Collecting log: THE RIVER Japanese 2LP samplers with a promo-only sticker and a concert-report flyer (Part 2 of 3)

Speaking of white-label promos, this repacked special edition of the first three LPs is probably the only known box set for which white-label vinyl records were pressed for promotion. Released in Australia late in 1979 or early 1980 (CBS S3BP220504) and ranked 12th in the Top 40 Worldwide Bruce Springsteen Rarities featured on RECORD COLLECTOR No.329 (November 2006). The regular box was also released in New Zealand (CBS S3BP220504) and the U.K (CBS 66353; see the image on 01/01/2020).

Record collectors are fond of things that differ from a norm, standard, or vast majority. A typical example of such collectibles is white-label promos (WLPs), denoting special vinyl discs pressed predominantly in the 1960s and 1970s, specifically manufactured for promotional purposes and given to radio stations, critics, journalists, and others associated with the music industry (here, I'm talking about LP, but not 7 inches). White color, though not exclusively, was adopted to distinguish these non-retail records easily from regular or stock copies. One of the rarest and most sought-after WLP titles of Springsteen's back catalog, among many others, is the promotional version of the Australian box set containing the first three albums (CBS S3BP220504; see the image on the top).

However, CBS/SONY in Japan and Columbia Records in the U.S. discontinued this customary practice and stopped releasing promotional records with white labels for LP format in 1980 and 1981, respectively. So, Springsteen's last album for which WLPs exist is DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN for the Japanese pressing (CBS/SONY 25AP1000; see the image on 03/05/2016) and THE RIVER for the U.S. release (Columbia PC2 36854; see 11/23/2016). Although I am not so sure, other countries continuously employing WLPs were Australia (up to THE RIVER) and Spain (up to BORN IN THE U.S.A.; yellow labels for LIVE/1975-85 sampler and TUNNEL OF LOVE).

I have in my collection two "sample" label variants on SIDE A of DISC ONE of the Japanese edition of THE RIVER LP (CBS/SONY 40AP 1960-1). A boxed "sample" in three Japanese Kanji characters is printed on the label (center) or stamped (left) on a stock label (right).

As a result, in the case of U.S. Columbia Records, promotional LP copies have become undistinguished from their regular releases since NEBRASKA (Columbia TC 38358/QC 38358), except for a gold promo stamp on the rear sleeve (see the image on 09/28/2016). Discontinued use of WLPs has caused collectors like me to lose interest in collecting promotional vinyl albums unless they are promo-only custom releases, such as my favorite, AS REQUESTED AROUND THE WORLD (Columbia AS 978), released in 1981 (see four consecutive posts from 05/10/2020 to 06/06/2020). Compared with standard LP issues, promo counterparts from CBS/SONY Japan differed only in printing a small "Sample" indication on the regular red labels. Even though the difference is trivial, some Japanese promo/sample copies have been highly demanded (and overpriced, in my opinion) in collector's market just because of their scarcity and nothing else (for example, see the third paragraph on 07/12/2015).

I found in my collection three different "sample" stickers on the rear sleeve of Japanese LP releases (NEBRASKA, BORN IN THE U.S.A., LIVE/1975-85, and TUNNEL OF LOVE) and some 12-inch singles from these albums. The sticker on the left is the earliest found on NEBRASKA LP without warning on copyright protection, followed by the center and right ones. There are slight changes in the warning expression between the two stickers. The center sticker (older) says, "Subletting and transferring the use of the leased property to a third person are strictly forbidden," which becomes slightly milder on the right, like "Please refrain from subletting and transferring ..."

Since the release of NEBRASKA (CBS/SONY 25AP 2440) in 1982, besides the label printing (see the image on 06/06/2015), Japanese sample copies were also indicated by a white sticker pasted on the rear of the LP sleeves (usually on the bottom left; see the images above and also other examples on 09/30/2019 and 11/23/2020). This continued until TUNNEL OF LOVE (CBS/SONY 28AP 3410), Springsteen's last vinyl album pressed in Japan [although for the first time since 1987, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. will release domestically pressed Springsteen's vinyl album, GREATEST HITS (reissue), in the spring of 2023]. Then, a question arises if there were Japanese sample copies of THE RIVER LP with a sample/promo sticker?

— Continued to Part 3 /Back to Part 1.

Collecting log: THE RIVER Japanese 2LP samplers with a promo-only sticker and a concert-report flyer (Part 1 of 3)

A typical black-and-white album advertisement quoting
Jon Landau's famous words simultaneously appeared in
various Japanese FM and music magazines in late 1980.

More than five years ago, when I picked up on this blog a famous Japanese vinyl rarity from THE RIVER, I briefly introduced CBS/SONY Japan's strategy to promote the album here in the Far East (see the last paragraph on 09/19/2017). While Ryo Okada, who was in charge of Springsteen back then in the company, was delighted by this album with a higher potential ever for becoming a smash hit, he had to think over about how to promote Springsteen and his then-new release two years after he tried every means possible to publicize the man and his previous album DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (see 09/19/2015 and 03/05/2016). Finally, he decided to invite domestically known music critics and journalists to a four-night stand (October 30, 31, November 1, and 3) at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena during the ongoing 1980 North American tour and let them write a concert review (Note that it was five years before Springsteen visited Japan for the first time on the BORN IN THE U.S.A. world tour). These reminiscences by R. Okada are told in the booklet exclusively available in the Japanese edition of THE TIES THAT BIND: THE RIVER COLLECTION (Sony Music Japan SICP-4612), issued in late 2015.

Recently, I dug out such a concert review reported by one of those invited by CBS/SONY to attend a Halloween show in LA (October 31, 1980). It was written by Sayuri Yamamoto  (1953—), a female popular music critic, and published in an early 1981 issue of FM fan, a major biweekly FM magazine here (previously mentioned in the last part of the blog post on 12/03/2022).

A January-1981 issue of FM fan, a major Japanese FM/music magazine back then, features a four-page opening article on an October-November Los Angeles stop during the 1980 part of THE RIVER tour. Peter Cunningham is credited for photographs.

S. Yamamoto has also been known as a disc jockey. One of her radio programs in the old days on NHK-FM (軽音楽をあなたに), whose translated title is Easy Listening For You, brought my first listening experience to Devil With The Blue Dress Medley from the NO NUKES soundtrack album over four decades ago (see 04/25/2019). Although the report is okay and nothing to rave about for die-hard fans like me, it is a full-color lead-off article of the issue with some nice stage shots from the tour, which would have satisfied the record company's expectations for spreading and promoting the artist and his new album.

The extended version of Prove It All Night is found as Track 8 on Disc 3,
although the performed date is listed incorrectly. Early Doberman copies
are characterized by a limited serial number stamped on the accompa-
nying insert and unmodified generic CD-R discs without artwork
(see another image on 12/03/2022).

One of the highlights of the 1980's LA stands is a "transient" revival of the 1978-style Prove It All Night with the piano/guitar introduction (performed on the last two nights and long-unplayed in this arrangement until 2012). To my knowledge, these concerts had not been bootlegged in the vinyl era. It was a three CD-R bootleg titled AT THE OPERA HOUSE (Doberman 058-060) that I first listened to a snippet of these LA performances, including the above-mentioned Prove It, which are available as bonus tracks on the bootleg capturing the entire St. Louis show on October 18, 1980. By the way, the CD-R discs are still playable about a quarter century after purchase from a Spanish dealer (see 12/08/2020).

Various flyers are available in Japanese promo/sample
copies for Springsteen LP titles (e.g., see 7/18/2015).
However, this one is probably the only example that
features concert reports, not advertising or promoting
an album or singles therefrom.

 

These LA shows were also reported on an A4-sized, one-side promotional flyer titled "Bruce in L.A.," which was included in a sample copy for the Japanese double LP (CBS/SONY 40AP1960-1). As shown on the right, it carries a brief note mainly for the closing night (November 3), translated as follows: "The concert began at 8:35 p.m. on the evening of November 3 and lasted 25:05 a.m., including a 30-minute intermission. Only one person in the world, Springsteen, could mesmerize 17,000 people and drag them into a whirlpool of energy for 4 hours without any huge gimmicks!" Besides the set list for the first night (October 30), the flyer also prints a stage shot with the Big Man and an illustration of the concert venue.

Because the album was commercially issued in Japan on November 1 (two weeks behind the U.S. release date), the advanced sample copies ahead of the official release must not have contained this flyer, even if some other handouts and paper attachments, such as album information sheets, had been included.

— Continued to Part 2.