Collecting log: Blinded By The Light U.S. 7" singles (Part 1 of 4) — Extremely scarce regular stock

The previous blog post (01/30/2020) reported a recent addition to my collection, which is considered one of the holy grail 7" singles of Springsteen. Since this month marks the 47th anniversary of the release of another holy grail, I found it might be a good opportunity to introduce it here.

Like most of the copies in circulation, the custom-picture sleeve of mine is folded and assembled by a slipshod job, with a little bit worn appearance. Found on the back are the first (right) and second (left) Japanese releases for the debut album.

Blinded By The Light / The Angel (US Columbia 4-45805), his first commercial single from the debut album GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J., was released on the 23rd of February, 1973. As widespreadly known, this 7" disc with the stock sunburst labels is a top collectible all time, which is easily confirmed, for instance, by a quick search for Top 10 auction results through the Popsike database (check winning bids on the table below). Often said that less than 100 copies are known to exist, simply because it didn't sell and has seldom circulated since then. It is still more common, though, than the regular stock

copies of Spirit In The Night / For You (US Columbia 4-45864), the second single off the album and yet another holy grail with even higher value. These two kinds of stock 7" copies represent a typical example of how a regular copy becomes much rarer than the white-label promo edition, and illustrate how a cheap, trashy mediocre item is suddenly transformed into an incredibly rare collectible, following dramatic changes in artist's status from unknown or local cult to nationwide, and then to worldwide.

Like every copy of this in existence, it is also a top gem in my inventory. According to my purchase log, I obtained this copy from a U.S. seller in the 1990s when the internet became available as a useful tool to exploit collector's market. Mine is a (further rarer) stock copy that was distributed for promotion, coming in the custom-picture

The 7" track is shortened to 3 min 58 sec as compared to the album
version (5 min 2 sec), which is reflected in the edited lyrics printed
on the rear sleeve.

sleeve and with a small promo sticker saying "Promotional Record For Broadcast & Review NOT FOR SALE" that is glued on the B-side label. Let me remind you that the disc is not a vinyl pressing but a styrene molding (that appears translucent red when exposed to strong illumination), just as many of the 7" copies made in the U.S. by Columbia Records (for polystyrene records, see the four consecutive posts from 05/11/2016 to 05/29/2016). Although there are no pressing plant-specific inscriptions on the dead wax, I assume that this was manufactured at the Pitman factory because Springsteen was then unknown and just came out from the East Coast. The matrix numbers are machine-typed as follows:

• Side A:   ZSS 158225-2A
• Side B:   ZSS 158226-1B

The promo sticker is also found on the A-side of the second single from the breakthrough third album. Two insets show the matrix numbers for the Blinded single (left, side A; right, side B).

Just for your information, the matrix-number prefix ZSS used back then by the Columbia labels referred to 7" singles recorded in stereo and playable at 45 rpm. The suffix code of Side A matrix number is -2A  — I don't know if there are the copies in circulation with the suffix -1A (because I own just one copy and couldn't find the matrix information on publicly available databases such as Discogs and 45cat). Does anyone has a copy with the dead-wax -1A/-1B suffix code?  It is unlikely, though, that such discs exist taking into account the beyond poor sales (In other words, probably, the -2A copies are the first and only edition in existence).

Maybe you know all the above already, and what I wanna talk here mainly is not on this extreme rarity but about the rather common white-label promo counterpart.
— To be continued to Part 2.