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

The "Promotion copy not for sale 2" videotape, given away for free to those who purchased a TRACKS 4-CD box when it was out in Sweden in November 1998, contained eight live footage clips, of which five were unreleased or available only as promos back then. The remaining three were from THE MUSE CONCERT / NO NUKES (shown is a Japanese low-budget edition released in the 1990s) and VIDEO ANTHOLOGY /1978–88 videos.

The final part of this subject picks up one more compilation item, which is unusual in this blog: a VHS cassette containing NO NUKES material. Of course, I'm not talking about old used videotape copies of the commercially released soundtrack movie with the three live performances (The River, Thunder Road, and the edited Quarter To Three), which are still available in the second-hand market at a cheap expense. I obtained this generic, mediocre-looking cassette videotape in 1999, nearly a quarter century ago. Although its relation to NO NUKES is weak, containing only one clip, I thought this is a good opportunity to write down this video in the blog, as it was certainly rare back then (and still is now), and hard collectors had (have) sought it out for that reason. 

The index of a December/1998 issue of LuckyTown Digest
reporting a new promo videotape from SONY Sweden
(all e-mail addresses made unreadable).

I remember this VHS cassette was first reported in December 1998 on LuckyTown Digest, an internet mailing list for fans and collectors of the "Boss," which was quite useful, enjoyable, and active almost daily between the mid-1990s and early 2000s (The old-timers should miss it!). The contributor was someone in Sweden (his name is not divulged here) who reported this unheard promo in brief with the essential information, such as movie-clip listing, under the subject title New Sony promo video tape (?). Subsequently, the Winter 1998 issue of Backstreets magazine (#61; published in 1999) mentioned it in the On Disc column, starting with "For some lucky fans in Sweden, Tracks was packaged with a promotional video containing eight clips, some rare or unreleased ..."

How many copies still survive?

More specifically, according to the Swedish collector above, approximately 400 copies were given away free as a bonus exclusively to customers who purchased the TRACKS 4-CD box at two record stores. The video came in a plain, light-brown paper case, which was too simple and cheap. It was labeled "Promotion copy not for sale 2" on the spine of the video cassette, with no mention of Springsteen and no descriptions or symbols indicating that it was an official Sony or CBS/Columbia label product. So, he was seriously worried that many CD-box buyers would throw away this complimentary videotape into a trash bin or utilize it as a blank tape to dub over something else since it must not have been a valued item or anything special, at least for ordinary fans and bandwagon purchasers. In his post on the mailing list, he wrote beseechingly, "If there's a God in heaven, please stop them!"

The encoding format of the video was European PAL, so to view the clips on the tape, I first had to find an audio/video vendor who could convert it to NTSC format compatible with Japanese equipment. It contains the following eight clips:

• Born To Run / Badlands / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) / Prove It All Night (live in Phoenix, July 8, 1978)
• The River (from THE MUSE CONCERT / NO NUKES video)
• Glory Days (live in Stockholm, June 15, 1992)
• Hungry Heart (from Berlin 1995 promotional video)
• Born To Run (the full-band version from VIDEO ANTHOLOGY /1978–88)

Let me briefly review, content-wise, why this VHS cassette was rare and highly sought after. Although there were tons of underground releases in circulation bootlegging the professionally shot Phoenix 1978 footage, four of the five clips, except Rosalita, had never been officially available until THE PROMISE: THE DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN Story 3CD/3DVD (SONY Japan SIPC 2971-6) was issued in 2010. Long before THE PROMISE box, Rosalita was viewable on VIDEO ANTHOLOGY / 1978–88 (CBS/SONY 42ZP 122) in 1989. However, the released version was edited to eliminate the introduction of band members during the interlude. 

On the other hand, the Swedish promo video contained the complete version with the full band intros, putting together three more unreleased Phoenix clips back then, although the complete Rosalita and the guitar introduction part of Prove It All Night were broadcast over the airwaves on television, such as MTV programs first in 1984 and BBC's documentary "Glory Days" in 1987, respectively. The only missing clip was The Promised Land, for whatever reason. So, at least up to 2010, this VHS tape was the best official collection of the Phoenix '78 performances to own.

The penultimate clip, Hungry Heart, is taken from the VHS cassette tape included in the Germany-only Berlin '95 limited edition promotional box (no catalog number), well-known among collectors for the corrugated cardboard sleeve. The accompanying booklet in my copy is written in English, which is rarer than the German-text version, according to the Lost In The Flood collector's website. My purchase records show that I placed the order for this promo box on the 10th of November 1995 from a U.K.-based retailer, which probably explains why mine contained the English booklet. Although I'm not sure, the English variant might also be distinguished from the German edition by the difference in the sticker pasted on the clear slim case for the maxi CD single included in the package (Columbia 662315 2). My copy carries a white rounded square sticker on the CD case. As far as I've seen, however, the German set holds the same CD-EP with a true circle sticker in black (see the inset on the lower-right corner of the center image).

Still, the rarity on the video cassette is Glory Days' premiere performance from the HUMAN TOUCH & LUCKY TOWN 1992–1993 Tour launched in Sweden. To my knowledge, this clear pro-shot footage has not thus far been officially available in any other release, although truncated and viewable only from the middle of the performance. I have not watched the video for long, as I no longer own VHS players. However, suppose (though fairly confident) I remember correctly and no errors were associated with the PAL-to-NTSC conversion. In that case, the featured clip is not the full performance as opposed to the report on the Brucebase Wiki (1992-06-15, Recording section). 

The remaining three clips were all previously released commercially or promotionally, including The River from the NO NUKES film. The Brucebase Wiki seems uncertain about the source of this clip on the promo video, describing it as follows: "The performance of 'The River' (or from the next day) was included on a rare, promotion-only 'freebie' VHS tape given away to customers purchasing the Tracks box set in select Swedish record stores in November 1998" (1979-09-21, Recording section; Note the underline made by this blogger). For this, I'm 100% sure the video features the first-ever live performance from the first-night stage on September 21, 1979, not from the next night.

— Back to  Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3.

Collecting log: Further digging of NO NUKES collectibles and a nothing-to-rave-about but unexpected finding (Part 3 of 4)

These four multi-vinyl radio show programs were released in the 1980s and exclusively featured Springsteen (two from Westwood One and United Station Programming radio networks each). Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (a.k.a. Detroit Medley) from NO NUKES, 1979, was included in all but A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (far left).

In the 1980s, Sringsteen's two live performances from the NO NUKES soundtrack LP (Asylum ML-801; see, for example, 05/04/2019) had often been featured in non-commercial vinyl pressings in the U.S., among which notable were radio show-program discs. Of the two tracks, Devil With The Blue Dress Medley (better known as Detroit Medley among fans) was the obvious choice over Stay with special guests Jackson Browne and Rosemary Butler, included in some Westwood One (WWO) radio network releases, such as a various artists compilation THE ROCK YERAS — PORTRAIT OF AN ERA: HOUR 44* and an exclusive featured program BORN IN THE USA SPECIAL* 3LP, released in 1981 and 1985, respectively. WWO already distributed A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (BSS 85-1), another 3-LP exclusive program similar to BITUSA SPECIAL, first in 1984 and again in 1985; however, neither Detroit Medley nor Stay was included. Meanwhile, the United Station Programming (USP) Network distributed two multi-record sets for radio airplay, both of which also contained Detroit Medley: one in November 1987, shortly after the release of TUNNEL OF LOVE (Columbia C 40999) and the other in June 1988, during the European tour for the album promotion.   *No number assigned.

So called Detroit Medley from the NO NUKES soundtrack album is found on each label side of wax shown in these images except for A CONVERSATION WITH ..., which does not feature this live track. The label design significantly differs between the two radio programs from WWO (left two), while that of the two USP sets is similar to each other (right two). All eight sides of USP's RADIO SPECIAL labels have a typo, "Weekend of June 1987," in which the broadcasted year is wrong and correctly "1988."

The first of the two USP releases was a triple-disc set with 32 songs entitled BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND STORY* (hereafter called BAND STORY), hosted by the legendary Ed Sciaky from Philly's WMMR and scheduled to air on the weekend of November 25 (Wed.) to 29 (Sun.), 1987. The second USP program, THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND RADIO SPECIAL* (abbreviated as RADIO SPECIAL onwards), came as a quadruple LP including 41 tracks, presented by Dave Charity and slated for radio broadcast on the weekend of June 24 (Fri.) to 26 (Sun.), 1988. The two programs were similar in content and largely overlapped with material, mostly from the albums up to TUNNEL OF LOVE in almost chronological order, with interviews of the man and his band members, mainly Clarence Clemons, and several other related artists such as J. Browne, inserted between tracks.  *No number assigned.

Part of cue sheets listing the Detroit Medley - Stay segment on the two USP radio
programs, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND STORY (upper)
and THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND RADIO SPECIAL 
(lower). Note that Stay is J. Browne's original recording, not taken from 
NO NUKES, though not indicated explicitly.

Both radio shows carried the same 2-track segment of Detroit Medley - Stay, starting with a short interview of Steve Van Zandt at the beginning and inserting that of J. Browne between the two (although the RADIO SPECIAL 4-LP additionally included the interview with Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs after Stay). Curiously, the two tracks were reversed in order compared to the sequence on NO NUKES. Why? That's probably because Stay in these radio shows was not taken from NO NUKES but from Browne's original album RUNNING ON EMPTY (Asylum 6E-113). So, Springsteen and the band do not play on the track. In addition to this, the BAND STORY 3-LP contained three more tracks where Springsteen was not featured mainly or not at all (Blinded By The Light covered by Manfred Mann's Earthband, This Little Girl by Gary U.S. Bonds, and You're A Friend Of Mine by the Big Man & J. Browne). Two tracks were brought into RADIO SPECIAL further, besides the four mentioned above (Sun City by the Artists United Against Apartheid and Light Of Day performed by the Barbusters).

Circus Song (live) on the USP 1988 radio program (shown is part of the front
page of the cue sheets). Including this first-ever Springsteen's official live
release makes this radio special rarer and more attractive than other radio
shows and similar compilation releases.

From my point of view, these radio show sets are very appealing and highly collectible for (1) their content volume, (2) numerous interviews spread over multiple discs, and (3) custom-designed sleeves (cf., Like the WWO releases above, radio show discs usually came without or in plain generic sleeves). Of the two, the RADIO SPECIAL 4-LP is especially interesting, as the first track to appear on the program is Circus Song (live), an early version of Wild Billy's Circus Story on the second album, taken from the performance during "A Week To Remember" concerts organized and promoted by Columbia Records, at Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, on May 1, 1973.

"A Week To Remember" was seven consecutive night concerts held in Los Angeles between April 29 and May 5, 1973. It was sponsored and organized by Columbia Records to promote the label's 23 artists, including Springsteen. His performance on May 1 (Tues.) was reviewed in 425 words in the accompanying booklet (Play:Back Issue 25). Interestingly, none of his original song titles except Spirit In The Night were correctly named or mentioned, probably because his set consisted mainly of the then-unreleased material, such as Cirus Song, Tokyo, and Thundercrack (Tokyo is still not officially available in any form). The following short description is given to the performance of Circus Song: "The carnival song with accordion and Gary on tuba was next [to Spirit in The Night], and it warmed the crowd considerably." I own four copies of this 4-track 7" EP whose matrix number is either ZSM158458-1B or -1D (shown here) on SIDE ONE, whereas all discs share the same number, ZSM158459-1B, on SIDE TWO.

When I spotted this acoustic live recording on this radio show in the early 1990s, it was a small but exciting moment for me since Circus Song was only found on Columbia Records' promotion-only Play:Back EP issued in June 1973, very early in his career (Columbia AS 52; for the Play:Back series, see 02/23/2021 and 03/01/2021). Since then, it had never been available on any form of his commercial releases until the release of the BORN TO RUN 30th-anniversary edition box in 2005 (i.e., the live footage was captured on DVD). Thus, this live track has not yet been available commercially in audio-only form since its first official release in 1973, half a century ago! Note that, although unconfirmed, the audio recording of Circus Song might have been featured on one or a few other radio show releases, too. 

— Continued to Part 4 / Back to Part 1 or Part 2.