Collecting log: The best acquisition in 2016

Big box arrived here from upstate New York. Inset shows the eBay
sticker probably for global shipping (overlaid on which is the semi-
transparent lilac-colored label of the domestic delivery service).

Now we're coming to the end of the year, it's time to look over the best acquisition in 2016. It's a volume purchase won on eBay this spring with a cumulative bid of 12, which resulted in the final amounts just exceeding 80 bucks. The amounts were happily way less than what I had expected to pay, but as always, the shipping cost too much from East Coast of the US (slightly more than the half of the final bid). Speaking of the shipping option, as many non-US buyers already pointed out, I am also quite discontented with eBay Global Shipping Program because it charges additional costs that probably results from handling, custom/import duty (pre-paid is mandatory; Note that the zero rate is usually applied for importing vinyl discs here, unless an item is quite expensive or highly valued) and the US domestic delivery from seller's address to the Global Shipping Center.

Collecting log: Cover Me UK shaped picture disc single

A bi-color sticker on the PVC bag holding the picture
disc. Note that not all copies come with stickers.

This is the final of the three consecutive collecting logs on “cheap buy” in my recent trip to Tokyo. Yet another I picked up there was Cover Me/Jersey Girl (live) (CBS WA 4662), one of the three shaped picture disc singles from the album BORN IN THE U.S.A. that were commercially available in England. This limited edition is the second release out around September or October 1984 (the receipt of the imported first copy I obtained dated 11th October, 1984), following the pink caddy-shaped picture disc of Dancing In The Dark/Pink Cadillac (CBS WA 4436) and followed by the US flag-shaped I'm On Fire/Born In The U.S.A. (CBS WA 6342). The original pressing has a printing error on the rear side, listing both incorrect playing speed (45 rpm) which is blacked out and the correct speed (33 ⅓ rpm) underneath it. The re-releases correct this error (see the picture below).

Collecting log: 57 Channels (And Nothin' On) US 12-inch Maxi single and Supplementary Note to BORN TO RUN US pressing LP variants: unusual red labels (JC 33795) on Sep 13, 2015

Do unusual red US Columbia labels without a yellow-rim indicate
the later regular pressing around early 1990's?

Another 12-inch vinyl I bought at cheap in my recent trip to Tokyo but not mentioned on the last blog was 57 Channels (And Nothin' On) - The Remixes (Columbia 44 74416) that is issued in the US back in 1992. This Maxi single contains three variants of the title track remixed by Little Steven, plus the non-album B-side Part Man, Part Monkey that is almost regularly played in 1988 during TUNNEL OF LOVE EXPRESS Tour. I remember I first listened to this tune in 1991 through a 3-CD bootleg called SPRINGSTEEN, RAITT AND BROWNE (TCD 16, Templar Records) that was managed to get by mail order to the now-defunct Great Dane Records, Milan, Italy (Templar was a sort of sub-label of Great Dane that distributed bootleg CDs under Templar labels). The bootleg captures the famous solo acoustic performance on November 16, 1990, which is now available as an official live archive release. I also experienced the live performance back in 1993, right in this noisy remix arrangement.

Collecting log: Secret Garden Dutch 12-inch Maxi single

During my recent official trip to Tokyo, I made a brief stop at a few branches of a famous chain store in Shinjuku that deals with a large number of used vinyl stocks for domestic and imported releases. Unfortunately, there were no exciting collectibles (to my standard) among some 50 or 60 Springsteen titles from all over the world. However, at least I did enjoy pretty much checking out what LP and single varieties were available, and consequently, I made several cheap and discounted purchases.

Two old promo-only "Not For Sale" compilation albums released in 1976 (YAPC 77) and 1987 (XDAP 93175) from CBS/SONY Japan include the truncated version of Born To Run and complete Brilliant Disguise, respectively. Shown left is the enlarged image of the short note for the Man and his 3rd LP featured in the accompanying booklet. Oddly, the 1976 compilation disc carries the regular labels back then, but not white ones, even though the catalog number begins with the custom promo-specific prefix "YAPC."

THE RIVER 2LP: The US Columbia Santa Maria Plant pressing

Before and after cleaning LP sleeve: Vertically aligned two images on the left
(before cleaning) are taken from the actual auction page. The "20" marking on
the front sleeve is very faint (yellow circled). There is 
a small corner cut on the
upper-left corner of the rear face of the sleeve which has a gold promo stamp.

Recently, I obtained a US analog copy of my favorite album from a US eBay seller. It was a cheap buy as you can guess from the relatively worn sleeve conditions. However, the highly priced international shipping of LP package, which cost close to triple the amounts of the item this time, always annoys me as a non-US resident. After delivery of the LP across the Pacific, the first thing I had to do was to remove the handwritten black markings "20" made on both the front and back covers, which I guess indicate the set price ($20) when this copy was once sold on store shelves before being auctioned. It was not a tough or cautious work because the album sleeve was still glossy laminated, thus relatively tolerant to a little rough wiping with convenient organic solvents like absolute ethanol (although the use of which generally causes damage to sleeves such as de-colorization). 

Collecting log: Brilliant Disguise Japanese custom promotion-only advanced 7" vinyl

Two major Brilliant 7" rarities: Promotion-only pre-release in Japan and Italian jukebox pressing, both coming with a unique custom insert sleeve. One of the Japanese copies I own is in fine condition (center) while the other has cellotape removed on the insert sleeve (left), as generally observed with Japanese promo 7" singles leaked and floating around from radio stations. The Italian single contains a colored title strip with a misprint (Brilliant "Disguide").

Collecting log: Brilliant Disguise/Lucky Man US45 with no large hole

Unplayable garbage or highly collectable?

Been busy lately, and that has made me completely away from blogging for more than a month. To give myself a short break (BTW, which was and still is the initial intention to start this blog), I made a quick note on a recent acquisition of a rare, one-of-a-kind erroneous 7-inch item. Shown here is a US stock copy of Brilliant Disguise/Lucky Man (US Columbia 38-07595), the first single from TUNNEL OF LOVE released in 1987. At the first glance, it looks like a small-holed Australian copy with the yellow/red sunburst CBS labels. As you find, however, glued on the 7" record are the US Columbia labels with NO LARGE HOLE!  So, this record is unplayable on any turntables, which makes it totally useless as music medium but appeals to curiosity seekers like me. As occasionally shown in this blog, I own several erroneous products of single and LP releases of Springsteen titles. This type however is never seen before.

Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Part 4 of 4)

Track and time information found on a two-page stapled
fact sheet for a Japanese sample copy of NEBRASKA LP

As I wrote in the last blog, both the UK and certain US pressings of NEBRASKA LP are issued with the misprinted Side 2 label that lists the incorrect play times for the three of the four tracks on this side, notably for My Father's House as clocking 5' 43" instead of the actual 5' 03". This set me to examine whether there were more examples of copies bearing this erroneous label out there. Besides the  UK and US copies, currently, I own the LP pressings from Holland, Spain, Greece, Ex-Yugoslavia, Hong Kong and Japan. The survey of my collection revealed that the misprint was not limited to the US and UK copies, and the Hong Kong release (CBS/SONY 25AP 2440) was found to be the case (see the image below). This result was rather unexpected to me, as the Hong Kong branch of the label had an obviously closer partnership to CBS/Sony Japan, in terms of at least geography and operation, when compared to the US Columbia or UK CBS. As I reported previously, as far as the CBS/Sony label was concerned, the Made In Hong Kong LPs were actually pressed in Japan and then exported there. Although the Japanese pressing does not print play time for any tracks on the record label, the accompanying linernote/lyric translation insert (and the fact sheet included in the sample LP) provide almost correct time-length information (for example, 5' 05" for My Father's House). Then I wonder how this error could happen with the Hong Kong LP but not with the Japanese one. Even if assuming that the paper labels were prepared in Hong Kong independently of the vinyl disc, how the wrong information has come to be used?

Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Part 3 of 4)

Alternate take for Stolen Car first appeared on a bootleg LP in the
mid-1980s (although the bootleggers used to call it Son You May Kiss
 The Bride) and then was officially released on TRACKS in 1998. The
famous John Hammond audition tapes recorded in 1972 have also been
circulated on various bootlegs (for example, see here) and the
advanced promo 3-track CD-R (Gateway Mastering Studios, CD PRO)
for the 4-CD compilation box is the first official release featuring
the acoustic demo of Growin' Up.

During the past 43-year career of recording and touring, Springsteen has not only released an incredible number of his compositions, but also re-released many original songs in the form of acoustic demo, alternate mix, different arrangement or live rendition, on several compilation LP, EP or live albums. As far as studio recording goes on album format, if my memory is correct, it got all started in 1998 with the release of TRACKS 4-CD box (US Columbia CXK 69475) on which he purposely included for the first time alternate versions to some songs that are already made on the previously released original albums or the flip side of some 7" singles, such as Growin' Up, Stolen Car and Stand On It just to mention a few. In this respect, the long version of My Father's House, that is commercially available only on the CD version of NEBRASKA pressed in Japan between 1985 and 1995, is a unique exception among his alternate tracks because it was released accidentally or inadvertently, as shortly introduced in Part 1 of this series.

Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Part 2 of 4)

Backstreets Records Ad for set sale circa 1993, featuring
NEBRASKA acetate and test pressing discs, both with the
alternate version of My Father's House.

In Japan, the CD copies of NEBRASKA are pressed using differently mixed, two master tapes (i.e. impermissible narrow stereo mix used for the early copies and approved mono for the late ones). In addition to the mixing format, there are some more obvious differences between the two masters such as pitch, track length and sound volume. However, the most notable is that the early stereo-mixed copies, that was pressed from 1985 till 1995 in the Far East, contain a longer version of My Father's House with an extended and quiet keyboard coda. The last blog briefly introduces such CD issues for domestic and export markets and ends with the following question: Is there the possibility that the alternate take of My Father's House is featured on vinyl LP copies?

Before the commercial release of vinyl records, acetates and vinyl test pressing are created at the first and late steps in the vinyl manufacturing process, respectively. These rare and high-valued non-commercial discs have been circulated mostly for the US and UK releases of NEBRASKA LP. Shown images on the right are taken from the 1993 Holiday Catalog of Backstreets Records that advertises a copy each for the one-side (Side 2 only) acetate disc and the test pressing vinyl from the US, both described as featuring an alternate take of My Father's House.

Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP (Part 1 of 4)

Three European gate-fold releases of NEBRASKA LP (Left, Spanish; Center, Ex-Yugoslavian; Right, Dutch). In addition to the lyric-printed inner protective sleeve, the Spanish (white label promo) copy comes with additional paper sheets (far left), as shown previously here. Note that the gate-fold LP is also released in Portugal.
 

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: LIVE on Coral Records

LIVE on Coral Records: the first ever professionally looking Springsteen bootleg prompts CBS Records to file a suit against a record retailer in New York City to halt selling the copies in the summer of 1976.

Released in late 1975 or early 1976, LIVE on Coral Records (NR-909-2) was probably the most famous bootleg of Springsteen throughout the vinyl era. As already introduced in the last blog, this title captures one of the most important concerts in his career that is performed 41 years ago tonight and aired through radio broadcast on WNEW-FM in Manhattan, New York City. Unlike the contemporary Bruceleg releases back then, this double-disc release came out in an attractive gate-fold and full-color sleeve (outer sleeve only) with the custom black & silver labels. However, what makes its existence widely recognized to music fans and industry people is the fact that CBS Records, involving Springsteen and The Bottom Line club from where the bootlegged performance was aired, accused a City's record store of displaying and selling many copies of this underground artifact.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE 8/15/75 (black & white sleeve)

Various vinyl bootleg releases of the legendary FM-broadcasted Bottom Line show in New York City on August 15, 1975.
I think most of these came out in the mid to late 1970s except for THE BOSS IS BACK in color sleeve (and possibly the double-LP version of THE GREAT WHITE BOSS with the NO NUKES stage shot on front).

BORN TO RUN US pressing LP variants: Album credit variations

Test pressing and gold promo-stamped copy for the
Half-Speed Mastered series LP released in 1981.
Hand-written codes on a plain white cover indicate the
matrix numbers scratched out in the dead wax area.

Originally released from Columbia Records in 1975 (with the catalog number PC 33795) and reissued several times, including the early repressing (JC 33795) and the recently remastered 180-g vinyl, the U.S. release of BORN TO RUN LP is available in a wide variety of variant forms. Thus far in this series, I have picked up variations initially focusing on different pressings of the LP discs (i.e., test pressing and white label promo), then production error/export variants, and recently, 7" singles of the title track (i.e., vinyl versus styrene disc) cut from this masterpiece. However, what gives rise to variations most is the album track information and production credits printed on the rear side of the gate-fold sleeve. Over the years, these descriptions are occasionally subjected to correction, revision, and reconfiguration. Here I summarize the notable differences as I observed regarding album credits and others, including the company logos.

Collecting log: Fade Away / To Be True US45 misprinting

Sealed with a store header card? (Never seen before)
Along with an open copy of the misprint version.

This is a short and quick note on a recently obtained old 7-inch disc. Shown left are two copies of the US release of Fade Away backed with Be True: one (on the right) is a used copy I have long owned while the other was advertised as "factory-sealed" when I bought it recently. It is, however, very likely a re-shrink-wrapped package as it came with a bizarre store header card that seems to be nothing to do with the Columbia Records. The main cause of purchasing the copy is simple: it was cheap and, although released 35 years ago, still looked better than my old copy. "To Be True", stamped on top of the one-side printed paper card, also called my attention. As well known, this erroneous B-side title can only be found on the record label, but not anywhere on the sleeve, which is another indication that this is a "once-opened" copy rather than being "factory-sealed" (looks fine, nevertheless). Otherwise, how would have the wrong song title been known and stamped on the header? I wish it could be a genuine factory-sealed copy, though.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: ROULETTE (the U.S. version of unreleased/studio-outtake collection)

With the exception of Frankie (live in Cleveland,1976), all materials are studio recording. I Wanna Be with You is from the DARKNESS session, Backstreets is performed in string arrangement, and The Height is of course Meeting ...  The original comes with the silver labels on both sides with the hand-etched matrix numbers RT9-101-A and RT9-101-B. Obviously, this my favorite bootleg had been overplayed by myself, as evidenced by a lot of spindle marks around the hole in the record.

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: 1980 original Mexican release (concluded)

The Mexican branch of CBS Records releases THE RIVER on vinyl twice in different packages, first in 1980 as the gate-fold cover (CBS LP2S-103) and later in 1986 with the single-pocket sleeve (LP2S-125). In addition to the sleeve format, slight but noticeable differences do exist between the two releases, mostly related to Spanish descriptions on the album credits and tracklist translation that are printed on the rear side of the sleeves and record labels on the waxes.

Slightly different looking of the original (lower) and reissue (upper) back covers

On the back side of the sleeve, the 1986 version puts a little more descriptions concerning copyright and credit matters (though I'm not sure as I don’t understand Spanish language), which imparts a little bit different impression compared to the original release.

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: 1980 original Mexican release (continued)

Part of THE RIVER LP collection. From left to right: (top row) Mexican 1st (gate-fold), US early (w/ a round sticker), US later (w/ a square sticker), Canadian, and UK (w/ a square sticker plus discount price tag); (middle row) Mexican reissue, French (Dutch export w/ a round sticker), Filipino (w/ extra writing), Brazilian, and Ex-Yugoslavian; (bottom row) Japanese 1st (w/ a vertical obi), Hong Kong (gate-fold), Portuguese, Israeli (gate-fold), and South African (gate-fold). Arrows refer to an earlobe (see the main text). 

THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: 1980 original Mexican release

Unfortunately, a white round sticker (apparently not coming originally) is not
removable without deterioration of the surface of the front sleeve. Insets show
CBS logos with the catalog number printed on front and rear sleeves.

It took 20 days since the order placed late last month and finally I received it across the Pacific Ocean, from a seller in a Central American country.

Recently, I obtained an original Mexican copy of THE RIVER (CBS LP2S-103) that had long been put on my want list of vinyl collectibles. Long since interested in this gate-fold release, I had had hard luck with getting it: outbid on eBay a few times, experienced once the lost during international delivery (according to seller's excuse), unable to accept offers due to overpricing or unacceptable conditions (e.g. torn and/or with lots of blots and spots) and so on. Released in 1980, this particular copy I obtained is found to be overall in very good condition with the exception of a couple of defects such as a price-tag (?) sticker and ring wear slightly developed on the front cover.

Born To Run original US pressing 7-inch variants (addendum)

In response to the recent three consecutive blog posts on the original Born To Run US 7-inch variants, an expert and dedicated record collector from 45cat (whose comments found on this tremendous 7" resource website were cited here on this blog) has kindly sent me an e-mail message providing the accurate and detailed information on the US Columbia styrene and vinyl 7" discs. As the info is valuable and useful for readers of this blog, it is reprinted here upon the permission.
 

"Of the stock copies, the vinyl pressing was from Santa Maria, CA, while the styrene was from Pitman, NJ.  Pitman used label typesetting from Mergenthaler Linotype's VIP typesetting library (the "normal" fonts), while Santa Maria had a combination of Varityper fonts and Varityper Headliner typesetting (the latter of which had the "tall" fonts).  Pitman, also, by that point pressed some if not all of their WLP's in vinyl.  (I've always been preferential towards Pitman typesetting, anyway.)"
 
"Styrene labels were what, on a few label sheets I've investigated, were characterized as "heat seal," that is, glued onto the record, while vinyl labels were deemed "compression," with them losing about ~0.5% of its original size when stamped onto the record."

Thank you, B.W.!

Born To Run original US pressing 7-inch variants (concluded)

Although well-known to audiophile record collectors, it seems relatively less common among casual collectors that Columbia Records were the major issuer/supplier of the styrene-made 7-inch discs in the United States. Back then, using styrene rather than vinyl as an analogue-sound storage medium was probably company's strategy to save costs of manufacturing 7-inch singles. While cost effective and resistant to warp, records made out of styrene are prone to be physically damaged due to its more fragile nature than vinyl. So, it is generally acknowledged that styrene discs tend to wear out in much shorter playing time compared to vinyl discs, with pronounced surface noise and distortion. The deterioration of styrene disc is accelerated further, unless played with the right equipment setting (especially, the choice of stylus is critical).
 

When exposed to a strong light...  From left to right: a stock copy made of vinyl (opaque black); a stock copy
made of styrene (translucent red); and a promotional copy made of vinyl (opaque black).
Note that each photograph was taken of a disc that was kept inside an anti-static plastic bag.

Born To Run original US pressing 7-inch variants (continued)

Based on the "Sunburst" (also known as "Orange/yellow") label of the Columbia Records, there are at least two different issues for the original Born To Run 7" single released in the US back in 1975. Then, as I have given in the last post, the next question is whether there are any differences between the two copies in addition to the label design. The answer is yes, but before coming to the definitive difference, let me make the comparison more closely.

Left and middle: Label with "stamper ring" around the center hole (left) and plain label without it (middle).
Right upper and lower: labels attached on disc loosely (upper) and tightly (lower). Note the syntax error "Take from ..." printed on the "tall font" label.
 

Born To Run original US pressing 7-inch variants (not LP this time!)

Stamped on the dead wax areas are ZSS160700-1H/ZSS160700-1J (left) and ZSS160700-1C/ZSS160700-1C (right)

Take a look at the above image showing two regular copies of the original US 7-inch pressing of Born To Run (US Columbia 3-10209), backed with Meeting Across The River and released in 1975 (more than 40 years ago!). Here my question is how they differ from each other?  All the information provided on the sunburst labels is the same between the two copies. At a glance, you can easily recognize the difference in typeface used for the track title and artist name, with one looking normal (right) while the other being apparently taller (left). So are the other descriptions and there is some variation in font size and layout as well. These differences mostly indicate that they are pressed and manufactured at different locations because label designs often differ slightly among different pressing plants (back then, Columbia Records owned three pressing plants located in Terre Haute, IN, Pitman, NJ, and Santa Maria, CA). So, is it just that, or are there any more major differences?  The answer is yes, there is another substantial difference although it's hard to explain that with the label pictures alone.
— To be continued.

Collecting log: Trivial questions on Born In The U.S.A. white label US promotional 12" vinyl

All the promotional 12-inch discs from BITUSA come with red labels
 except for the title track release whose labels are white (see below).

Revisiting the vinyl bootleg on the last three consecutive posts (April 20, 23 and 24) brought me back to the era of BORN IN THE U.S.A. Around 1984-85, not only had we the flood of live bootlegs from the 15-month world tour, but also we saw plenty of official 7" and 12" vinyl releases from various countries worldwide. While I was looking forward to collecting every forthcoming 7" single from the album with a previously unreleased track on the flip side, it was a series of promotional 12" vinyls that also called my attention. This was simply because the format would at least theoretically provide better sound than 7" or LP format for a given song. My favorite was, and still is I'm Goin' Down (US Columbia CAS 2174), not lyrically but for its enjoyable melody. So, I occasionally pull the copy from my record shelf and give a listen to it played loudly on my DENON turntable.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: THIS GUNS FOR HIRE 5LP box (concluded)

First pressing with 4 photo-prints and second pressing

THIS GUNS FOR HIRE represents one of the earliest-known and best-sounding bootlegs from the 1984 American Tour. There are at least three variations for this title (two pressings from the original plates and one pirate copy), and according to one source [a booklet listing almost all BORN IN THE U.S.A. (BITUSA) Tour bootlegs named Last Ride In A Pink Cadillac], the first pressing contains two color photographs although no information is provided as to the actual images photo-taken. This box set is not listed in the bootleg section of Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985; Plexus, London), and any other bootleg guide listing this title does not mention about the photos, except for the one called Unofficially Springsteen: The Boss A to Z (by Mick St. Michael, 1985; Choice Publishers, London).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: THIS GUNS FOR HIRE 5LP box (continued)

GRANDE FINALE, one of the best-looking BITUSA bootlegs
in the vinyl era (above) and the description on THIS GUNS
FOR HIRE found in the accompanying booklet (below)

A comprehensive list of vinyl bootlegs from the BORN IN THE U.S.A. tour is available in the 12-page booklet called Last Ride In A Pink Cadillac, which is included in GLANDE FINALE 6LP box set comprising the entire last performance of the 1984-85 World Tour at Los Angeles Coliseum. In fact, this booklet is concise and a very useful reference to a total of nearly 100 live bootleg releases from this tour. In my opinion, the brief information given to each title and the evaluation of sound quality are overall accurate. According to this booklet, there are two different releases for THIS GUNS FOR FIRE with the identical catalog number (Paladin Records 1959): one being the original (which is further divided into the first and second pressings) and the other copied off the original first pressing. The initial copy I obtained (and mentioned in the last blog) exactly matched what is described for one of the two releases (i.e., PAL A to PAL J hand-etched in the dead waxes and housed in an indeed sturdy box), confirming its identity as a piracy reproduction of the existing bootleg.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: THIS GUNS FOR HIRE 5LP box

Never expected to have this legendary 1980 soundboard recording officially
available when collecting these stuff more than 20 to 30 years ago...

The vinyl bootleg industry has substantially changed between THE RIVER and BORN IN THE U.S.A. eras, especially after the main activity moved from the United States to the countries of continental Europe. Not only has the sound quality generally been improved, but the sleeve artwork, often deluxe and colored, has become more professional and attractive when compared to the US bootleg standards of amateurish slick covers. 

Collecting log: More on DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN Japanese LP (1st press)

A two-page advertisement from a major Japanese music
magazine issued around the time of the album release.
This portrait picture has been used for promotional posters.

Back in 1978, the promotion of Springsteen's then new album DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (CBS/SONY 25AP 1000) was handled here in Japan by Mr. Ryo Okada of CBS/SONY Records. As already mentioned in the past blog, upon the release of THE PROMISE box (SONY SIPC 2971-6) in 2010 to commemorate the 32th anniversary of the album, he was interviewed about the struggle of promoting this dark-toned album following enthusiastic BORN TO RUN, which is included in the booklet exclusive to the Japanese edition of the box set. In the interview, one thing he emphasizes is how he really wished Badlands (CBS/SONY 06SP 256) could be cut, instead of Prove It All Night (CBS/SONY 06SP 232), as the lead-off single to get more airplay on the radio for achieving the commercial success and spotlight on this album. This interview also contains some information that might attract interest from record collectors like me, a part of which has already been introduced in the aforementioned blog article. In the following, though trivial, I attempt to summarize the rest of such information particularly related to this LP.

Collecting log: DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN Japanese white label LP with an extremely rare promotional booklet (concluded)

In my collection, one of the Japan-pressed vinyls for DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (CBS/SONY 25AP 1000) seems to comprise an almost complete (or full) set of promotional items. This particular copy comes with a white label promo (WLP) LP, two separately stapled fact sheets, and the promotional 20-page booklet, as well as the regular inclusions (i.e., a printed inner sleeve, a lyric sheet, and the Japan-only fold-out insert featuring liner notes by Japanese critics and the translation of lyrics into Japanese). Here, most widely circulated promotional releases of the fourth album are WLP without any other promo addition. Those with fact sheet(s) or advertising flyer(s) are less frequently found, but often appear on online auction or used record websites. However, I dare say that the WLP copies accompanied with the promo-only booklet are impossibly hard to come across.

Collecting log: DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN Japanese white label LP with an extremely rare promotional booklet

These releases up for auction are accompanied with promo
pictures, pamphlets, booklets or fact sheets
(photos taken by the shop owner).

If you remember, last September I wrote about a local used record shop where various rare collectibles of Japanese pressing vinyls of domestic and foreign artists were reserved for a private auction. As for Springsteen collectibles, reserved for auction were extremely rare promotional releases of the first and second LPs, which are mostly known for the unique wrap-around and typographical-error obi, respectively, and the custom promo-only Killer Tracks 12" EP, as shown previously here. The shop owner had told me that he was planning to hold the auction at the end of 2015, which was slightly delayed and actually began mid-January this new year, ending on the first day of February. Towards the end of the auction, he uploaded several pictures of the auctioned items on his shop’s blog. Shown above are additionally uploaded images for the other Springsteen LPs that were up for the auction.

THE RIVER New Zealand 2LP with "lyric" inner sleeve misprint

Faulty "lyric" inner sleeve turns out to be looking good (Image taken from blog on December 28, 2014).

Faulty production series continues. A year back in this blog, I briefly introduced a major production error that is found in a New Zealand copy of THE RIVER 2LP (CBS S2BP 220235). I think this would be a good opportunity to show the details of what error occurs with it. I bought this copy from a New Zealand seller and just like the standard issue, it comes with two printed inner sleeves for two records and the fold-out insert that opens up to reveal most of the song lyrics (Independence Day to Wreck On The Highway). However, one of the two inner sleeves, which should feature several pictures and the track listing for Sides 1 and 2 of Record 1, actually is the reprint of the inner pages of the lyric sheet.

Collecting log: Unusual label error for My Hometown US 7" single

The seventh and last single cut from BORN IN THE USA in 1985 finally features the live version of Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town on a regular 7" disc (flip side) long after its promotional release to radio stations in the mid 1970s.

Unable to update blog these days because here comes a busy season towards the end of this fiscal year (March). In the meantime, early this month, I just found this US regular 7" single of My Hometown / Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (live) (Columbia 38-05728) on eBay, and after a while thinking, bought it via "Buy It Now" option. At the first glimpse of a small photo on the auction page, I somehow recognized that there was something wrong with this vinyl disc, but just couldn't figure out what was actually wrong. Moreover, the seller did not mention anything about the error in the item description (he/she may have regarded it as just a defective copy, not as a collectors' item). So, I almost passed up this otherwise widely circulated stock copy of a mediocre collectible.

BORN TO RUN US pressing LP variants: masked Columbia logo

A well modified label fully masking the yellow "Columbia" rim,
which makes it looking like a completely different label

If you, like me, are a collector outside the US, you may have seen US-export vinyl copies whose Columbia Records logo and text, wherever on the sleeve or the record labels, are crossed out, erased by black or color ink, or covered by blank stickers or stickers with printed CBS Records logo. This is simply because in certain import countries, the trademark is not owned by the domestic company or agent having partnership with the US Columbia Records, but by other unrelated companies, mostly for historical reasons as a result of mergers, acquisitions or corporate restructurings in music industry there.