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.