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.

A distinguished feature to styrene 7-inch discs from the US Columbia Records is that these copies are in fact translucent red under particular conditions even though they do look black normally, and Springsteen's Born To Run single is no exception. This "see through" feature is easily examined if a styrene copy is held against a strong light, as shown above. In the US, because styrene was the main medium for Columbia's 7-inch records, the vinyl copies for Born To Run, which are identifiable with the "tall font" sunburst labels, are certainly rare and circulated to a lesser extent than did the styrene counterpart. According to the comments left on 45cat (an online archive dedicated to the magic of the vinyl seven inch single) regarding the promotional copies of the US Born To Run single, these vinyls came mostly from the Santa Maria pressing plant in California, and thus the majority of styrene copies originated from Terre Haute and Pitman plants in Indiana and New Jersey, respectively.

Stamper ring on the white "tall font" promo
label identifies this being a vinyl pressing
(not in my possession)

Interestingly, a copy of the custom white label promotional disc (with mono/stereo version of the track) is found to be made of vinyl, despite that it carries the "normal font" labels (see the picture above). I own two more extra promotional copies and all the three exhibit the vinyl-specific characters: the tapered outer edge and non-translucency with a stamper ring on both sides of the white label. Note that the white "tall font" label version also exists. As shown left, the stamper ring is clearly visible on the record label of such a copy. So, although I'm not sure, it seems that the white label promo copies are exclusively made of vinyl. The preferred use of vinyl over styrene for making promotional disc could be explained by the fact that custom promo copies are usually pressed in a smaller quantity than stock copies (so, using styrene would not save costs effectively). The relative robustness of vinyl against repeated playing would also suit more for the promotional purpose because back then promo records needed to get radio airplay as much as possible. Just my guessing.

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.
 

Left, tall font disc; right, normal font disc
(not well focused due to poor photographic skills)

There are a few more differences associated with the record labels. One is regarding a "stamper ring" which is usually left on the label around the large center hole of a 7-inch disc when a lump of hot vinyl is sandwiched with a pair of labels and pressed together by two stampers (corresponding to A and B Sides). This ring is clearly visible on the "tall" font labels but is absent on the "normal" font labels. Furthermore, when looking at the outer margin, the "tall" font label is closely attached onto the disc while that of the "normal" font version seems to be glued but not pressed, seemingly attached loosely on and easily peeled off from the disc. A notable difference in the shape is also apparent on the edge of the disc. As shown in the picture left, the "tall font" disc has a sharp and tapered edge which is normal looking, just like that of a 12" or LP record. On the other hand, the edge of the "normal font" disc is rather flat or square off.

Then how about the white label promo copy?

How could these differences arise? Certain record companies in the US, especially the Columbia Records, had primarily used styrene (polystyrene, exactly) instead of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride, exactly) between 1960's and 1980's as material for making 7-inch records, most probably for cost-cutting purposes. The manufacturing process for styrene disc differs radically from vinyl disc pressing. Briefly, thermosetting, liquid styrene polymers are injected into closed stampers (used as mold) to form a disc, and the labels are painted or glued afterwards. Molding but not pressing a disc results in its flat outer edge without stamper ring on the labels. This way of production does not require heating of stampers, alleviating the progress of aged deterioration, hence allowing its use for a longer period of time than vinyl-pressing stampers (benefits for cost cutting). These differences in vinyl and styrene disc production certainly reflect the observed differences between the US regular 7" copies of Born To Run.
 — To be continued.

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.

The only white label promo 12-inch vinyl release in the US since 1982?
Left: One sealed with an orange sticker and the other opened.

Regarding these custom promotion-only 12" vinyl releases from the BITUSA album, I have had several trivial questions over the years since I started building a vinyl collection (and they remain unanswered). For example, I cannot help wondering why the choice is made of playing these vinyls at 33 1/3 rpm instead of 45 rpm. To my understanding, the latter spin speed should generally offer better sound quality if the vinyl disc is 12-inch in diameter. It is also curious that the promo 12" vinyl has never been issued for the second single cut (that is, Cover Me), although all the other six single releases of 7" disc have their own promotional 12" counterparts (i.e., Dancing In The Dark, Born In The U.S.A., I'm On Fire, Glory Days, I'm Goin' Down, and My Hometown). Not serious but just curious.

Found on the dead wax area of both sides is a MASTERDISK
stamp with "RL", a signature of mastering engineer
Robert (Bob) Ludwick. Hand-etched matrix numbers
are P XSM-173076-1B/P XSM-173076-1C (not shown).

Among the six promo-only 12-inch vinyls, Born In The U.S.A. (US Columbia AS 1959) is unique in two respects [Don't confuse this with the 5-track 12" EP in a bizarre-colored sleeve (US Columbia AS 1957); I'm talking about the single track promo]. One is that this release comes with an old-styled, generic white die-cut sleeve with a gold promo stamp on the rear. By contrast, all the others are housed in custom promo-only sleeves featuring B&W photos taken from individual commercial 7" releases. The other uniqueness lies in that this is the only white label issue. To my knowledge, since as early as 1981, the US Columbia Records have stopped using white labels for promotional releases in LP and 12" formats. In fact, no white label version is known to exist for NEBRASKA and all the subsequent album releases. This is also true for custom promo-only vinyls in these formats that have been released in 1981 and thereafter, as exemplified by the AS REQUESTED AROUND THE WORLD compilation LP (US Columbia AS 978; red labels) and the Fade Away 12" EP (US Columbia AS 928; custom black & blue labels), with the exception of the 12" promo version of Santa Clause Is Comin' To Town (US Columbia AS 1329). The reason is still not clear why the white labels are used only for the title track from the album released in 1984.
 

A small, numbered sticker underneath the shrink wrap of the
sealed copy (which may originate from the pressing plant?).

Collector-wise, what I found potentially interesting is that one of the two promo copies in my collection came with a small orange sticker that says "ZIA 195 QUALITY INSPECT". No ideas what "ZIA" stands for and what the hand-written number refers to, though. The sticker is not pasted on the shrink but directly on the die-cut sleeve. Because the copy is still sealed, the sticker must have been pasted before its manufacture is completed. Only my guess is that this sticker might be used to approve the quality of the product, although I still can't figure out what "195" actually means.