Collecting log: Dancing In The Dark Mexican colored 12" vinyl

Dancing In The Dark 12" remix collectibles:. Clockwise from
top left: Japan-only promo and the vinyl disc, US promo,
and regular Mexican and Portuguese releases.

More than 30 years ago, in a total surprise to his die-hard fans, Springsteen released special dance mix version of the first three top 10 singles (Dancing In The Dark, Cover Me and Born In The USA) from the album BORN IN THE USA, all of which are pressed in 12-inch format and remixed by Arthur Baker, then one of the most fashionable hip-hop producer. Music-wise, I believe that many of hardcore fans ignore, or are not interested in, these 12" releases. However, there are a few vinyl pressings worthy of collecting for Dancing In The Dark. Although I had refrained from collecting these for long, recently, I got a copy each for Mexican and Portuguese releases (CBS BS-35051 and CBS A 12.4436, respectively) at relatively cheap prices on eBay.

Official colored disc looking really nice!

The Portuguese release comes with the uniquely designed jacket that is completely different from those released in other countries. On the other hand, being translucent red vinyl is what makes the Mexican copy rare and valuable. Indeed, the Mexican vinyl looks simply brilliant, which I like very much! There are many colored edition of bootleg vinyls. To the best of my knowledge, however, among the officially released Springsteen records, translucent or colored vinyls are much rarer than other special pressings such as picture discs (for example, check the very first post on this blog).

From actual auction

One related note: Before Dancing In The Dark, late last year, I won another Mexican red 12" vinyl for War / Fire // Born To Run / Incident On 57th Street from a different seller in Mexico (I own the black vinyl version but not colored one). This seller, who is no longer registered, seemed reliable as he had received, since 2003, nearly 1,900 feedback ratings with most being positive. However, what turned out to be was that he was a real cheater. In order to provide me with the tracking number as a proof of shipping, he sent just a registered letter that was wrongly addressed (so, not to me) and without sender's name and address. I was waiting for the package to arrive for more than two weeks, after which the tracking system suddenly reported that, due to unconfirmed destination, the mail with that tracking number has been returned to Mexico. In response to my inquiry, the delivery company told me that it was a letter but never be an LP package. I finally found myself scammed. I've been a registered eBay member since 1997 and this was the ugliest experience among hundreds of transaction. The case was covered by eBay buyer protection and refunded, though.

Collecting log: Mold disaster — a collector's nightmare

Looking nice outside but ... 
Some of box sets released in mid to late 1980s that I took back
 from parent's home to relieve from mold disaster.

As predicted on the previous post (on Jan. 18), I was extremely busy last month, which kept me from writing anything at all. Although still busy at the beginning month (April) of this fiscal year, I am gradually getting back to normal situation at work, and so was able to resume this blog. By the way, during this break, an annoying matter happened to my collection. Last month I made a few official trips and had a chance to make a brief stop at my parent's home where I have left many vinyl Brucelegs for space limitations in my current residence. Sadly, what I found there was that, while I hadn’t seen and taken care of them for some months, the jackets and sleeves of many got moldy! A total nightmare for any collector.

Inside the GRANDE FINALE 6-LP box set, there are unremovable stains
and blotches caused by mold/mildew on inner sleeves and booklet

These bootlegs are mostly European releases during the BORN IN THE USA World Tour and thereafter; most of vinyl bootlegs I have kept at my current habitat are those released before that era, as occasionally covered in the previous posts of this blog. Contrary to such old bootlegs predated 1980 that typically come in a slick or insert cover, many of these European bootlegs are housed in a deluxe, full-colored jacket or box that is laminated. So, it was not difficult to wipe up mold and clean up the exterior of a sleeve or box; however, I knew that it was impossible to remove blotches or stains, once mildew colonies have become established on paper stuff. Previously, I succeeded applying ink eradicators or chemical oxidants like diluted hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in erasing blots or stains, but only in a few cases (mostly white jackets like BORN TO RUN). It appeared that box sets were most seriously damaged by the growth of mold, which caused the development of many spots on the non-laminated interior surface of a box as well as inner sleeves, inserts and booklets.  Maybe I should have reminded myself that for my parents, these records are nothing more than mere vinyl and paper. Regret always comes after.

Anyway, for safer storage, I picked up five (that I could hold by myself; pictured above) from more than 10 box sets and brought them back home with me:

•  THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF (4LP; 09/08/1978) called my attention just because of the recent official live download. The best Agora show bootleg in the vinyl era.
• FOR TRUE ROCKERS (4LP; 15/12/1978) is a substantial upgrade of the classic vinyl bootleg LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND. Shown top right on the above picture is a sample copy of this coming in a blank black box, which was given to me as a bonus by a record retailer when I bought the regular copy from him.
• THIS GUNS FOR HIRE (5LP; 18/09/1984) is one of the best vinyl bootlegs from the BORN IN THE USA Tour in terms of both the sound quality and packaging. Contains four stage-shot photographs, indicating that this one is an early, very limited copy. Purportedly a US bootleg unlike many others from this tour that are of European origin.
• GRANDE FINALE (6LP; 02/10/1985) captures the final concert of the 1984-1985 World Tour, best known for its great package with the booklet listing basic information on almost all the vinyl bootlegs from this tour.

Glory days for vinyl boot collectors:
Mail-order bootleg catalogues from the late 1980s.

These gorgeous boxes made me think back to the flood of vinyl Brucelegs from Europe between 1985 and 1986. Back then, bootleggers not only continued to release concert live performances of BORN IN THE USA World Tour (I remember almost all of the 1985 European shows were bootlegged), but also revived old recordings while unearthing new materials for live and studio-outtake bootlegs. Therefore, I used to look around import record stores at least once or twice a week expecting a new title arrived there, even though I could not afford to buy most of them. With the increasing demand of unofficial records, mail order system of bootleg grew and flourished here, and import dealers actively issued catalogues of these vinyls specifically targeting bootleg collectors (yes, it was pre-internet era!). However, vinyl bootleg industry sank rapidly towards the end of 1980s and early 1990s with the advent of CD technology. Just remembering good old exciting days for a young kid collector.

Collecting log: Bolivia-only Tunnel Of Love 4-track EP

TUNNEL vinyl rarities; still lacking the Spanish advanced promotional package, though

Nearly 20 yeas ago, I obtained this EP (Tunnel Of Love / Ain’t Got You // Brilliant Disguise / One Step Up), originally released in late 1987 or early 1988 in a west-central South American country.

Close-up pic of the left side of the rear
sleeve with a half-round cutout

Back then, I never expected it to become one of the scarcest and most valued items among Springsteen collectibles, although it was already tad pricey as a 7-inch vinyl. Not knowing the "future value", when I found a copy for sale, my motivation to purchase it was just simple: "It's a rare format and configuration from a rare country, so OK, why don't take it."  Since then I have never seen any copy offered, whether by private sale, set sale or auction. On literature and Internet review, Record Collector ranks it as no. 8 out of the top 40 worldwide rarities, estimating the value of £ 1,250(!) in mint condition (No. 329; November 2006 issue) and the Lost In The Flood collector's website describes it as "one of the rarest worldwide Springsteen 7-inch releases ever." Unbelievable.

Hand-etched matrix number on Side 1

Playable at 33 1/3 rpm, unique to this disc is of course its 4-track configuration including the only 7-inch release of Ain’t Got You. Another feature is that, like LP sleeves, the picture sleeve is open at side rather than at top, a single pocket sleeve format that is common to most European 7-inch releases but uncommon to the US and UK releases. The rear sleeve states in Spanish that "MANUFACTURADO POR HERIBA LTDA. CON LICENCIA DE CBS-INDUSTRIA BOLIVIANA" (manufactured by Heriba Ltda., CBS-licensed Bolivian industry), which is also printed along the rim of the sunburst labels on the wax. According to Google search, Heriba Ltda. is a legitimate record manufacturing company in that country, dealing with 7" singles, EP and LP vinyls released by various artists (for example, check Discogs). Matrix numbers are hand-etched "CBS SCP 10522 A" and "CBS SCP 10522 B" on Side One and Two, respectively. There are two more hand-written inscriptions on each side of the dead wax area, one being "28-I-88" and another unreadable to me (maybe mastering engineer's signature?). Just guessing that the former inscription may refer to a certain date (28/01/1988) such as the day the lacquer master was cut, or the official release date of this particular EP. Frankly, I am not so enthusiastic about this item, but I must admit that I'm happy with it in my collection.