BORN TO RUN U.S. Pressing LP Variants: The late-1970s Scranton pressing by North American Music Industries, or simply NAMI (Part 2 of 2)

The hand-etched "PN" refers to a vinyl record pressed at NAMI in
Scranton, subcontracted by Pitman when the Columbia Records plant
suspended operations due to a labor strike in the spring of 1978.

Scranton or New American Music Industries (NAMI) pressings of the BORN TO RUN LP (Columbia PC 33795) were unique among the several U.S. editions with the "PC"-prefixed catalog number that were commercially released in the 1970s (see 07/29/2016). As shown in the Part One post (04/12/2025), these copies differ noticeably from those pressed at Columbia Records’ three plants — Pitman, Terre Haute, and Santa Maria — particularly in the size of the stamper ring on the labels and the presence of the dead-wax stamp (☖) symbolizing the U.S. Capitol Building, both the same as those found on Scranton pressings of DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (JC 35318; see 3/21/2017 and 04/23/2022). The stamp likely reflects that Capitol Records had previously owned the Scranton plant before its takeover by NAMI in late 1973 (see Scott's comment from 03/18/2017). The plant continued operating until around 1980.

BORN TO RUN U.S. Pressing LP Variants: The late-1970s Scranton pressing by North American Music Industries, or simply NAMI (Part 1 of 2)

Scranton/NAMI pressings are characterized
by a unique symbol stamped in the trail-off 
space of the record. Although often described
as a stylized anvil, a comment on a relevant
post on this blog (see 03/18/2017) claims it
was modeled after the U.S. Capitol Building,
as the pressing plant was owned by Capitol
Records before NAMI.

When it comes to vinyl LPs — especially those from Springsteen's early years in the 1970s and 1980s — I've always gravitated toward U.S. pressings over Japanese or European ones. My preference is pretty straightforward: he is, after all, a quintessentially American artist, and the U.S. pressings feel the most authentic to me. 

Back in 2016, I took a shot at organizing and classifying the various U.S. versions of this timeless masterpiece based on the album track listings and production credits printed on the rear side of the gatefold sleeve (see 07/29/2016). A year later, in 2017, I delved deeper into how matrix numbers and dead-wax markings relate to the earliest U.S. pressings from Columbia Records' three plants — located in Santa Maria, CA; Terre Haute, IN; and Pitman, NJ — which were in operation during the 1970s. This effort might have helped fellow collectors identify individual vinyl copies and shed further light on pressing variations (see 05/21/2017). These two posts have remained among the most-read entries on this blog. Still, as any collector knows, an effort like this is never truly finished. There's always more to uncover, and the work goes on.

Collecting log: I enjoyed digging for old vinyl bootlegs in Japan's Samurai city

Three additions from my mid-March trip to Kanazawa — I never
expected to find these old-timers at cheap in a regional city.

About two weeks ago, I took a three-day trip to Kanazawa, a historic city on the coast of the Japan Sea, renowned for its well-preserved "samurai" districts from the Edo period (1603–1867), its traditional crafts, and its rich cultural heritage. Like Kyoto, this city was fortunate to escape destruction during World War II, preserving much of its historical charm. As one of Japan's wealthiest castle towns, Kanazawa earned its reputation as a "samurai city." 

As is my habit, I made a quick stop after work at a second-hand record shop I had found online and deemed worth visiting there. The shop was fantastic — packed with used vinyl records — and I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of digging for unexpected finds, even through the short visit.

Collecting log: One Step Up / Roulette — the only cassette tape single commercially released in Japan

My first cassette tape purchase was Chimes Of Freedom (US
Columbia 4CT 44445) issued in 1988, featuring the awesome
live version of Tougher Than The Rest. I used to play it on a
brand-new Walkman portable cassette deck—a great Sony
product—wherever I went. This particular copy is still sealed
with a gold promo stamp on the inlay card.

This short post continues from the previous one, featuring a Japanese collectible. Many collectors probably rank music cassettes third among the three primary physical audio media—vinyl and CD being the other two. I also tend to overlook them unless they are particularly rare, uniquely interesting, or complement existing vinyl or CD rarities, such as custom promotion-only releases (see, for examples, 07/12/2015, 05/14/2017, or 07/05/2017). Here, I revisit a standard cassette tape from CBS/Sony Records (1968—1991) that I acquired long ago but never regarded as particularly significant, leaving it long forgotten in the vault.

Collecting log: The first-ever CBS/Sony promotion-only compilation disc to feature Springsteen in Japan

Since this Springsteen track from THE RIVER was never released as
a single in the U.S., it is marked as "Hit-Bound"—a term generally
used in the music industry for songs with strong hit potential that
have not yet officially entered the main music charts. The bottom
image was from the rear sleeve.

While I'm not particularly enthusiastic about collecting various artists' compilation releases, I find it hard to pass up vinyl albums that feature the Boss—especially those intended for promotional use only and released before BORN IN THE U.S.A. The other day, I came across one of these LPs at a local used record store—an old copy released over 40 years ago from CBS/Sony's monthly compilation series ALL AMERICAN TOP 100, which ran from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Although I was aware of this promo disc (previously mentioned on 09/19/2015 and 09/17/2017), I had never had the chance to dig it up in-store or find it in an online auction. So, I grabbed this relative rarity just for one coin (= 500 JPY).