Collecting log: 40 years after the BORN IN THE U.S.A. Japan tour — nostalgic old bootlegs and miscellaneous vinyl/CD collectibles related to the official album (Part 2 of 4)

The B5-size flyers were most likely distributed at or near the
Tokyo and Kyoto concert venues as well. English translations
of the Japanese text and descriptions provided by this blogger.

One more trivial recollection concerning bootlegs: I remember that on April 23, the final date of the Japan leg in 1985, a young guy was handing out what looked like flyers as I walked down from Osakajōkōen Station (Osaka Castle Park Station) — the nearest stop on the JR Osaka Loop Line — toward the concert venue, Osaka Castle Hall. Out of curiosity, I took one, which turned out to be a pre-order form for a then-unknown three-disc bootleg titled BORN IN THE AMERICA, slated for release on May 20, according to the description. Initially, I expected this new release to feature live recordings of Springsteen's first-ever concert(s) in Japan. However, I quickly realized the flyer explicitly stated “LIVE IN U.S.A. 1984,” although it provided no further details, such as the date, venue, or tracklist.

The flyer also gave ordering instructions, asking buyers to send 6,800 JPY (about US $27 at the time, roughly $80 in 2025) via registered mail to a listed address — a collector’s shop called Universal Records Inc., located in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo, long regarded as the mecca of bootlegs in Japan. Delivery was free until April 30, after which an additional 800 JPY shipping fee applied. Living in Kyoto back then, I had no way of knowing whether the shop actually existed, so I naturally refrained from placing an order. After all, this was 40 years ago — no email, no internet, no social networking apps, and calling Tokyo was very expensive!

Images are taken from the relevant Discogs entry (here), as my own copy has been in storage at my parents' house for years. Mine is also shrink-wrapped but lacks the small silver sticker that reads "Special Limited Red, Blue, white wax [sic]."

Nevertheless, by mid-July, I found the bootleg in stock at one of my regular stores — JEUGIA's Shin-Kyogoku Sanjo branch in Kyoto — pressed on red, white, and blue vinyl, just as the flyer had advertised. The foldout insert sleeve carried no recording date or venue, and bootleg guides often noted the source as unknown (e.g., Last Ride In A Pink Cadillac; see 04/23/2016 for this booklet) or listed it incorrectly from Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherfold, N.J., August 1984 (e.g., Wanted Vol. 1 by Jan Rodenrijs [1994]; see 12/08/2020 for this excellent guidebook; and the original entry in the Discogs database here).

Last Ride In Pink Cadillac (authors unknown, circa 1986), included in
the gorgeous 6-LP bootleg box set GRANDE FINALE, is a concise
discography that exclusively lists and reviews Born in the U.S.A. tour
bootlegs — 97 titles in total, not including GRANDE FINALE itself.
Numbers in parentheses indicate sound quality ratings on a scale
from 12 to 21, with higher numbers representing better quality. For
example, THIS GUNS FOR HIRE (5LP), sourced from an excellent
audience recording, is rated 19, while the dubious honor of receiving
the lowest rating (12 to 13) goes to LEEDS 85 (4LP).

However, for a young Bruceleg junkie, it wasn't difficult to deduce from the tracklist that this triple-vinyl set was essentially a reissue of the double LP BORN IN THE U.S.A. LIVE Vol. 1. 21-7-84 Montreol [sic], combined with excerpts — mainly encore performances — from the four-record set BORN IN CINCINNATI. Both titles had already circulated locally here before the Japan leg of the tour began, and I had acquired both by then: LIVE Vol. 1, on March 19, 1985; CINCINNATI, on December 15, 1984. The bootleggers simply reconstituted these two sources to present the set as if it were from a single concert recording. Moreover, the mediocre and uninspired album title, along with the sleeve design based on the Star-Spangled motif, was largely borrowed from the latter, one of the earliest and, in my opinion, worst bootlegs from this long-stretched 1984-85 world tour. According to the inaugural issue of Wanted, mentioned above, BORN IN THE AMERICA (reportedly limited to 300 copies) and LIVE Vol.1 are of Japanese origin — yes, both have stamped, not hand-etched, matrix numbers in their dead wax, at least.

I could probably go on about these bootlegs, but I’ll stop here and turn to three collectibles from that official big-selling album — each a bit too minor or mundane for a standalone blog post, yet still worth mentioning.

— Continued to Part 3 / Back to Part 1.

Collecting log: 40 years after the BORN IN THE U.S.A. Japan tour — nostalgic old bootlegs and miscellaneous vinyl/CD collectibles related to the official album (Part 1 of 4)

The ticket was mailed to me in a registered envelope from the
Osaka office of Udo Artists Inc., the tour promotion and man-
agement agency. A clipping — likely from a newspaper, though
uncertain — with the headline “Grammy Winner Bruce’s First-
Ever Japan Tour Becomes a Reality” appears to predate the
addition of two concert dates, April 13 in Tokyo and April 23
in Osaka, as those dates are not mentioned in the article.

This past April in Japan brought something of a celebration on social media among Springsteen fans and collectors. As you might know, this year marks the 40th anniversary of his first—and one of only three, if the one-off Amnesty concert is included — tours to the Far East, promoting his seventh album, BORN IN THE U.S.A. (see 04/23/2015 and 01/27/2018 for Japan tour-related posts). I was a junior in college when I had the good fortune to see him perform on the second night (April 23) in Osaka, which was also the final show of the Japan leg — a performance often regarded as the best of the eight played here. By the way, you might wonder why I’m not talking about the Kyoto concert held four days earlier (April 19), especially since I’ve occasionally mentioned on this blog that I was born and raised in this ancient capital city. The reason is simple: I missed it due to a critical mix-up that left me without a ticket — still one of the most regrettable memories of my youth.

As noted in my old handwritten purchase log, I gave the two double-
LP sets from the first night in Osaka a low sound quality rating (C on
an A-to-C scale), likely because I had been overexposed to excellent
FM-sourced bootlegs from the 1978 tour, such as PIÈCE DE
RÉSISTANCE and LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND. Note that the
4-LP gatefold edition is not listed here, as this version of the log is
relatively old, dating from the late 1980s, and predates its acquisition.

While I feel tempted to write something about the concert itself (see 04/23/2015), I’ll refrain — after all, it would likely turn into a dull, subjective personal account. Instead, as a collector, I’ll focus here on some of the miscellaneous vinyl and CD collectibles associated with this monster album that have not been featured before on this blog. They may not be especially rare or valuable, but they’re still worth noting. Before that, however, let me revisit my purchase log of bootleg records of the two Osaka gigs on April 22 and 23, 1985 (As far as I know, no vinyl bootlegs have ever been released for the Kyoto concert).

Left: All of the albums, except for the complete 4/22/1985 set (bottom right), were released in 1985, and every title was purchased at JEUGIA music stores in Kyoto city, as mentioned in the main text. Right: The clear LP bag holding the LP (SECOND DAY AT CASTLE HALL Vol. I, backside, which is nicely done) features a JEUGIA logo imprint, which is outlined with a dashed yellow line.

Although the tracklists on all eight sides are identical, as shown
in the image above for Side One, the dead-wax matrix numbers
differ between the two double-LP versions (top) and the quad LP
edition (bottom) of THE BOSS IN THE EAST.

As expected, vinyl bootlegs of the Osaka shows began to surface a couple of months later. The first to circulate were THE BOSS IN THE EAST Vol. I and II (TBS 22485 and 22486) — two double-disc sets capturing the first night (April 22), which still show up fairly often in online auctions here. Back in the summer of 1985, I found them for sale at a music store in Kyoto called JEUGIA (Karasuma-Shijo branch). However, I couldn’t afford to buy both at once — each set cost 5,000 JPY (about US $21 at the time, roughly $62 in today’s money, based on an online inflation calculator). So, I picked up Volume II first on July 10, mainly because it included Devil With The Blue Dress Medley performed exclusively on that night. It took four more weeks for a poor student to get Volume I — on August 6, according to my purchase log. 

Probably a few years later, a pirated copy — not a reissue or repress — of the above sets appeared as a 4-LP gatefold sleeve edition (Dynafidelity 22487). It was issued under the same title with the subtitle THE COMPLETE 4/22/85 on the front and a claim of “LIMITED EDITION 300 SET/PIECES” on the rear sleeve. I ignored it when it first came out but eventually picked up a copy on September 27, 1991 — again at the Karasuma-Shijo branch. Note that the records play back slightly faster than the actual performance.

Two snapshots were taken abroad the Shinkansen bullet train and
at the Japan Railways (JR) station where it stopped — possibly
during the trip from Tokyo to Kyoto. Alternatively, could they have
been taken during a one-day round trip from Osaka to Hiroshima,
as he reportedly visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
on April 21?

Shortly after the original release of THE BOSS IN THE EAST, another JEUGIA branch — located at Shin-Kyogoku Sanjo and specializing in vinyl imports — began accepting reservations for a similar two-volume bootleg set covering the second night I attended, with a 1,000 JPY deposit. The price was the same as that of the first-night bootlegs. By the end of that summer, SECOND DAY AT CASTLE HALL Vol. I and II (TBS 23485 and 23486) became available, and August 30 turned out to be a truly joyful day — I had finally gotten what I’d been eagerly waiting for, something that would let me relive the excitement and emotion through the magic of bootlegging!

A few months later, yet another bootleg of this concert appeared: LAST NIGHT IN THE EAST, a triple-disc set that came with a cheaply made insert and two snapshots. Although it was pricey at 8,000 JPY, I managed to purchase it at the Karasuma-Shijo branch on November 18, 1985 — simply because I had been there and believed it was an independent pressing, not a pirate copy of SECOND DAY ... (which, as it turns out, it was). Most likely, a similar 3-LP set, LAST NIGHT IN JAPAN (which I don't own: see the Discogs entry here), was merely a reissue of this title, featuring a redesigned insert but omitting the photos.

The copy I received is hand-numbered as No. 9 of 100. The concert
date, "April 22," on the front and rear sleeves is incorrect, and the
booklet contains a misspelling, printing “reson” instead of “reason.”

Fourteen years later, in 1999, the first CD edition (Piggham 12–13) of the final night was finally released by Piggham Records — a European CD-R bootleg label whose titles were relatively rare in Japan at the time. I probably learned about this release through LuckyTown Digest, the well-known online Springsteen message/discussion board of the era, and placed an order with the Spanish retailer mentioned earlier (see 12/08/2020). It became one of the last bootleg CDs I added to my collection before I stopped collecting that kind of material.

— Continued to Part 2.