DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Gloversville pressing (Pressing Plant owned by MCA Records)

The U.S.-pressed DARKNESS LP (Columbia JC 35318) variation continues. First introduced here in this blog, early copies of this vinyl album have more varieties than those of the other albums, in terms of the location of the pressing plant where the record was manufactured. The cause of this variation was due to the labor strike that took

Unfortunately, the signature (⧈-G-⧈) of MCA Records'
pressing plant in Gloversville is stamped so weak that it is
not clearly visible on the dead wax of my copy (shown 
is the stamp on Side 2, as indicated by hand-etched "2").
Check the Discogs website for the clearer images.

place in Spring 1978 at the Pitman pressing plant of NJ, the then major factory to manufacture and distributie Columbia Records' products mainly for the East Coast market. This compelled the plant to stop its operation temporarily and so, several unusual pressing plants (to Springsteen's records) had compensated for the album production, although the two other major Columbia's plants located in Santa Maria CA, and Terre Haute IN, were most probably unaffected and operating. Here on this post, I show the fourth example of such early DARKNESS copies, not originating from any of the three major Columbia Records' plants, but pressed at MCA Records' Gloversville plant of NY, according to the dead wax matrix information on the vinyl disc.
 

Vinyl discs from this plant are characterized by the unique dead-wax stamp, ⧈-G-⧈. As told previously, MCA Records back then owned another pressing plant in Pinckneyville, IL, where this album was also pressed and stamped uniquely with another distinct matrix character, ◈-P-◈. Obviously, the stamped single letters, "G" and "P", identify the location of each pressing plant, Gloversville and Pinckneyville, respectively. What can be read on the dead wax area of my Gloversville copy are as follows (hand-etched, oblique; stamped, straight):

• Side 1:  ⧈-G-⧈    1          PAL-35318-1J    PMN           TML-M     
• Side 2:  ⧈-G-⧈    2          PBL-35318-2Q    PMN           TML-M

Apart from the pressing plant-specific stamp, another unique code in the matrix inscription is a hand-written three-letter code "PMN" on the Gloversville pressing while my Pinckneyville copy carries "PMI" instead. Although pure speculation, the first two common letters PM could refer to Pitman and the last letter (N or I) of each could specify NY or IL, the State where each pressing plant was located. Just guessing.

Compared to a Santa Maria pressing (left), both Pinckneyville (center) and Gloversville (right) discs have the same-sized, smaller indent ring on the record labels which seems to be common to MCR Records pressings (slightly less than 1 inch in diameter; the size of the circular ring on the Santa Maria disc is 2.5 inch long). As for label printing, the same standard font is used on both Santa Maria and Gloversville discs whereas the font on the Pinckneyville labels is apparently different as noted on the previous relevant post.
 

Up to this point, by examining my collection, I have confirmed that the following companies lent a hand to the Columbia Records in 1978 for pressing early copies of the DARKNESS album:

• North American Music Industries (NAMI), Scranton, PA
• MCA Records,  Pinckneyville, IL
• MCA Records, Gloversville, NY
• Keel Manufacturing Corp., Hauppauge, NY

There may still be missing plant(s) that have participated early in pressing this LP. In fact, I have some DARKNESS copies that are yet to be identified confidently as to where they were pressed (although they seem to originate from Pitman).

Both Gloversville (left) and Pinckneyville (right) pressings come in
the large-font (tracklist)/black-lettering (album credits) sleeves,
with gold promo stamp on the latter.

One note on my Gloversville copy that may be worth mentioning is its weight. It is a thick vinyl weighing 138 g, and is the heaviest among the collection of my U.S. DARKNESS pressings, with the exception of the promotion-only picture disc edition. Just for comparison, I picked up one copy each originating from different pressing plants and measured the weight individually. The results are as follows: Pinckneyville, 112 g; Hauppauge, 110 g; Scranton, 120 g; Santa Maria, 106 g; Terre Haute, 110 g (a white label promo); Pitman, 119 g (a later pressing coming in a sleeve with a barcode); and picture disc, 162 g. The half-speed mastered LP (Columbia HC 45318) was excluded because I have only one copy that is still sealed.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: Thoughts on double LP bootleg releases from the DARKNESS Tour '78 (concluded)

This bootleg is one of the earliest triple-vinyl box sets. Two blue-transparent
vinyls on the center are LP discs and the lilac-opaque disc on the right is a
12" EP (45 rpm). I don't know anything about "Hangman" labels except that
this East Coast-based (?) bootleg label has also released some other
Springsteen LP and 7" vinyls, such as PAID THE PRICE TO BE THE BOSS
from a November 1976 show and the Fever/Higher & Higher (live) single.

It was since 1978's DARKNESS Tour that triple-vinyl format has become standard for Springsteen's live bootleg, as represented by PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE, LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND and PHILADELPHIA SPECIAL. This simply reflected the length of concerts Springsteen performed during this tour which had been substantially extended compared to the previous tour (i.e., From this tour, shows were divided into two sections plus encores). Before these bootleg titles, there had probably been only one or two releases of multi-disc sets consisting of more than a double LP: BOX O' ROCKS (5LP) and THE GREAT WHITE BOSS (3LP). However, the former is a repackaged volume of the first three issues of Hoffman Avenue Records releases [i.e. THE JERSEY DEVIL (1LP), THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT (2LP) and HOT COALS FROM FIERY FURNACE (2LP)]. The latter, on the other hand, is actually not a 3LP set but to be exact, it is a double album plus a 12" EP (45 rpm), and I don't know for certain if this particular version (i.e. Hangman labels) among several of the Bottom Line bootlegs indeed came out before the aforementioned DARKNESS Tour bootlegs.

Designating who gets how many copies?  Pictured is a portion of
a supposedly bootlegger's memo (personal names erased) found
on the rear side of a white plain sleeve that was frequently used
for "slick cover" U.S. bootlegs back in the 1970s. This sleeve was
included as part of the stack to ensure protection of vinyl discs 
inside the shipping packaging when I obtained some Springsteen
titles from a West Coast collector a few decades ago. Almost
certainly, “Roxy” refers to the double LP (THERE AIN'T ...) from
October 1975, but not July 1978.

On the previous post, taking a particular bootleg (BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78) as an example, I mentioned about the shortened 2LP version of the legendary Passaic '78 concert that is captured almost entirely on another bootleg (PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE). Because both bootleg titles were most probably made by the same bootlegger (Vicki Vinyl; or one by her and the other by her intimate co-worker), this practice is usually regarded as greedy bootlegger's routine to suck money from collectors. However, in a recent communication with Dave, a fellow collector and contributor to this blog, he pointed out another interesting possibility which sounds plausible to me. According to him, the bootleggers might have wanted to do minimal investments with the partial shows before sinking bigger money into the more deluxe sets for the complete concerts. This speculation is reasonable because by doing so, bootleggers might have estimated the sales potential of "their" future products that would contain a full or more complete concert. Without such information, it would have been risky for bootleggers to make and release multi-disc sets like 3LP or 4LP in box packages. In fact, single- or double-disc versions of incomplete live bootleg have been available for each of the following 1978 FM-radio broadcast concerts from the Roxy [e.g. LIVE AT THE ROXY THEATER, HOLLYWOOD 1978 (2LP), SPRINGSTEEN RAISES CAIN (2LP) and THE ROXY IN STEREO (2LP)], Agora [WARRIORS REST (1LP)], Capitol Theater [BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78 (2LP) and THUNDER ROGUE (1LP)], and Winterland [FIRE (2LP)]. It seems that, if not all, most of these bootlegs originated from West Coast in the late 1970's.

Dave's speculation requires at least one assumption that these "concert-excerpt" bootlegs came out before the releases of the more complete editions [e.g. THE AGORA SHOW Part I & II (2 x 2LP), PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE (3LP box) and LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND (3LP box and then gate-fold sleeve)]. However, it is now impossible to confirm whether this indeed was the case or not.

Lastly, regarding the DARKNESS Tour double-LP bootlegs, one thing curious to me for long is the fact that in the vinyl bootleg era, the Roxy concert had never been treated as a complete or near-complete form, despite its reputation as the best show (or one of the best) ever performed by the man and his combo. Was the market saturated with the three different titles of double LP releases mentioned above? My thoughts on this may be posted on another occasion.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: Thoughts on double LP bootleg releases from the DARKNESS Tour '78

Even though released nearly 40 years ago, this copy is still in excellent
condition. Shown on the left is a triple-vinyl bootleg called GOLD. DUST
AND ROCK'N ROLL (with the booklet) bootlegging a 1985 European concert.
It was also sold by the same seller at the same low price (290 JPY)
and so I just bought it.

Last April, I obtained a copy of an old vinyl DARKNESS tour bootleg entitled BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78 (Audifön ACR61) that consists of an excerpt taken from the legendary FM-broadcasted live at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, September 19th 1978. This concert is much more widely known by the bootleg title PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE, one of the most critically acclaimed in the history of Bruceleg. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78 is a double LP release containing a half of the entire 24 songs played that night (counting Not Fade Away/She's the One and so called Detroit Medley as one individually) whereas almost the complete show is covered in the triple vinyl PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE box set (i.e. Incomplete is Fire that is cut in the middle during the song's break, most probably due to space limitation on Side C that includes lengthy Jungleland and Kitty's Back). When collecting vinyl Brucelegs enthusiastically in old days, I used to avoid independently pressed, but content-wise duplicated releases of a same live concert mainly to hold down expenses, unless the second copy had better sound or other kinds of merits. This 2-LP bootleg was no exception and I've long ignored it because the far more complete box set was available. A main reason for purchasing the copy was that it could be considered old enough to fall into the category of classic vinyl bootleg, but more than this was the way cheap price it was sold for at auction (won without competition at 290 JPY = $2.55 as of today's exchange rate).

It is rather rare that the labels print artist name and track
information although some of them are not correct
("SPINSTEEN" and "PROMISED LAND"). Compare this to
"blank" Ruthless Rhymes labels seen here.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78 probably appeared in late 1978 or 1979, along with several other bootlegs that also originated from tapes recording FM-broadcasts by radio stations from the Roxy in Los Angeles, Agora in Cleveland, Capitol Theater in Passaic and Winterland in San Francisco; the live broadcast from Fox Theater in Atlanta was rarely bootlegged in the vinyl era. One note to this bootleg is that If I am not mistaken, it is one of the earliest, perhaps the second ever full-color sleeve release (though the front only) following the famous LIVE on Coral Records. Such sleeve might have aroused collector's interest, since back then cheap slick insert covers were still the standard package design for many bootleg releases. The record label is the Ruthless Rhymes, one of many variations used for West Coast bootlegs in the late 1970s, and one of the regular labels frequently used by the then infamous bootlegger Vicki Vinyl.

As you know, Vicki Vinyl is responsible for producing PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE (see here). So, she probably released at least two different bootlegs using the same source, regardless of what the rear sleeve of BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 78 states ["RECORDED LIVE AT (sic) CINCINNATI, OHIO SEPTEMBER 78"]. This represents a typical example of traditional practice in bootlegging in order to make more money: selling essentially the same content (or part of it) in different packages with intentionally wrong information on the recordings. All right, but is that all there is in this bootlegger's practice?
— To be continued.

Upper: The spine of SPRINGSTEEN 78 inserted between FOR TRUE ROCKERS and LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY 12.31.1980  (the latter better known as HAPPY NEW YEAR!) box sets reads "acr records 61 bruce springsteen live stereo." Sleeve spine credits are rather rare with Springsteen's bootlegs in the 1970s. Lower: Wrong recording information printed on the bottom of the rear sleeve together with tracklisting where some of the song titles are also not accurate. Okay, but where's Prove It All Night ? (which shouldn't have been excluded!)

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

Part of my cassette collection. On the 5th from the right is 
the one I consider the most unique and rarest among these.

This is the final part on the Japanese Top 3 collectibles concerning HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN, following two blogs reporting the second- and third-ranking items posted last May. In my personal view, top on the list is an item that may be questionable to some collectors for its authenticity. That is again a seldom seen cassette tape issued by Sony Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., for promotion of the twin album a few months after the release. The tape captures a broadcasted live from the Hollywood Center Studios, Los Angeles, on June 5th, 1992, collectively known as "Dress Rehearsal" for the upcoming 1992-1993 world tour. The recorded performance is nothing rarity as it was aired over FM radio across the USA, and consequently, has been widely available in some forms including various bootleg releases. The reason why I ranked it as number one is based on the fact that the aired performance (or part of it) has never been released in any official form in any country of the world except this one, provided that it is truly a genuine Sony product.

The only known official DRESS REHEARSAL release? On the back is the lead-off article of a Japanese weekly magazine back in 1992 featuring the then-new albums and the promotion tour.
 

The cassette tape begins and ends with DJ talk and in between comprises from The Star-Spangled Banner/Born In The U.S.A. to the acoustic Hungry Heart (the best version of the song in my opinion), indicating that the source is a whole FM-radio broadcast, specifically done by radio station "95.5 KLOS" in Los Angeles which is briefly mentioned by DJ right after My Hometown. This means that unaired performances of six songs, such as the show opener Better Days and a post-broadcast performance Real World from the new albums, are not included on the tape. The sound quality is no more superior to tapes personally recorded on the air by listeners or bootleg CDs made from such recordings. Then, one may wonder if it is not an official but a fake product that is sourced from these recordings widely available. I, however, seriously consider it as a legitimate Sony product licensed for the domestic distribution. The reason is summarized mainly in the following three points:

Lucky Town album promo cassette
(not in my possession)

• As a cheap and convenient way to record music, cassette tapes had been one of the staple music media in Japan since the vinyl era. Indeed, Sony Japan had continued to use this media as a standard for promoting Springsteen's albums (at least up to DEVILS & DUST; its promotional cassette is seen on the 6th from the right in the picture on top of this page). Moreover, custom promotion-only titles have been released, such as THE "LIVE": The Legend Comes Alive, A WHOLE BUNCH OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, and 1973-1995 DIGEST (again, check the pic above). Thus, it is quite possible that the FM-sourced recording, which had (and still has) never been broadcasted in Japan, was chosen to boost the album sales because it represents a live showcase for the twin album.
• The cassette tape comes with the text-only inlay card that lists artist name, title, date, venue and track sequence in black, and generic information such as company name, logo and a "NOT FOR SALE" promo indication in cyan, on pale grey background. The cassette itself carries the generic company labels for promotional release with a "sample" or "promo" indication by the three Kanji characters, on which the artist name is printed. The overall design of the inlay card and labels on the cassette is consistent with those of the promotional cassettes for Human Touch c/w Better Days single and for the respective albums (see pictures). The same black cassette container and clear plastic cassette holder case (with “Made in Japan” mark) are used for Dress Rehearsal and Human/Lucky single release tapes, and probably so for the album promo cassettes (which I don't own; see the picture above).
• Although cheap pirate cassettes have been widely in circulation especially in Asian countries (excluding Japan), this format is generally not worth making fake or bogus for valued items, unless highly collectable targets exist to be counterfeited. I don't think that the Dress Rehearsal tape deserves such a target. Probably, the only known example is the cassette version of the soundtrack for the Israeli movie "Kvish L'Lo Motzah (Dead End Street)", that counterfeits the extremely rare 3-track 12" vinyl, as mentioned on the Lost In The Flood website. 

The same company inlay card is used for these promo cassettes. There are three errors on the Dress Rehearsal tracklist: Darkness on the Edge of "the" Town, "57Channels" (And Nothin' On) and My "Home Town". Such errors often occur with Japanese releases.

Among the three points noted above, the strongest to support my conclusion is the use of official inlay sleeve and cassette labels. One potential problem on collecting Sony promo cassettes, however, is that the inlay sleeve/label design is not consistent over the years and often subject to change (for example, see the spine designs pictured on top of this page). This could cause confusion as to the authenticity of the product although, to the best of my knowledge, no fake or counterfeit is known to exist for such rare collectibles as THE "LIVE" cassette or the others. Whether genuine or bogus, this cassette is so rare that I have never seen it on any occasion, except only once when I obtained my own copy.