Collecting log: Further digging of NO NUKES collectibles and a nothing-to-rave-about but unexpected finding (Part 2 of 4)

Why do I consider this promo double-LP rarity of a West Coast music
icon to be also a collector's item of our favorite East Coast rocker?
Insets show the close-up spine images of the gatefold sleeve.
On the lower right is a triple-CD bootleg capturing the first night at
the Christic Institute Solo Acoustic Concerts in 1990, still one of the
CD bootlegs I play frequently. J. Browne's part is also brilliant.

So, what was an unexpected finding with a NO NUKES-associated collectible, even though that was certainly not something great? Because of the long and intimate relationship with Springsteen, though never serious, I've also been interested in the music of Jackson Browne. A good example is the live rendition of Before The Deluge, the B-side of the custom promotion-only 12-inch featured in the last blog (11/18/2023), which is stunning. All that said, until very recently, I didn't own any of his vinyl and CD releases, except for an early Italian triple-CD bootleg called SPRINGSTEEN, RAITT AND BROWNE (Templar TCD 16), released in 1991 and representing the first of the two-night stand at the Chrisitic Institute Benefit Concerts in Los Angeles (November 16, 1990). As you know, Springsteen's sets from these solo acoustic concerts have been available via nugs' official LIVE download. However, I still prefer the bootleg recordings to the official sound because the bootleg captures the audience's reactions and responses very nicely, making me always feel like I am there. In comparison, there is generally less audience and crowd sound on nugs' releases, which explains why I'm not too fond of their mixing and resulting sound.

The inspiring Before The Deluge (live), the B-side of
Devil With The Blue Dress Medley, also plays at 33⅓
rpm but not 45 rpm on the limited 100-numbered 12"
promotional record from the NO NUKES soundtrack.
BTW, do you know what "A010784" means, which is
stamped on the left of the spindle hole?

Then, it was a recent online auction where my eye was caught by a greatest-hit type, two-LP compilation containing his masterpieces, such as The Pretender and Late For The Sky. It was a good idea for me to acquire it to appreciate his representative works (and indeed, I won the copy for less than 5,000 JPY against six competitors with 18 cumulative bids). However, I had no idea whether this double album in a gatefold sleeve was official or bootleg, as I scarcely knew (and still little know) about his official and underground discography. Having checked the relevant entry on the Discogs database soon before the auction ended, I learned that this 22-track collection, entitled THROUGH THE YEARS '72–'86 (Warner Pioneer PS-284), was a custom promotion-only vinyl pressing unique to Japan and issued in 1986 for promoting the then-latest album LIVES IN THE BALANCE. As easily guessed from Discogs' sale statistics, it is a famous and major Japanese promo item for J. Browne collectors and enthusiasts all over the world (e.g., a copy has been sold in the Discogs marketplace with a median price of 14,852 JPY).

The inner side of the gatefold depicts the chronological relationship of
J. Browne with his music associates, including Springsteen, which is
credited as "Researched and drawn by HIDEYO ITOH. ©March 1986"
(hence, the image is intentionally blurred and unreadable).

What is amazing about this release is the inner side of the gatefold sleeve, which illustrates the detailed family history of J.B. and his music associates, starting from 1961 to 1986, by taking up the entire two-facing space (a great work by music critic Hideyo Itoh). It's like The E Street Band Family Tree originally published in Number 25 (Vol. 7, #1, Summer 1988) of the Backstreets magazine, which was later reprinted in other publications and also bootlegged in the thick booklet of Steel Mill - LIVE AT THE MATRIX (GDR MAIL 1), an early bootleg CD (see 06/10/2018; see also the Discogs entry). 

So, while looking over the inside of the gatefold, I was playing and listening to DISC ONE. Then, all of a sudden, I heard the familiar live sound right after Running On Empty, the penultimate track on SIDE TWO. The last song on this side was Stay, a doo-wop oldie of 1960, as printed on the white label and the tracklist on the rear gatefold sleeve. However, it was not the cover version available on RUNNING ON EMPTY, his 5th album released in 1977, but taken from the NO NUKES soundtrack (Asylum P-5186~8Y), performed by Springsteen and the E Street Band with the guest appearance of J. Browne and Rosemary Butler!

As the record labels indicate, Stay included in the Japanese custom promo 2LP (left; Disc 1/Side 2) clocks in at 4 min 14 sec, the same track length as those on the promo (center) and regular (right) Japanese issues of the NO NUKES triple LP (Disc 3/Side 5). On the custom black label (left), there are two three-letter Japanese Kanji characters, which mean "Not For Sale" and  "Sample Disc" on the left and right sides of the spindle hole, respectively.

J. Browne's original cover version
of Stay on RUNNING ON EMPTY
(Asylum P-10446Y; Japanese copy),
the last track on Side 2, is 3 min 28
sec in length (the label image taken
from the relevant Discogs page).

Contrary to NO NUKES LP, "Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band" are not credited on the record-disc label or gatefold sleeve of this Japan-only promo compilation. Their contribution to the track can only be known in the rear sleeve that shortly describes, "2-5 from album MUSE Concert Live/No Nukes" (where "2-5" refers to SIDE 2-TRACK 5 and the album title MUSE ... is written in Japanese katakana characters; see the images below). So, probably, the fact that Stay in this compilation is not culled from J.B.'s original album remains largely unknown even to collectors of Browne, Springsteen, or both, except those who actually own a copy of the promo rarity. Enthusiastic J.B. collectors might also notice this from the track length indicated on the label and sleeve (4 min 14 sec, whereas J. Browne's original album version is shorter and plays for 3 min 28 sec). Anyway, as far as I checked, the Discogs page and other websites introducing this compilation do not tell or mention anything about the source of the track, which would mislead as if it were taken from his original album.

The fact that Stay is taken from the NO NUKES soundtrack album but not from RUNNING ON EMPTY, J. Browne's 5th original album, can also be known from the rear side of the gatefold sleeve.

When I obtained this J.B. collectible, I thought it was just a good buy as a non-Springsteen item to add to my collection and nothing else. I even thought I would let it go shortly to earn cash for other Springsteen collectibles. However, having found and recognized the above fact I reported here, albeit not so exciting, I now regard it as a Springsteen collectible and thus can no longer part with it.

— Continued to Part 3 / Back to Part 1.

Collecting log: Further digging of NO NUKES collectibles and a nothing-to-rave-about but unexpected finding (Part 1 of 4)

What is the serial number of a new addition (right) to my collection? The "90/100" copy was obtained a few decades
ago (see 05/12/2019). The numbered edition of this rarely-surfaced promotional 12-inch disc, released in late 1979
or early 1980, has long been one of my all-time favorite vinyl collectibles.

First of all, I want to tell you about the current situation of this blog, especially those who have wondered why this site has not been updated for more than half a year. The answer is simple and not serious: although finally infected with COVID-19 four months ago, I'm fine and healthy. However, I just couldn't (and still hardly) have time for my favored things, including sharing information about vinyl and CD collectibles of my favorite artist, for I've been extremely busy with my job since the last post (yes, even though it's just a blog thing, I need to set aside time to do that). Anyway, I thank all of you who cared about the blog's situation and sent me such messages. Even though I had no time to blog, I enjoyed communications and deep discussions with fellow collectors, especially in the U.S. and Europe, on official rare collectible discs and old vinyl bootlegs.

Another example of a limited-numbered edition released lately:
Finally, the long-awaited GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N. J.
Mobile Fidelity (MoFi) U.S. imports are now available in Japan. My
reservation with Amazon Japan (made this January) was canceled
automatically months ago due to the significant delay in production.
Just three days ago (Nov. 15), I ordered a copy from another domestic
retailer, which was delivered today, surprisingly, at half of the U.S. retail
price (7,459 JPY including tax & shipping = $50). As another surprise,
despite the very late order, it came with a relatively low serial number.
Thank you Joshin for the great service!

During these quiet days, what did I play the most frequently? It was THE LEGENDARY 1979 NO NUKES CONCERTS [Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) SICP-6407~9]. Yes, I still stick around the audio and video of the CD/DVD box released two years ago (November 19, 2021) because I love watching and appreciating the incredible performances of this particular era of the man and his band. It's fun for me to compare the differences in songs performed on both nights (September 21 and 22, 1979). For comparison, all the songs played were once officially available in the Live Music Archives from nugs.net (although no longer available due to THE LEGEND release). Some of the other-night versions of THE LEGEND-featured tracks, such as The River (9/21, the first-ever performance), Thunder Road (9/22), and Stay (9/21, w/ Jackson Browne and Rosemary Butler but w/o Tom Petty), are also found in the old soundtrack album/VHS home video/laserdisc for the NO NUKES movie (premiered in 1980) and the recent soundtrack album to the motion picture BLINDED BY THE LIGHT (came out in 2019).

A promotional copy of the Japanese triple-record set (Asylum P-5186~8Y) came with white labels and a white "sample" sticker on the front of the gatefold sleeve (my copy is missing the obi). Note that the vinyl discs were manufactured by Warner-Pioneer Corporation in Japan. For the details of the U.S. white-label promo and test pressings, see 05/04/2019.

Moreover, the live footage has several funny or curious moments and scenes. For example, we can see flabbergasted-looking David Geffen, a billionaire businessman and the founder of Asylum Records (that released the abovementioned NO NUKES soundtrack), when Bruce ran up to a group of persons on the right-side stage, including Geffen, Jon Landau, John Hall, and a silver-haired tall man supposed to be Hall Manager, during Devil With The Blue Dress Medley just before making an emergency announcement to the audience. As another example, I've been wondering and still cannot figure out what Bruce is doing during the extended bridge between the medley and Rave On (for those interested in this, please visit the blog on 01/10/2022 and read the last paragraph and the comments).

Shown is a sample copy of the Japanese HDCD version of NO NUKES released in 1997 (EastWest Japan AMCY-2486-7). As you can see, a sample sticker is pasted over the barcodes printed on the lower left corner of the obi that covers the entire rear side with the track listing. Although it came with typical Japanese accessories, such as the obi and an additional black and white booklet in Japanese, the set was, in fact, a repackage of the U.S. import.

Speaking of David Geffen, how could we not talk about the custom 33⅓-rpm edition of the promotional 12-inch disc of Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (Asylum AS-11442), coupled with J. Browne's Before The Deluge? As covered on this blog previously (04/25/2019 and 05/12/2019), unlike the commonly circulating promo copies playable at 45 rpm, this seldom-seen collectible was serially numbered and limited to 100 copies, which were purportedly distributed to his friends and related parties (although I am still not able to locate the official source for this information).

Some of the official vinyl and CD titles of Springsteen have been
issued as limited and serially numbered editions, including the
recent MoFi one-step pressing of the debut album shown above.
In my opinion, however, these particular NO NUKES pressings
stand as historically the most important and valued collectibles
among those available in terms of the background, rarity, and
release format (i.e., promo, whereas all the other numbered
releases are, as far as I know, regular issues).

After putting out a series of blog articles on NO NUKES-related collectible vinyl records four years ago (04/25/2019, 04/27/2019, 05/04/2019, and 05/12/2019) and some more in recent years (11/12/2020 and 01/10/2022), my private collection was slightly expanded to include a few notable collectors' items. One is another copy of Devil 12-inch with a serial number of "29/100."  The first copy of this promo I obtained a few decades ago had a much later number ("90/100"; see 05/12/2019). However, based on the Arabic numeral-writing style, the same person apparently handwrote these limited numbers on the two copies, and very probably, the other copies in circulation and collectors' hands, as I already speculated (see 05/12/2019). 

Then, who did that? If the aforementioned unconfirmed information is true, I guess David Geffen is most likely. To examine this idea, I have searched for images of his hand-drawn numerals online, but thus far, I have only found his signatures and nothing else. Can someone help verify this?

— Continued to Part 2.