Collecting log: The early 1980s U.K. vinyl pressings with "timtom" or "Ty" handwritten matrix inscription (Part 2 of 4)

Four U.K. 7" singles cut from THE RIVER and examined here.

Between 1980 and 1981, CBS Records U.K. released four 7-inch singles from THE RIVER, for each of which several variant issues exist. Oddly in this era, the company issued two editions for each regular single that differed in the labels on the discs (Sunburst paper or tangerine plastic), with some having a large spindle hole or cut-out center like typical U.S. 7" singles (as found in some paper label copies of Sherry Darling : CBS 9568). There was also a promotion-only disc for each with white paper labels. Moreover, two releases were withdrawn due to mis-coloured lettering on the sleeve (Hungry Heart : S CBS 9303) and mis-configuration of B-side (Sherry Darling backed with Independence Day : CBS 9568 promotion-only pressing). Finally, minor differences were observed in the label printing, such as font size, between same titles (as seen on the paper labels of The River : CBS A1179). Although this vinyl format is not my prime target of collecting, I own at least one copy each for these regular single copies.

And the question is whether or not lacquer masters for these 7" discs were cut by Tim Young, a distinguished mastering engineer in the U.K. The following list shows the dead-wax matrix information on one copy each for the four regular singles in my possession (oblique, hand-etched; straight, machine-stamped). Based on the suffix code, these copies are first pressing (Side A, A1; Side B, B1) except Sherry Darling (Side B, B2) for the reason briefly mentioned above.

Upper : Two "timtom" inscriptions found in U.K. 7"
copies for Hungry Heart (paper label) and Cadillac
Ranch. The inscription of the former is difficult to
read with an extra hand-etching (probably "cbs").
Lower : "Ty" inscribed on Side B of Hungry Heart.

Hungry Heart / Held Up Without A Gun (S CBS 9303)

• Side A:   CBS-S 9309 A1         timtom-cbs
• Side B:   CBS-S 9309 B1         Ty   
• Note: Paper label; small spindle hole; withdrawn blue-lettering sleeve.

Sherry Darling / Be True (CBS 9568)

• Side A:   CBS-S 9568∙A∙1       timtom
• Side B:   CBS S 9568 B2      CBS-S-9493 B2      Ty
• Note: Plastic label; small spindle hole; wrong catalog number on B-side scratched out; picture sleeve.

The River / Independence Day (CBS A1179)

• Side A:   CBS-S-A-1179-A1
• Side B:   CBS-S-A-1179-B1
• Note: Larger "Bruce Springsteen" printed on the paper labels; small spindle hole; picture sleeve.

Cadillac Ranch / Wreck On The Highway (CBS A1557)

• Side A:   CBS∙A∙1557 A1        timtom
• Side B:   CBS∙A∙1557∙B-1
• Note: Plastic label; small spindle hole; picture sleeve.

It must be noted that one of the two signatures, Ty (usually on backside), was so faintly hand-etched that I might miss it out on the latter two releases. Anyway, this short survey, together with the previous blog post, was enough to demonstrate Young's involvement in the cutting of recordings for THE RIVER singles. Strangely, it seems that he was nothing to do with cutting The River 7" even though he obviously did the job for its 12" counterpart. Or might he have just forgotten to make inscriptions on the master lacquer of this 7" disc?

Then I continued to examine Atlantic City (CBS A2794) and Open All Night (CBS A2969), the two single cuts in 1982 in the U.K., from the subsequent album NEBRASKA (CBS 25100). There were no dead-wax signatures of him even for the white-label promo copies in my possession which are supposed to be pressed and released in advance of, or coincidentally with, the regular releases.

This is probably the sole example of a NEBRASKA track
that is clearly indicated as "MONO" among all the vinyl
pressings of the album and singles released therefrom.

Atlantic City / Mansion On The Hill (CBS A2794)

• Side A:   CBS A 2974 A1   2794
• Side B:   CBS A 2794 B1
• Note: White paper label; promo release; wrong catalog number on A-side scratched out; black company sleeve.

Open All Night (stereo) / Open All Night (mono) (CBS A2969; promotion-only pressing)

• Stereo side:   CBS A-2969-A1
• Mono side:   CBS A-2969-A1 DJ
• Note: White paper label; promo release; double A-side; black company sleeve.

So, the matrix information of these 7" singles indicated that the Maestro's contribution to Springsteen's U.K. releases is limited to THE RIVER and that he's not involved in cutting NEBRASKA materials. Is that really so?
— To be continued.

Collecting log: The early 1980s U.K. vinyl pressings with "timtom" or "Ty" handwritten matrix inscription (Part 1 of 4)

Whoever credited (see the inset taken from the lyric sheet), the
master lacquer of this vinyl pressing is cut by someone else.
Shown is a U.S. repressed copy of THE RIVER Disc 1, where the
matrix inscription "chet" means that the master-cutting engineer
is Chet Bennett who worked for CBS Records in the 1980s.

As you see in this blog, one of my favorite activities to do when hunting a vinyl record, whether official or bootleg, is to check the dead-wax space for the matrix numbers and associated stamps or inscriptions. This can allow us to know fundamental information regarding production of a given record, such as the generation of the pressing and location of the pressing factory. The initials of a mastering engineer are also hand-etched or stamped, though not always. Of course, we can know who is responsible for mastering and cutting, from production credits that are usually printed on the inner or outer sleeve, or accompanying lyric sheet. Such credits, however, generally remain not updated when the record is repressed and someone else acts for the original engineer to cut master recordings. So, the presence of the initials for the original mastering engineer is regarded as a proof for an original pressing. Known examples of such initials on the dead-wax space of Springsteen's vinyl albums are KP for Ken Perry on THE RIVER (always coupled with the machine-typed "MASTERED BY CAPITOL"), D.K. for Dennis King on NEBRASKA (as part of the stamp "Atlantic Studios D.K."), and RL for Robert "Bob" Ludwig on BORN IN THE U.S.A. (in association with a "MASTERDISK" stamp). The above three are all U.S.-based mastering engineers. Then, is there any non-U.S. engineer who has left his/her signature on a lead-out space of vinyl records pressed and released outside the U.S.?

A Grammy-winning engineer cut several of Springsteen's U.K. releases in
the early 1980's. This U.K.-only 12" EP has two typical his signatures,
timtom on Side A (lower right) and Ty on Side B (upper right).

Tim Young is a famous British sound and mastering engineer. He's probably best known as the first to win a Grammy Award among non-U.S. mastering engineers in 2008, for his contribution to LOVE, the sound track compilation originally recorded by the Beatles. He's also well known for his reputable works of vinyl lacquer cutting at CBS studios, London, in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Those vinyl records include LONDON CALLING (The Clash), METAL BOX (Public Image Limited) and PRETENDERS (The Pretenders), to mention a few. Although seldom mentioned as his representative works, if you carefully examine your U.K. copies of Springsteen's titles, you may find "timtom" or "Ty" hand-etching on certain vinyl pressings. These matrix inscriptions are two of several typical signatures used by him.

One of the earliest acquired items in my collecting career starting in the 1980s (two each of the misspelled and corrected releases). 

Perhaps it was when I started collecting official releases, in addition to bootleg records, that I first noticed these signatures on some U.K. pressings. One of such official collectibles I obtained in the mid-1980s included a 12" EP copy of The River - Born To Run / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (CBS A13-1179) with a classic misprint error "East Street" twice on the rear sleeve. Back then, however, I didn't care about these matrix things and it was much later that I became interested in what they meant by and what I could know from them. According to the Lost In The Flood website, there are three variants for this U.K.-only release, first in the misspelt picture sleeve, second in the corrected sleeve, and third in a die-cut company sleeve. I own the first two both of which are identical in all respects of their discs including the matrix codes:

     Side A:  CBS • S • A • 13 • 1179 A1       timtom
     Side B:  CBS • S • A • 13 • 1179 B1          Ty

Then I was just curious about whether these signatures were also inscribed on the other U.K. releases related to THE RIVER and his other albums and singles pressed there in the 1980s. 
— To be continued.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 4 of 4)

Two matrix codes on
the Disc 1 deadwax.

This concludes a short series of blog posts on one of a few classic vinyl bootlegs from the 1981 European leg of THE RIVER tour. It has long been said that, like the sister release TEARDROPS ON THE CITY, the original audience recordings no longer exist that were used for making this bootleg. This makes it distinguish from almost all of the other vinyl underground releases whose source recordings have been successfully digitized and circulated. So, collectors of live recordings and bootleg maniacs still highly value the original pressing of this old vinyl stuff.

An excerpt from "Stockholm 81 - Revisited", an essay by Drutten and Gena (2002), which mentions the loss of master concert recordings (taken from the booklet accompanying the vinyl-sourced remastered CD-R release by the Piggham Records).

Unfortunately, however, this release was limited to a rather small number of pressing (as the number 2 issue of the Backstreets magazine reports 500 copies). Moreover, as far as I've seen, there was at least one fairly well-reproduced reissue floating around in 1987, which nowadays in many cases is regarded erroneously as the original (BTW, since I wrote in the last post about this rather widespread misunderstanding, I have received "disappointed" responses from a few readers of this blog who hold this reissue copy). So, in the previous three consecutive posts, I pointed out this mix-up and clarified the apparent differences between the two releases, first, as to the custom record labels, and second, as to the full-color gatefold sleeves. Then, what about the vinyl discs?  Is the reissue a repressing using the same stampers to the original's or just one of the copycat products?

Left Two: "BS - 1" stamp found on the Side One deadwax of the original (left) and 1987 reissue (right). Right Two: "SG 1" (or "SG I") hand-etching on the original press (left) that is scratched out on the repressing (right: Note that "BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN" is not printed on the label).

According to Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985; Plexus, London), the core matrix code of the original pressing is "BS" on this bootleg (obviously referring to the initials of the bootlegged artist). In fact, the six sides of the three original discs are stamped on the dead wax serially from BS -1 on Side One to BS - 6 on Side Six. In addition, SG 1 (or SG I) is hand-etched on all the six sides although it is unknown what it refers to. The reissue also has these same  "BS" stamps on Side One through Side Six. In my copy, however, the hand-etched code is scratched out on all sides except for Side One. Though, I'm not sure if this only occurs with my copy or is a general case for all the reissue copies circulating on the second-hand market. Anyway, from these observations, the reissue discs were found to be repressed vinyl records rather than pirated copies (to the original bootleg). Note that the U.S. editions from the early 1980s (easily recognized by different record labels and inner gatefold picture) bear different matrix numbers (FTD-1/2/3/4/5/6), indicating that they are pressed from different stampers and thus classified as counterfeited copies of this famous bootleg.

Inner sleeves from the original (left) and repressing (right). The
stamped number found in the TEARDROPS repressing is N 21/1/1.

Lastly, inner paper record sleeves are compared. The two releases in my possession came with different ones: high-quality white paper sleeves without corner cut for the original, and rather generic paper bags for the repressing. The latter are the same kind as those used for the repressed copies of TEARDROPS, since each paper bag is cut at upper two corners and has a stamped number (N 30/2/6 or N 30/3/6) in the same style on the bottom right corner of one side only. This indicates that the supplier of the paper bag is the same, and probably so are who repressed the two bootleg titles and the location of production (Sweden or somewhere in Europe?).

I remember that most of the original European bootlegs, especially once copied or re-bootlegged in the U.S., were hard to come by here, because it was the U.S. pressings rather than the European that constituted major vinyl imports from foreign countries to Japan. In fact, living in the Far East, I've seen the original (or exactly what I believe the original) copy of FOLLOW THAT DREAM only one time before, which was when I obtained the copy in my possession.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 3 of 4)

The triumph success of BORN IN THE USA has not only delivered the plethora of new live bootlegs mainly from the 1984-85 world tour, but also brought back the past recordings of previously bootlegged live concerts. Such revival issues include FOLLOW THAT DREAM, TEARDROPS ON THE CITY, and BORN TO BE THE BOSS, the famous THE RIVER tour bootleg trio from Sweden originally released in the early 1980s. I remember these re-releases hit the Japanese market around summer 1987 (see the last post for a scan of a mail-order catalog issued by a Japanese bootleg retailer). The bootleggers reproduced the original LPs, including cover arts and record labels, fairly well when compared with rather crummy earlier reproductions that appeared soon following the original releases (again, see the last post).       

The artist's name is removed from all six side labels on the three discs of the 1987
re-release (right). There is, I guess, the possibility that bootleggers might have
modified the labels intentionally to differentiate the two editions, because except
for the labels, the reissue faithfully reproduces the original artwork and design.

As a result, bootleg collectors and auction sellers often refer mistakenly to these three 1987 re-releases as the originals. That said, several distinct differences exist between the original and the faithful reissues. The subsequent sections explain what I have noticed by closely examining my copies of the two editions of FOLLOW THAT DREAM, just like I did before for TEARDROPS, a companion release to this.

First, the most obvious difference is observed in the custom labels on the vinyl discs. Although the 1987 release comes with black labels which are also used for the first pressing as described in the bootleg section of the Blinded By The Light book, the artist name is missing on all the six side labels of the re-release. In addition, it seems to me that these labels are slightly more contrasted between black and white colors (i.e., denser black and brighter white) compared to the labels on the first pressing. It is of note that no such differences are seen in TEARDROPS LPs where the record labels of the 1987 version are indistinguishable from those of the original pressing.

Left: Outer side of the first press (left) and 1987 reissue (right) gate-fold sleeves. Right: Close-up images of the album cover lettering. Note the inferior printing quality on the reissue sleeve (lower) compared with the original (upper).

Second, I recognize the following differences with respect to the full-color gate-fold sleeve. While the two editions share the same sleeve design, the color tone is slightly brighter in both the outer and inner pictures of the 1987 edition. Furthermore, a close examination revealed that the border around the edge of the album title/artist lettering is apparently blurred and fuzzy on the sleeve of the re-release. So, the printing quality of the 1987 cover artwork is somewhat inferior to that of the first pressing, which most probably resulted from photocopy reproduction from the original sleeve rather than using original fine prints. This case is the same as that for the previously reported TEARDROPS.

Left: Inner side of the first press (upper) and 1987 reissue (lower) gate-fold sleeves. The color tone difference is much more noticeable compared to the outer sleeve. Right: Close-up images of the center folded portion. Note an apparent convex (凸) shaped along the fold line on the original sleeve (lower) which is rather flat on the reissue cover (upper).

The visual difference is more obvious in the inner side of the sleeve artwork. As mentioned above, the 1987 sleeve features a brighter photo image of the stage shot (probably due to reproduction of the original); however, compared with the original, it takes on deeper black gloss on the background of the track list space on the left. A minor but interesting fact is that the original double sleeve gets more nicely folded than the reissue cover — check the convexed (凸) fold line on the center of the sleeve — a result of careful work in sleeve production. Again, these differences are commonly found in the two versions of TEARDROPS. The next and final post on this topic will examine and compare the differences in vinyl discs.
— To be continued.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 2 of 4)

Silver pressed CD reproduction of the two famous Swedish
vinyl bootlegs. The three triple-CD sets are released in the
early 1990s, then followed by some CD/CD-R titles which
attempt to improve the vinyl-sourced sound quality.

As almost always happened with reputable bootleg titles, FOLLOW THAT DREAM had been pirated and re-bootlegged since its original release in late 1981 or early 1982 from North Europe, not only on vinyl but also on CD/CD-R, due to the unrecoverable loss of the master recordings. As a result, several variant copies are still in circulation in the second-hand market and frequently turn up on internet auction. The original release, though quite hard to find nowadays, is easily distinguished from most of the vinyl reproduction by comparing the differences in dead wax-matrix numbers, label color and design, and sleeve format and print quality (see a photo collage of these variants below). As described concisely in the bootleg section of Blinded By The Light (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus, London), the original pressing came on black vinyls with black labels. The photo used inside the gate-fold sleeve was a spectacular color shot of band-on-stage, rather than of Bruce alone (leaning on a microphone stand) which was used for most of those reboots.
 

Examples of various non-original vinyl copies of FOLLOW THAT DREAM that typically came with plain colored labels and featured the "Bruce alone" photo inside the gate-fold sleeve. The single-pocket sleeve version is also known to exist. Note that these are not from my collection.
 

Reprint of the bootleg column from
#3 issue of the fanzine reporting vinyl
Brucelegs released in 1981-1982.

In the U.S., the pirate copies were probably pressed and circulated on the market by the first half of 1982, at latest. This assumption is based on a one-page bootleg column (On vinyl: More new bootlegs than you can imagine) in the Backstreets magazine #3, shortly reporting the occurrence of the U.S. copies to the original Swedish set. This issue must have been published by summer 1982 as it does not mention anything about the then forthcoming album NEBRASKA that was eventually released that fall, which led to the above idea. The column article reports as follows: "FOLLOW THAT DREAM has recently been repressed in the U.S. and is now available all over. The repress also features a color cover though it's not great quality and looks like a copy. The sound is still good but nothing like the original."  The magazine also reports, "We've heard that TEARDROPS is an audience recording and FTD is a soundboard tape," although both are in fact audience recording.

This DARKNESS outtake album shows similarities to the U.S.
version of FOLLOW THAT DREAM with respect to the inside
design of the gate-fold sleeve and the use of plain colored
labels on the waxes. The front sleeve is shown on the lower
right corner. The second pressing came in a black & white
slick cover as shown on the upper left. I remember back
then, most of the takes that are included in this studio
bootleg were new listens to me.

The U.S. copies featured the aforementioned "Bruce alone" image for the inside of the double sleeve. Likewise, this photo was also used for the gate-fold sleeve of STILL ON THE EDGE, another U.S. 2-LP (plus a bonus 7" single) bootleg that collectively gathers outtakes and rehearsal takes from DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN sessions. As this DARKNESS studio collection is also reported in the above column of the magazine issue, the two bootlegs were probably out on the U.S. market almost simultaneously or consecutively. Indeed, according to my collecting log, I obtained "this" edition of FOLLOW THAT DREAM and STILL ON THE EDGE December 1982 and March 1983, respectively, at import record shops in Kyoto City. In addition, production-wise, these gate-fold releases are resemble each other in record label and sleeve design. From these observations, I speculate that the same U.S. bootlegger(s) might have been responsible for the production of these underground releases. I remember back then, it was not so difficult to locate both bootleg titles here in Japan. So, I also guess that the two sets were pressed in relatively large quantities as bootleg releases.
— To be continued.

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: FOLLOW THAT DREAM 3LP (Part 1 of 4)

Which one is the earlier release?  Shown above are two different issues both of which carry black labels on
the waxes and feature an on-stage band shot on the inside of the full-color gate-fold sleeve (the two apparent
prerequisites for the original). The original edition of this classic bootleg title from the early 1980s was and
still is highly sought after by Bruceleg collectors.

Generally in the vinyl era, THE RIVER tour was poorly represented by bootleg releases in terms of sound quality, at least partly due to the lack of excellent live recordings. This situation was in contrast to that for live bootlegs released in the 1970s or during and after the BORN IN THE U.S.A. tour: many of the early underground releases, as exemplified by a series of DARKNESS tour bootlegs, are sourced from radio broadcasts of live performance (thus, at least they are listenable), while audience recordings from the BORN IN THE U.S.A. tour have overall improved the sound quality compared with those from THE RIVER tour.

The original has the Ludam Records label on the waxes and comes in a
hinged box. Despite being one of the worst underground releases, this
bootleg had repeatedly appeared on the market with different labels in
an unhinged box and even in the form of picture disc (as a single disc
release). One of the earliest known THE RIVER tour boots to circulate.

I can still recall several disappointing experiences of purchasing 1980-81 tour bootlegs back in the old days, which often turned out to be of terrible sound quality. To my mind, NASSAU, a pricey triple-LP box from the first (28/12/1980) of the famous three concerts in New York to conclude 1980, is easily placed on the top of the worst list. Two songs, Because The Night and Hungry Heart (with Flo and Eddie on back vocals), from this concert are among the featured 40 tracks on LIVE/1975-85 (Columbia C5X 40558). So, although it was an awful bootleg, I have kept the copy in my collection just because it shows how the released version of Because The Night is heavily edited its guitar solo on the official live album. On the other hand, oddly, the bootleg is missing Hungry Heart. Other titles I can mention (and still in my possession) include EL BOOS EN BARCELONA (serially numbered single LP), THE BOSS HITS THE BADLANDS (2LP plus a 7" disc), HUNGRY HEART (Japanese 3LP), and so on.

The Stockholm concert was also released on another 3-LP bootleg that
used the same recordings as those of FOLLOW THAT DREAM. However, it
does not feature the entire performance, missing several songs, and the
package pales so much in comparison. The illustration on the upper right
is taken from the rear side of the unspectacular single-pocket sleeve.
 

Despite the relatively low ratings given to those THE RIVER tour bootlegs, however, we have seen nothing but praises (like "superb all-round production") on a few particular vinyl releases back in the early 1980s. FOLLOW THAT DREAM is one such famous exception, as reported enthusiastically in the Backstreets magazine (#2 probably issued late 1981 or early 1982) and reviewed in various bootleg guides including the late Chris Hunt's bootleg file found in the Blinded By The Light book (P. Humphries & C. Hunt, 1985, Plexus, London). Although no introduction is necessary, this triple-vinyl bootleg captures the complete performance for the first of the two-night stand on May 7th and 8th in Stockholm during the European leg of the 1981 tour. Along with the equally impressive sister release TEARDROPS ON THE CITY that documents the following night's concert, this release comes with a deluxe full-color gate-fold sleeve and represents one of the must-have bootlegs in the vinyl era (although, in my opinion, it is not deniable that the sound quality of the recordings was over-rated to begin with).

From a bootleg catalog issued September 1987 by a Japanese retailer. 
For price comparison, back in 1987, the official Japanese edition of
LIVE/1975-85 (CBS/SONY 75AP 3300-4) five-LP box was sold at the set
price of 7,500-Yen. Due to the limited supply, he urges customers
not to miss this opportunity to purchase the three Swedish triple-LP
boots. Take note that the retailer believes or pretends to believe
FOLLOW THAT DREAM as soundboard-sourced. 

One notable fact with the two Swedish bootlegs is that both in the original form are still highly sought after even nowadays by Bruceleg collectors. This is primarily because, reportedly, the master recordings for the two concerts were damaged and no longer recoverable due to a fire accident that occurred somewhere in Sweden in the mid-1980s. Thus, the original releases of FOLLOW and TEARDROPS are considered the best possible recording sources for these Scandinavian concerts that are highly reputable among various tour locations. As pointed out when I wrote about TEARDROPS ON THE CITY on this blog 4 years ago, these vinyl titles were reissued around in 1987 fairly in a faithful replica of the original edition (see the scan of a part of the bootleg dealer's catalog above). On the following posts, I summarize the differences between the original (or exactly what I believe the original) and reissue pressings.
— To be continued.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 5 of 5)

The domestic release date (June 21, 1984) is
stamped in red on the folded Japanese insert
and given in the Japanese imperial year format
[(Showa) 59 = 1984].

Before starting this topic, I had never thought that I would write five consecutive blog posts about one of the most, if not the most, mediocre collectibles in his entire vinyl LP catalogue (mass-produced regular pressings, I mean), and this is the last one. In the last two posts, I paid particular attention to the dead wax width of various different pressings of the mega-hit album with the early regular U.S. pressing as a reference, since this physical parameter is an undistinguished but fundamental determinant for vinyl disc variations. Then, what was unexpected to me was that at least a few non-U.S. pressings, such as Filipino and Dutch, are in fact made using the U.S. disc masters, as indicated by the MASTERDISK stamp on their run-off groove area (along with Ludwig's etched initials RL on the former vinyl pressing), which is not the case for other major releases like the U.K. pressings.

Two horizontal dashed lines of green color on top of the composite label image indicate the width of dead wax space of the early U.S. pressing; a single dashed pink line denotes that of the Japanese test pressing. 
 

Two various artist promo CD rarities from SONY Japan featuring
Born In The U.S.A. They are released in the early 1990’s with a
booklet. The deluxe packaged COMMEMORATIVE COMPACT DISCS
(SONY TDCD 90042-90043) is a double CD set that includes both
domestic and overseas artists. HAKURAIKUN ENCYCLOPEDIA
(SONY XDCS 93098-93101) is a 4-CD volume containing foreign
artists exclusively. "HAKURAI" means seaborne or imported
articles/goods/products while “KUN” is a honorific suffix
mainly used for males. It is of note that the HAKURAIKUN set
uses facial shots of a company executive and an employee
on the front and rear sleeves, respectively (and that’s why
the images are not shown here).

And then the Japanese pressings (CBS/SONY 28AP 2850 for test, sample and regular releases; 30AP 2878 for Mastersound issue). As shown above, compared with the early U.S. pressing, the test pressing has an obviously narrow dead wax space, and this observation is also true for the first pressing (shown here is a sample copy with an original vertical obi). Interestingly, the dead wax space of the second pressing (the issue with a horizontal obi) has become narrower than those of the test and first pressings, which means that it was pressed using newly cut master lacquers. This reflects the differences in machine-stamped matrix number suffixes (28AP-2850A1 versus 28AP-2850A2 on Side A and 28AP-2850B1 versus 28AP-2850B2 on Side B of test/first versus second pressings, respectively). The Mastersound disc shows the same dead wax width on Side A as those of the test/first pressings although this release has yet another combination of matrix numbers (30AP-2878A2 on Side A; 30AP-2878B1 on Side B).

By the way, a series of CBS/Sony's Mastersound releases in the 1980s are processed by either one of the following methodologies: digital recording (DR), digital mastering (DM), half-speed mastering (HM), or direct disk (DD) cutting. Unfortunately, the Springsteen album is subjected to DM whose effect on improving the sound quality (of analog recordings) is the most questionable among the four available (even though the disc is thick and made from high-quality material). So, I still prefer the loud sound of the original U.S. edition among various vinyl pressings worldwide that include Japanese releases mentioned here.

Finally, what is the most widely known Springsteen's song in Japan?  Born To Run, Thunder Road, Hungry Heart (his first smash hit single here) or Dancing In The Dark ?  No, no, it's most probably Born In The U.S.A. because of the album's sales and the impressive opening performance during the promotional world tour that stopped in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, in the mid-April 1985. Therefore, the title track of the best-selling album is featured more often on Sony's custom promo compilation albums than the aforementioned classics are (pictured above are two examples of such CD releases). So, you can easily guess the stereotype or fixed image most Japanese generally still have of him.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 4 of 5)

Another flawed copy of the album from my
collection is the U.K. first pressing, as indicated
by the matrix number CBS-86304-A1, which
comes with the blank label on Side One.

As mentioned in the last post, the original or early copies of BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP (Columbia QC 38653) manufactured in the U.S. have wide deadwax on Side One, which in addition to the matrix hand-etching RL, is a feature associated with the vinyl pressings mastered by Robert "Bob" Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME. On the other hand, the later pressings with narrow deadwax, where his initials are absent, are not cut by this Mastering Maestro, despite whom the album production credits refer to as mastering engineer on the album inner sleeve. This fact just made me wondering about the deadwax width of various copies of the album pressed in countries other than the U.S. Here for making comparison, I picked up several of the copies randomly from my collection.

Two horizontal dashed lines of green color on top of the image indicate the width of deadwax space of the early U.S. pressing. Not sure if the Italian and Mexican copies shown here correspond to a very early pressing released in each country (matrix numbers are CI 86304-1L-16-5-84 and 50-04-16122-1B-1, respectively, on Side One).

Initially, I thought that the "wider deadwax" pressings were confined to the early U.S. copies with the matrix RL inscription because Ludwig had nothing to do with lacquer master cutting for non-U.S. pressings (i.e., mastering and cutting of the lacquers for vinyl pressing were done independently in individual countries after master recording tapes were received from the US Columbia Records). In fact, as shown above, the (supposedly early) copies released in the U.K., Italy, and Mexico show variation in deadwax space with narrow width.   [By the way, in Japan and probably in other countries, Direct Metal Masters (DM or DMM) were used instead of master recording tapes for pressing the subsequent two albums, LIVE/1975-85 (Columbia C5X 40558) and TUNNEL OF LOVE (Columbia OC 40999). So, there are probably no differences in the deadwax width (and sound quality) between non-U.S. and U.S. pressings for these albums. The deadwax of such pressings is commonly inscribed with MASTERDISK which often accompanies a DM or DMM hand-etching.]

Both Filipino and Dutch pressings carry a MASTERDISK stamp on each side of deadwax space, an indication of the U.S. origin of master lacquers that were utilized for vinyl pressing in these countries.
 

Upper: The Filipino LP is known for the modified front sleeve that
uses orange fonts for artist name and additionally mentions 
five featured tracks beneath the album title/artist.
Lower: The deadwax carries the matix number information 
just like that of the early U.S. pressings
(RL inscription is encircled).

Contrary to my thoughts, however, "wider deadwax" pressings do exist, except for the U.S. release. The composite image right above shows Dutch, Filipino, and ex-East German pressings whose deadwax space is comparable in size to or even wider than that of the early U.S. copy. Notably, the Made-In-Philippines disc is machine-stamped with MASTERDISK and inscribed with RL in addition to the unique Filipino-specific codes with the prefix QCL (see below). According to Discogs, there is a U.S. (Pitman factory) pressing with the same matrix numbers (suffixes, -3AA/-2AL; both stamp and initials present), indicating that the lacquers, metal mothers, or stampers were most probably imported from the U.S.

     Side One:  P AL-38653-3AA   MASTERDISK  RL   QCL-22110-A
     Side Two:  P BL-38653-2AL   MASTERDISK  RL   QCL-22110-B
                      (hand-etched, italics; stamped, upright font)

What does the inscription NL refer to?  Initials for an unknown mastering engineer?  Nah, I guess Netherlands (totally no evidence, though). BTW, my Dutch copy comes with a red sticker which is specific to the initial pressing?

The Dutch pressing also has the machine stamp, but instead of Ludwig's initials, a two-letter code, NL, is inscribed on both sides of record's trail-off area. It may represent the initials of yet unknown mastering engineer who did cut this Dutch pressing. I suppose a different case: the U.S. Columbia Records (hence, Bob Ludwig or his colleague at Gateway Mastering Studios) prepared lacquers, mothers, or stampers specially for the Dutch pressing, just because of my speculation that the two matrix inscriptions, INT and NL, could mean "International" and "Nether Lands," respectively. No evidence and pure speculation, though.

     Side One:  B    PAL-38653-INT   MASTERDISK  NL    01-86304-4A-1 A
     Side Two:  A    PBL-38653-INT   MASTERDISK  NL    01-86304-6B-1

The ex-East German disc, on the other hand, has obviously no relation to the U.S. pressings in terms of master cutting, as it has machine-stamped unique matrix numbers (8 56 222-1B    I 86  I  C/8 56 222-2A    I 86  I  C for my copy).

Then, how about the Japanese pressings?
— To be continued.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 3 of 5)

The width of the dead-wax space is about 21 mm long for the early
vinyl discs and 13 mm for the repressed copies.

Back to the early U.S. pressings of the mega-hit album. In the first post of this topic, I wrote about the three features that are prerequisite for such vinyl pressings: a blue & white sticker pasted on the shrink wrap of the album sleeve and two signatures (MASTERDISK stamp and RL inscription) on the run-off groove space of the vinyl disc. Additionally, there is yet another point by which a given copy can be distinguished from the later pressings. The early discs mastered by Robert "Bob" Ludwig have an apparently wider dead-wax space compared to the repressings. This difference is found on Side One only. It is of note, however, that some vinyl pressings lack the RL hand-etching even though the run-off area is wider. As I mentioned in the last blog, one such example is the copies with the matrix number PAL 38653-3L. I don't know if he happened to forget to inscribe his initials on the master lacquer or if this particular pressing indeed is not mastered by him (though unlikely).

The difference in stylus-tracing groove length per unit time affects 
the fidelity of sound that a vinyl record can reproduce.

Dead-wax spacing is one of the various factors that affect the sound of vinyl disc; the others include the generation of master tapes used, the condition of the tapes, the mastering process, the equipment used, and so on. Given a same recording on LP format, less dead-wax spacing (meaning the wider groove spacing) seems to provide more dynamic sound. However, such a spacing would cause relatively less sound fidelity as the playback progresses and the stylus gradually moves towards the center hole. This is because the stylus runs at slower rates of speed through inner grooves than outer grooves (i.e., the circumferential length per rotation becomes shorter as the stylus traces from the outer to the inner groove of a record even though the disc spins at a constant speed of 33⅓ or 45 rpm). So, the wider dead-wax spacing (= narrower groove spacing) results in less usage of the lower-fidelity inner grooves. Not being an audiophile but just a vinyl collector, I'm not sure if my understanding is correct. The fact that needs attention here is that Bob Ludwig's mastering gave greater amount of dead wax on this LP.→ The updated information is available (10/10/2020).
— To be continued.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 2 of 5)

With the vinyl collection increasing steadily and continuously, erroneous or defective copies of official releases have gradually accumulated over the years in my collectible archives. As summarized here, such flaws range from tiny careless typos on record labels, sleeves and Obi-strips, to one-of-a-kind production errors like a lyric sheet mistakenly used for making the inner sleeve for Disc One of THE RIVER LP. Although BORN IN THE U.S.A. and its associated vinyl releases have never been my prime target of hunting and collecting, I own two such examples for this album. Shown here is a U.S. copy with the record labels that are incorrectly aligned to the vinyl disc.

Disc can be set on a turntable and played normally. This error results from wrongly processed paper labels because the center hole has to be punched out before vinyl pressing.

Off-centered labels are rarer than labels with typos, since generally, the latter circulate in quantities, for example, of more than hundreds or thousands, especially when such errors remain uncorrected. Long widely known are misprints of the BORN TO RUN U.S. and U.K. album credits (note that the U.K. issues have not been corrected) and the disc 2 track lineup found on the inner sleeve of THE RIVER released in Holland and a few other countries like Brazil (pictured here). A recent stand out example came from the 2011 Record Store Day campaign 10" EP Gotta Get That Feeling / Racing In The Sreet ('78) (Columbia 88697 87461 1) which has not been withdrawn or spell-corrected probably because of the limited run.

The vinyl disc is a later pressing with no MASTERDISK stamp/RL hand-etchings (left). Because of the mis-alignment, part of the run-off grooves is pressed on the paper label but not on the wax directly (right).

Usually, the center hole is punched out of a bundle of paper labels designed for each side, before they are set on a pressing machine and pressed on a hot vinyl clump by a pair of stampers. So, if something wrong happens during the processing of paper label-print outs, such a flawed batch must be discarded as a whole to avoid faulty disc production, or in the case if error-bearing labels are indeed used for vinyl pressing, the defective

Mis-folding on the bottom side of the inner bag (left). The two bags
also differ in surface gloss and color tone, which is not considered as
error. Not sure if the difference is print factory-specific (i.e., pressing
plant-specific) or pressing phase-specific (i.e., early or late copies).
Most copies of the blue & white sticker LP (= early pressings) in my
possession are associated with the rather matte surface/lighter
blue sleeve (right).

discs should be destroyed even if they are played normally. This copy must have somehow escaped from disposal facilities even though the production error is evident and easily recognized by the appearance. It is noteworthy that not only Side One, but also Side Two suffer from the mis-alignment, which (I think) makes it further rarer.

And just for the record. There is yet another sort of error associated with this copy. The inner record sleeve looks a little different from the normal U.S. version due to a mis-fold along the bottom side, which is apparent if you compare the opening side between the two bags (note the white space expansion). Maybe not worth mentioning though.
— To be continued.