Collecting log: CBS/SONY's bizarre 12" DISCO sampler with Springsteen's track

Probably, nobody would think of a Springsteen track on the shown sampler. The front sleeve is misleading since any artists and groups indicated are not featured on this promo compilation disc (check the tracklist on the right). The catalog number (YAPN 23) is not found anywhere on the sleeve (including the spine), and the tracklist is like a promotional flyer, printed on a separate sheet and taped on the plain yellow rear sleeve. So, I guess this color-illustrated sleeve was not specific to this particular pressing but commonly used for the "Super Disco Sound" series (i.e., this issue is Volume 19).

Released in November 1975 (or Showa 50 in the Japanese
calendar), this promo-only compilation from CBS/SONY
represents the first known example that contains
Springsteen's track. However, unless you understand the
Japanese language, Born To Run (Track 4) is only identified
by the catalog number of the domestic 7-inch single
"SOPB334." Among the others featured on this side are
Bay City Rollers, Paul Simon & Phoebe Snow, Loggins
& Messina, and Art Garfunkel.

Another promotional sampler from CBS/SONY (Japan) continues. Until the end of the vinyl era in Japan in the late 1980s, the company had released many samplers of various artist compilations, mostly in LP formats. Springsteen's recordings occasionally appeared in these samplers that generally included one of the single cuts from the albums released between 1975 and 1987, with a few exceptions containing two or more tracks, such as ALL AMERICAN TOP 100 Vol. 33 (CBS/SONY XAAP 90022) and CBS/SONY POPULAR BEST 9 (CBS/SONY XDAP 93031-2) (see 09/17/2017).

If my memory serves correctly, Born To Run was the first Springsteen track that appeared on such a Japanese promo-only compilation LP released in November 1975 (no English title given; CBS/SONY YALC-49; see the label image right), and Brilliant Disguise was the last found on AMERICAN HIT TUNES Vol. 16 (CBS/SONY XDAP 93175, October 1987; see 12/17/2016). I have never pursued these samplers seriously, as I'm not primarily interested in compilations and don't think most of these are highly collectible. However, I recently discovered an unusual sampler featuring one Springsteen track, which might intrigue those collecting Japanese vinyl pressings.

Upper: As marked "45," this LP-sized disc is played at 45 rpm.
Oddly, the labels do not list the source album from which each
track is culled (e.g., Badlands from DARKNESS ON THE EDGE
OF TOWN). Lower: As usual for CBS/SONY pressings, the dead-
wax matrix numbers are stamped; however, no "JIS" acronym
(〄) stamp is found on either side.

It's called Volume 19 of Super Disco Sampler (CBS/SONY YAPN 23), released in August 1978. Based on the title, this promotional compilation is supposed to gather the then-new singles (placed on SIDE A) and the candidates (on SIDE B) slated for release that summer from the disco and soul/funk music categories of the label. However, strangely enough, it includes Springsteen's Badlands (CBS/SONY 06SP 256, released September 27, 1978), the then-forthcoming second single from DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (CBS/SONY 25AP 1000). Yes, Badlands is on a disco sampler!

How has this happened? Although the sleeve and labels clearly state "CBS/SONY," this sampler mainly features a group and artists under the license of EPIC/SONY (i.e., Hollywood, Cathy Lee, Teddy Pendergrass, and George Duke; see 03/25/2023 for the relationship between the two labels). Possibly, CBS/SONY somehow wanted to boost the sale of the dark-toned DARKNESS album, which, contrary to the expectations of the record company, turned out not to be a sequel to the enthusiastic BORN TO RUN three years ago (check 09/19/2015 and 03/05/2016 for how hard Mr. Ryo Okada, who was in charge of Springsteen at CBS/SONY, made every effort to promote DARKNESS).

The disc was cut at 45 rpm instead of 33 rpm, so this 6-track sampler is a 12-inch EP rather than a compilation LP. I don't know any other examples where the studio recording of Badlands is played at 45 rpm on this vinyl format. Neither featured on the Lost In The Flood collector's page nor registered thus far on the Discogs database.