DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Holbrook pressing (manufactured by Goldisc Recording Products, Inc.) and an Update to Decoding Two- or Three-Letter Matrix Hand Etchings on the Early Pressings

NOTE: Vinyl discs reported here with the hand-etched matrix code "PPP" was found not to be pressed at the Pitman factory. Please check the updated information in the blog entry from 8/20/2022.

Six dead-wax codes unique to the early vinyl copies of DARKNESS pressed in the U.S. (All images taken from my collection). Each code specifies a non-Columbia Records' plant that pressed early copies of this album.

PN, PMI, PMN, PK, and PPP reported previously, and here PV — Having been interested in deciphering these dead-wax hand-etched codes associated with the U.S. early pressings of DARKNESS LP,  I may finally be able to take a break for this subject by posting about the remaining last probable one. The above six dead-wax codes were uncommon for vinyl pressings made by Columbia Records since the code-specified pressing plants normally had not worked under the company's operation, except for PPP, which denotes Columbia's Pitman, New Jersey pressing plant (see 11/19/2018 and 05/15/2021). The unusual pressing plants that joined in the album production, due to Pitman's labor issues, included those back then run or owned by North American Music Industries (NAMI) in Scranton, Pennsylvania (coded for by PN), Keel Manufacturing Corp. in Hauppauge, New York (PK), and MCA Records in Pinckneyville, Illinois (PMI), and Gloversville, New York (PMN).

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN US LP variations: Pitman pressing — Early edition

NOTE: One of the two vinyl discs reported here, with the hand-etched matrix code "PPP," was found not to have been pressed at the Pitman factory. Please check the updated information in the blog entry from 8/20/2022.

Two label variants for the early Pitman pressings mainly differ in the spacing between the album title and tracklist, with slightly different production credits [left, P-stamp version; right, triple-P (PPP) hand-etching version; see the main text for details]. However, both print Springsteen's name and album title into two separate lines, which is basically a unique feature of the early Pitman discs (although I once saw a copy of the Terre Haute pressing with the narrow "18 mm-spacing" label). Note that only the album title is split with the late pressings (see the label image on 03/04/2018).
CORRECTION: The label on the right is of vinyl copies pressed at another plant in New Jersey (see 8/20/2022).

Collecting log: a plain white test pressing for TUNNEL OF LOVE U.K. limited edition picture-disc LP (Part 2 of 2)

It was January 2003 when I got what was advertised as a "test" pressing for the picture-disc edition of this album at $29.00 from an eBay seller in Bethpage, New York (disc's images shown previously in the following posts on 03/01/2015 and 01/01/2020). It came in a plain white sleeve but not in a clear plastic bag used for the regular picture disc. This pressing is indistinguishable from my copy of the commercial version in almost all aspects but the plain white appearance.

The commercially available picture disc (upper) and its plain-white test pressing (lower) share the same dead-wax inscriptions and stamps on each playing side (left, Side One; right, Side Two).

Collecting log: a plain white test pressing for TUNNEL OF LOVE U.K. limited edition picture-disc LP (Part 1 of 2)

The lineup for the officially released U.K. picture disc vinyl pressings. If my memory is correct, the last known picture disc to be manufactured is The Ghost Of Tom Joad / Straight Time (live) EP (Columbia 663031 7), released in 1996 (bottom, second from the left). Sadly, my copy of the flag-shaped I'm On Fire / Born In The U.S.A. (CBS WA 6342) has fully developed discoloration (middle row, far right), although Dancing In The Dark / Pink Cadillac (CBS WA 4436) shows no such symptoms (bottom, far right). 

A picture disc rarity continues. The last blog (2021/04/20) introduced a test pressing for an old picture-LP bootleg from the early 1980s (courtesy of the fellow collector from Italy). Here's an example of such a rare pressing for an official picture record from the late 1980s. As you collectors know, all the official picture discs of Springsteen in the album and 12"/7" single formats, including shaped discs, were released from the CBS U.K. Records label, except for the U.S.-issued DARKNESS promo LP. Note that in the mid to late 1980s, several picture discs featuring Springsteen's interviews also floated around the market, mostly originating in the U.K. These picture discs might not technically be illegal, but certainly, grey-area products since they were neither issued from the CBS label nor authorized by Springsteen (i.e., Interviews are not necessarily protected by copyright laws).

Classic Vinyl Bootleg Revisited: RESTLESS NIGHTS ー THE RIVER outtakes LP ー original picture-disc and later black-vinyl editions (Part 3 of 3)

It's always nice to hear from "The Boss" collectors around the world. Soon after I posted Part 1 on this topic, I received a private message/response to the blog post from a fellow collector in Italy. We enjoyed communicating with each other, and he provided me with interesting information on this particular bootleg. Although I don't write about what I don't own in my blog, I thought that what he showed me would interest collectors visiting here, especially fans of old vinyl-bootleg stuff (i.e., This bootleg subject was originally going to be two parts, not three). So, here they go.

Do you think this is a test pressing for the studio-outtake bootleg LP released decades ago? I guess YES. Note that the two lower photos are not of the picture LP but the paper sheets that are to be set inside the picture disc. The clear disc seems to be slightly discolored like my picture disc (see 03/27/2021). The dead-wax inscriptions (WILI A on Side One) look double due to an optical effect of the transparent disc. Photos provided by courtesy of a fellow collector in Italy.