May 19, 2017

HUMAN TOUCH / LUCKY TOWN Japanese collectibles (not on vinyl): On the 25th anniversary of the twin album releases (continued)

The text-only sleeve is often used for advanced promo releases, especially in 
regions outside the U.S., like Japan, as any picture material is not available
or not allowed to be used when discs are ready for distribution. A combination
of two small Kanji characters in parenthesis means "planned" or "scheduled."
The second selection from what I consider Top 3 Japanese rarities from HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN is probably the rarest and most sought after among all the Springsteen's 3" CDs. The Boss Is Back!!: Human Touch c/w Better Days (SONY XDEP 93043) is an advanced promotion-only single release for distribution to radio stations and music critics/reviewers before it was available for regular sale in Japan on March 19, 1992. For this reason, and owing to the unique, now defunct disc format and custom-designed black & red title sleeve, this CD has become highly demanded by collectors all over the world. Back in 1992, the Backstreets magazine was (at least to me) the primary media source for collector's items, but missed to mention this "Mega Rare" promo disc on any of the issues (#39 to #44) that cover the releases of the twin albums and associated singles, and the US/Europe promotion tour during 1992-1993. This was probably because of the limited quantities released exclusively to a Far East country. Curiously, despite its rarity and popularity, this item is undervalued and placed outside the Top 40 Worldwide Springsteen Rarities that are featured in the number 329 issue (November 2006) of the Record Collector magazine (although, of course, it is fascinating and quite a useful guide to the subject and I do appreciate the effort put out by the authors).

The advanced promo is completely different looking from the regular snap pack release. When triple-folded, the accompanying lyric/information sheet, missing from most of the circulating copies, becomes almost identical to a slimline jewel case, which is still not small enough to be set inside the plastic case. 
Wherever found in collectors' market or at auction, circulating copies are rare enough; generally, such copies are housed in a 5" plastic jewel case with the aforementioned sleeve insert. Even rarer, however, are those coming with a lyric/information sheet; the CD is originally accompanied with a triple-folded, pale yellow/dark indigo paper that is lost from most copies in circulation. The fact had remained unknown even to veteran collectors until recently when I posted this somewhere on collectors' forum some four years ago (which drew the notice of the Lost In The Flood website eventually to update the relevant information there). I don't know whether all the individual copies came with this extra sheet, or only the small number of copies did so. In my opinion, the former is more likely the case because originally, the CD must have been issued in a small limited run of probably at most 100 pressings. Luckily, early in its release year (1992), I was able to obtain one copy, then another one a couple of years later, both in the intact form with the sleeve and folded sheet.
 
A long outdated format. Left, promo-only release; right, commercial release. In contrast to packaging, both CDs share essentially the same writing except for catalog number, playing time, and promo notification. 
Then, you may wonder why most of the copies lose this paper sheet. The size of the sheet measures approximately 12.4 cm x 42.2 cm, which, even in a tri-folded state, hardly fits inside the slimline jewel case. So, as you can see in a photo image above, each sheet included in my copies
has been further folded in order, probably,
Hand-written on the promo sheet is the catalog number for the regular
3" CD single (SONY SRDS-8226) as printed on the flip side of the snap
pack sleeve in white background.
to try to put it inside the case. I guess because of this inconvenience, most of this sheet were thrown away at radio stations or kept separately from the jewel case holding the CD. It features the lyrics of the two tracks in both English and Japanese translation, the track list and credits for each album with the front sleeve picture, and a live shot from the 1984-85 tour. There are four short notes in Japanese regarding the forthcoming tour, which were unconfirmed leads back then and have turned out to be mostly incorrect, as translated below:
  • Showcase live is planned in Europe around May.
  • The tour would begin this summer in the U.S. and then Europe.
  • Rumors have it that there would be a major concert in Central Park.
  • The Japanese concerts are also planned, possibly the next year or after that.

Nowadays, the copies with this folded sheet is quite difficult to find even here. I have not seen for long either complete copy or that missing the sheet in the domestic market and auction.


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