bootleg catalogue I am still keeping, the dealers advertised this box set by describing "Entire show at The Agora, Cleveland 1978 in superb soundboard stereo (previously only avail [sic] with bad quality)". My four LP discs, all of which are clear vinyls with picture labels of Great Dane dog (?), still play raw and loud although the sound quality is, of course, not comparable to that of Crystal Cat’s silver CD or the official live download files.

Playing one of the clear vinyls on
my old DENON manual turntable

By the way, the United States is probably not a single country where the recorded Agora concert was re-broadcasted. In Japan, although not entirely, the live performance was most likely aired through the program on a local FM broadcast in Tokyo and Osaka areas, by Tokyo FM and Osaka FM stations, respectively (Back then, there were only a few FM stations in Japan and the major was [and still is] NHK FM whose radio programs have been broadcasted nationwide there. Just for your information, in Japan, the first set of the 1988 Stockholm concert was relayed solely by Tokyo FM station. So, the residents only in Tokyo area were able to listen to the real-time live performance).

Japanese local FM radio program broadcasting part of
the Agora concert in October 1979 (printed in Japanese)

Here is the evidence for this. Shown right are two clippings of program tables taken from an old issue (no. 21 in 1979) of a major FM magazine published in Japan. In this magazine issue, I found that the Agora concert was indeed featured on the program entitled something like "Bruce Springsteen Never-Before-Aired Special Live.” According to this program table, the broadcast was scheduled for about 1 hour from Sunday 5:00 PM over two weeks, specifically on the 7th and 14th of October, 1979 (which I am almost certain but needs confirmation because I have kept the clippings only and the magazine was thrown away many years ago). It is totally unknown how this was possible in Japan and how the (reel-to-reel?) tapes were available for broadcast to a Japanese FM station. Because the sales of the DARKNESS album was rather unsatisfactory there (his first smash hit in Japan was Hungry Heart from THE RIVER), CBS/Sony Japan might have needed to push it to a broad spectrum of music listeners by exposing them to the highly-reputed live performance. Just my guessing.

Collecting log: Dancing In The Dark Mexican colored 12" vinyl

Dancing In The Dark 12" remix collectibles:. Clockwise from
top left: Japan-only promo and the vinyl disc, US promo,
and regular Mexican and Portuguese releases.

More than 30 years ago, in a total surprise to his die-hard fans, Springsteen released special dance mix version of the first three top 10 singles (Dancing In The Dark, Cover Me and Born In The USA) from the album BORN IN THE USA, all of which are pressed in 12-inch format and remixed by Arthur Baker, then one of the most fashionable hip-hop producer. Music-wise, I believe that many of hardcore fans ignore, or are not interested in, these 12" releases. However, there are a few vinyl pressings worthy of collecting for Dancing In The Dark. Although I had refrained from collecting these for long, recently, I got a copy each for Mexican and Portuguese releases (CBS BS-35051 and CBS A 12.4436, respectively) at relatively cheap prices on eBay.

Official colored disc looking really nice!

The Portuguese release comes with the uniquely designed jacket that is completely different from those released in other countries. On the other hand, being translucent red vinyl is what makes the Mexican copy rare and valuable. Indeed, the Mexican vinyl looks simply brilliant, which I like very much! There are many colored edition of bootleg vinyls. To the best of my knowledge, however, among the officially released Springsteen records, translucent or colored vinyls are much rarer than other special pressings such as picture discs (for example, check the very first post on this blog).

From actual auction

One related note: Before Dancing In The Dark, late last year, I won another Mexican red 12" vinyl for War / Fire // Born To Run / Incident On 57th Street from a different seller in Mexico (I own the black vinyl version but not colored one). This seller, who is no longer registered, seemed reliable as he had received, since 2003, nearly 1,900 feedback ratings with most being positive. However, what turned out to be was that he was a real cheater. In order to provide me with the tracking number as a proof of shipping, he sent just a registered letter that was wrongly addressed (so, not to me) and without sender's name and address. I was waiting for the package to arrive for more than two weeks, after which the tracking system suddenly reported that, due to unconfirmed destination, the mail with that tracking number has been returned to Mexico. In response to my inquiry, the delivery company told me that it was a letter but never be an LP package. I finally found myself scammed. I've been a registered eBay member since 1997 and this was the ugliest experience among hundreds of transaction. The case was covered by eBay buyer protection and refunded, though.

Collecting log: Mold disaster — a collector's nightmare

Looking nice outside but ... 
Some of box sets released in mid to late 1980s that I took back
 from parent's home to relieve from mold disaster.

As predicted on the previous post (on Jan. 18), I was extremely busy last month, which kept me from writing anything at all. Although still busy at the beginning month (April) of this fiscal year, I am gradually getting back to normal situation at work, and so was able to resume this blog. By the way, during this break, an annoying matter happened to my collection. Last month I made a few official trips and had a chance to make a brief stop at my parent's home where I have left many vinyl Brucelegs for space limitations in my current residence. Sadly, what I found there was that, while I hadn’t seen and taken care of them for some months, the jackets and sleeves of many got moldy! A total nightmare for any collector.

Inside the GRANDE FINALE 6-LP box set, there are unremovable stains
and blotches caused by mold/mildew on inner sleeves and booklet

These bootlegs are mostly European releases during the BORN IN THE USA World Tour and thereafter; most of vinyl bootlegs I have kept at my current habitat are those released before that era, as occasionally covered in the previous posts of this blog. Contrary to such old bootlegs predated 1980 that typically come in a slick or insert cover, many of these European bootlegs are housed in a deluxe, full-colored jacket or box that is laminated. So, it was not difficult to wipe up mold and clean up the exterior of a sleeve or box; however, I knew that it was impossible to remove blotches or stains, once mildew colonies have become established on paper stuff. Previously, I succeeded applying ink eradicators or chemical oxidants like diluted hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in erasing blots or stains, but only in a few cases (mostly white jackets like BORN TO RUN). It appeared that box sets were most seriously damaged by the growth of mold, which caused the development of many spots on the non-laminated interior surface of a box as well as inner sleeves, inserts and booklets.  Maybe I should have reminded myself that for my parents, these records are nothing more than mere vinyl and paper. Regret always comes after.

Anyway, for safer storage, I picked up five (that I could hold by myself; pictured above) from more than 10 box sets and brought them back home with me:

•  THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF (4LP; 09/08/1978) called my attention just because of the recent official live download. The best Agora show bootleg in the vinyl era.
• FOR TRUE ROCKERS (4LP; 15/12/1978) is a substantial upgrade of the classic vinyl bootleg LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND. Shown top right on the above picture is a sample copy of this coming in a blank black box, which was given to me as a bonus by a record retailer when I bought the regular copy from him.
• THIS GUNS FOR HIRE (5LP; 18/09/1984) is one of the best vinyl bootlegs from the BORN IN THE USA Tour in terms of both the sound quality and packaging. Contains four stage-shot photographs, indicating that this one is an early, very limited copy. Purportedly a US bootleg unlike many others from this tour that are of European origin.
• GRANDE FINALE (6LP; 02/10/1985) captures the final concert of the 1984-1985 World Tour, best known for its great package with the booklet listing basic information on almost all the vinyl bootlegs from this tour.

Glory days for vinyl boot collectors:
Mail-order bootleg catalogues from the late 1980s.

These gorgeous boxes made me think back to the flood of vinyl Brucelegs from Europe between 1985 and 1986. Back then, bootleggers not only continued to release concert live performances of BORN IN THE USA World Tour (I remember almost all of the 1985 European shows were bootlegged), but also revived old recordings while unearthing new materials for live and studio-outtake bootlegs. Therefore, I used to look around import record stores at least once or twice a week expecting a new title arrived there, even though I could not afford to buy most of them. With the increasing demand of unofficial records, mail order system of bootleg grew and flourished here, and import dealers actively issued catalogues of these vinyls specifically targeting bootleg collectors (yes, it was pre-internet era!). However, vinyl bootleg industry sank rapidly towards the end of 1980s and early 1990s with the advent of CD technology. Just remembering good old exciting days for a young kid collector.