DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Decoding two- or three-letter matrix hand etchings on the early pressings (Part 2 of 2)

NOTE: Vinyl discs reported here with the hand-etched matrix code "PPP" was found not to be pressed at the Pitman factory. Please check the updated information in the blog entry from 8/20/2022.

One yet unelucidated DARKNESS matrix code found
in some of the early U.S. pressings.

In some fraction of the early vinyl copies of the U.S. DARKNESS album released in June 1978, you can find at least four different varieties of hand-etched matrix codes, PN, PMI, PMN and PK. Each code specifies one of the four pressing plants that had been used unusually and temporarily for making Springsteen's fourth LP, due to the transient shutdown of the Pitman plant, one of the three major Columbia plants back then. In the last post, I attempted to crack these codes and proposed that: (1) the first and shared letter P might denote the Pitman plant because it is the most probable common term; (2) a second letter, N, M or K, refers to an initial of company that owned one of these pressing plants; and (3) a third letter, I or N, specifies the State where a company locates its own facilities. According to these assumptions, I interpreted the four matrix codes as follows: PN for Pitman/North American Music Industries, Scranton, Pennsylvania; PMI for Pitman/MCA Records, Pinckneyville, Illinois; PMN for Pitman/MCA Records, Gloversville, New York; and PK for Pitman/Keel Manufacturing Corp., Hauppauge (blog posts 1 and 2), New York.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Decoding two- or three-letter matrix hand etchings on the early pressings (Part 1 of 2)

Pressing plant-specific matrix hand etchings as found on the early vinyl copies of DARKNESS released in the United States. For the details, refer to the main text.

As I first introduced here March in the last year, there is a small unusual variety of the early U.S. pressings of his fourth album, as to where they were pressed. These variants occurred because, when the LP was ready for production, the Pitman pressing plant, one of the three major plants used by Columbia Records back then, was not available for the operation due to continued labor issues that first happened on the 2nd of April 1978, according to Billboard Magazine. Thus far, I have confirmed that at least four vinyl manufacturing plants, excluding the other two major Columbia-related plants in Santa Maria and Terre Haute, made up for the shortfall in vinyl pressing at the early phase of the album release. The said four plants were owned by the following companies that had probably never been involved in Springsteen's album production before:

Steel Mill - LIVE AT THE MATRIX: A limited edition numbered CD box with a 48-page booklet, also known as the first "protection-gap" CD available exclusively as a mail order (not on vinyl topics)

Originally released in 1989 or 1990, this copy is still in pristine condition. If my memory serves me correctly, another box which is covered with reddish brown cloth was also available. Such variant was probably released earlier (and so with a lower limited number) than the grey box. The thick booklet carries many pictures of the band, posters, tickets and memorabilia, which are reproduced in color or black and white.
 

Collecting log: Spirit In The Night - Growin' Up / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) early U.S. promotion-only custom 7" EP

The white-labeled, promo-only EP originally came in a generic die-cut
company sleeve. Oddly, the sole track from the then latest second
album is placed on SIDE 2 while two songs cut from the previous
debut album are featured on SIDE 1.

For many serious Springsteen fans, June 2 is remembered as the original U.S. release date of the then long-awaited 4th album DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (US Columbia JC 35318). Since this year marks the 40th anniversary of the release year (1978), such fans have already posted a celebration thread in various forums dedicated to the Man and His Music. Serious analog collectors, however, might know that on the same day 44 years ago (June 2, 1974)*, a promotion-only 3-track EP was released to U.S. radio stations, which has become among top collectibles nowadays. While better known for its catalog number prefix "AE7" (which is given to Columbia's promo-only 7" releases), to date, Spirit In The Night - Growin' Up/Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (US Columbia AE7 1088) is one of the toughest early promo records to find.
*From the description in Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus, London).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT original black vinyl pressing (Part 3 of 3)

"The demand for a live Springsteen album would continue to build as long as Springsteen resisted providing official evidence of his take on a rock & roll revivalist meeting. Lou Cohan's double-set from Springsteen's Roxy show certainly had a lot more chops to it than the relatively tame 'wall of sound' beneath which Springsteen buried Born to Run. He had also proved a point about the potential demand for bootlegs of a 'rookie' seventies rock star like Springsteen. Ken, to his credit, had his antennae on, responding with his own version of the Roxy broadcast followed by his own testament to Springsteen at-his-peak, You Can Trust Your Car."
(Cited from BOOTLEG: The Secret History Of The Other Recording Industry, Clinton Heyin, 1996, St. Martin's Griffin, NY)

My first copy is still shrink wrapped. Early pressing of SODD releases came with
World Records labels in white background (an inverted black background 
 version is also known to exist).

As described in the citation above, and as almost all of you know, the broadcast live from the October show at the Roxy in 1975 was captured in another underground release FLAT TOP AND PIN DROP (Singer's Original Double Disk, SODD 006), put out by Ken Douglas who is, needles to say, one of the most famous early bootleggers. After shutting down the legendary Trade Mark of Quality in 1973, he set up The Amazing Kornyphone Record Label, the operation of which was supplemented with several other bootleg labels he also launched around that time and thereafter. SODD is one of such multiple bootleg labels run by his hands, and as its name indicates, he usually used this label for releasing double-LP titles, including another Springsteen's classic (SODD 001: briefly mentioned here) mentioned in the above quote and Rolling Stones' NASTY MUSIC (SODD 012), one of the most widely known bootlegs in the late 1970s.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT original black vinyl pressing (Part 2 of 3)

Two copies in my possession alongside the Roxy '75 concert poster
(not real stuff, image taken from Brucebase). Also shown bottom 
are three early CD bootleg releases of the live broadcast. I don't 
own the Crystal Cat version because I have stopped collecting
bootleg CDs since free online distribution was available for 
 downloading electronic sound files in the late 1990s.

The year 1975 is not only remembered for Springsteen's national breakthrough hit with BORN TO RUN, but also saw the first appearance of his vinyl bootleg titles on collectors' market. Following a single live compilation album named THE JERSEY DEVIL (Hoffman Avenue Records, HAR 147), THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT (HAR 160), a 2-LP set of the Roxy '75 broadcast from the same label, is generally said to be the second ever release of Springsteen's bootleg, although another double disc volume of the legendary Bottom Line concert (LIVE on Coral Records or LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE  8/15/75) is often mentioned as an alternative possibility. Irrespective of whether it came out secondarily or later, one thing clear is that THERE AIN'T NOBODY ... represents the first ever full-concert live bootleg of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band*. In my opinion, for this fact alone, it deserves to be called a classic Bruceleg.
*To be exact, the very last part of Pretty Flamingo is cut. On the other hand, neither of the Bottom Line bootlegs is complete in their recording, missing one song totally or editing a few tracks heavily (detailed here).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT original black vinyl pressing (Part 1 of 3)

I love old, amateurish, slick/insert covers!

One of the fun things to collect bootlegs is to be able to enjoy a wide variety of cover sleeves irrespective of whatever they look like (excellent, mediocre or awful). Although professionally manufactured color sleeves of 1980's bootlegs are attractive, I rather have a preference for slick or insert covers when it comes to vinyl bootlegs. It's because, along with rubber-stamped covers, that's the way these stuff came out originally. In other words, the amateurish appearance of many of slick covers represents what vinyl bootlegs were supposed to be in the first place. Thankfully, these days second-hand vinyl bootlegs are available at much cheaper than they used to be in the 1970's through 1980's when the bootleg industry was at the height of its prosperity (for one example of such a purchase, see a past blog post here).

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: A repressing with an erroneous lyric sheet

The custom Zippo lighter used as a paper weight is serially numbered
(#026/200) and distributed for promoting the Hungry Heart Berlin '95
single in France. Though not shown, it comes in a black plastic holder.

Based on the dead-wax matrix information, US-pressing copies of the vinyl DARKNESS album are roughly classified into two groups, one with and another without a machine-stamped TML marking (either TML-M or TML-S), a proof for the early pressing issues that were mastered by Mike Reese at The Mastering Lab, Inc., Los Angeles, California. So, any vinyl copies lacking this stamp on both Sides 1 and 2 are instantly excluded from the list of my "variation" analysis on the U.S. version of this classic album (A series on this subject starts here).

Collecting log: Dead End Street, an Israeli soundtrack 12" one-sided EP

The vinyl format of 12-inch single/EP came into popularity in the 1970s for commercial releases. The first-ever Springsteen's commercial title in this format was Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), backed with Racing In The Street and Night (CBS 12.7753), that was issued relatively late, back in 1979 in Holland. When 7-inch singles were cut from the albums in the 1980s, almost without exceptions (with the exception of single releases from NEBRASKA), 12-inch counterparts were simultaneously released as either or both of regular and promotional discs.

The 12-inch vinyl came in a matt-surfaced sleeve. The replica sleeve has circulated for long on collector's market, and reportedly, has rather glossy surface without a red promo sticker on the rear. By the way, could someone translate loads of Hebrew writings on the rear sleeve?
 

Collecting log: THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD and the Japan Tour in 1997 (various collector's items)

Some official and unofficial Japan 1997 Tour collectibles. Shown right is the official Japan-exclusive 8-page booklet (with flyers inserted in it) featuring the entire album lyrics in both English and Japanese, which was distributed at the entrance to the concert hall for every night performance.

The first concert at the third and last time Springsteen visited Japan was performed 21 years ago tonight, January 27th, 1997, during the promotion tour for THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD. I remember the solo acoustic tour received only a modest attention here, which was in marked contrast to the hoopla surrounding BORN IN THE U.S.A. and the World Tour when he hit Asia for the first time in April 1985 (cf. His second visit here was September 1988 during the Amnesty tour in Tokyo).