Collecting log: a plain white test pressing for TUNNEL OF LOVE U.K. limited edition picture-disc LP (Part 1 of 2)

The lineup for the officially released U.K. picture disc vinyl pressings. If my memory is correct, the last known picture disc to be manufactured is The Ghost Of Tom Joad / Straight Time (live) EP (Columbia 663031 7), released in 1996 (bottom, second from the left). Sadly, my copy of the flag-shaped I'm On Fire / Born In The U.S.A. (CBS WA 6342) has fully developed discoloration (middle row, far right), although Dancing In The Dark / Pink Cadillac (CBS WA 4436) shows no such symptoms (bottom, far right). 

A picture disc rarity continues. The last blog (2021/04/20) introduced a test pressing for an old picture-LP bootleg from the early 1980s (courtesy of the fellow collector from Italy). Here's an example of such a rare pressing for an official picture record from the late 1980s. As you collectors know, all the official picture discs of Springsteen in the album and 12"/7" single formats, including shaped discs, were released from the CBS U.K. Records label, except for the U.S.-issued DARKNESS promo LP. Note that in the mid to late 1980s, several picture discs featuring Springsteen's interviews also floated around the market, mostly originating in the U.K. These picture discs might not technically be illegal, but certainly, grey-area products since they were neither issued from the CBS label nor authorized by Springsteen (i.e., Interviews are not necessarily protected by copyright laws).

Examples of unofficial "Interview" picture discs released in the
second half of the 1980s. Back then, I couldn't help but purchase
these collector's items even though I knew I wouldn't listen to them.

When starting to circulate in the late 1990s or early 2000s, test pressings were much less common for picture discs, with the information being scarce. They were often called "mysterious" discs, making collectors suspected of authenticity. Nowadays, however, you can easily find these "test pressing" copies through the net search. Their typical appearance is plain white with a black outer rim, which does not mean that they are made of white vinyl. As illustrated in the last post, the rim's color represents the color of the vinyl blob or biscuit used as a core or basis of the disc (that is not directly pressed by stampers). Thus, what looks like white vinyl is plain white papers inside a disc that sandwich the black vinyl, further layered on each side with a clear thin film that is pressed by stampers. As explained above, the manufacturing processes exactly follow the laid down procedure of making picture discs, which differs from standard vinyl pressing. So, I think it should still be called so.

The TUNNEL OF LOVE commercial picture disc and plain test pressing. Despite the different looking, it becomes clear that the two discs are the same pressing based on the number of tracks and each width (shown are Side One).

Released in 1987, TUNNEL OF LOVE (CBS 460270 0) corresponds to the second of the four picture LP editions from the U.K. (The others include BORN IN THE U.S.A., HUMAN TOUCH, and LUCKY TOWN). According to my collecting log, I bought a copy of the TUNNEL picture disc for 2,800 JPY (approximately $22 back then) at the usual import record shop in December 1987, while the regular U.S. pressings were already obtained for 1,680 JPY that October. In contrast, I had to order the BORN IN THE U.S.A. picture LP from an overseas dealer as I was not able to locate the copy here when it was released in 1985, suggesting the larger number of pressing for the former picture.

— To be continued to Part 2.