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

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.

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 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.

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.

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).

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.