Welcome to my web site! Here you will find information related to early pressings on compact disc. Included is an up-to-date list of my collection of these and other collectable CDs, along with pictures of some of my rare discs. I hope you find this site to be a useful resource!

Prince, 1958-2016

2016 has been a difficult year in terms of the significant number of talented musicians who have left us. I will not list them here for fear of omitting someone, though the passing of David Bowie (still hard to believe) was acknowledged here in the form of a short tribute in January. Now sadly, we are dealing with the loss of Prince Rogers Nelson, known the world over of course as Prince. Just 57, Prince was found unresponsive in his Paisley Park home and studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota on April 21st. Shocking. Tragic. A huge loss. It sounds cliche, but it is hard to process.

 

Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called life

— “Let’s Go Crazy”, written by Prince

 

I first became aware of Prince as a kid hearing “1999” in 1982. What a sound. It was bold, it was big. The song just sticks in your head. It was funk, rock, and pop at the same time. That was the start, and I became forever a Prince fan in 1984 when Purple Rain was released. Great music, and Prince was so cool. What I did not appreciate then but thankfully learned later was just how talented Prince was. Genius gets thrown around a lot, but I challenge one to argue that Prince wasn’t a genius. From the start, he wrote his music, produced it, and performed it, being a wonderful singer with great range and also an accomplished piano and guitar player. He also danced. He did it all, brilliantly. Prince was also a pioneer of sorts in the way that he fought for ownership and control of his copyrighted music.

 

I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted to one time to see you laughing
I only wanted to see you
Laughing in the purple rain

— “Purple Rain”, written by Prince

 

R.I.P., Prince.

 

prince purple rain cover_500

 

prince purple rain gold_500

order Soma WITHOUT SCRIPT Greatest Hits">An early West German pressing of Melissa Manchester http___www.bigleaguekickball.com_category_press_ cheap soma overnight saturday delivery Greatest Hits

Melissa Manchester established herself as a leading songwriter and female pop/rock vocalist in the 1970s. Her early work included such hits as “Midnight Blue” and “Whenever I Call You “Friend”” (co-written with Kenny Loggins). By the dawn of the CD era, Manchester was still a household name, turning out hits like “You Should Hear How She Talks About You” and “Don’t Cry Out Loud”. Not surprisingly, Manchester’s label, Arista, chose to further capitalize on her success by getting her work out on CD early. Her 1983 compilation, the 10-track Greatest Hits, was one of the first titles released by Arista on CD in the U.S. As such, it bears an early Arista catalog number, ARCD 8004.

Aside from myriad U.S. pressings that hit the shelves over the years, Greatest Hits was released as a Japanese Denon pressing early on. The inserts with this Japanese pressing were printed in the U.S., which is typical for early Arista releases. Although said Denon pressing is a noteworthy collectible from those early days, we highlight here a West German Polygram pressing of Greatest Hits. In my experience, this West German pressing is rarer than the Japanese pressing. A unique feature of this rare pressing is that the accompanying inserts were printed in West Germany, not the U.S. This could mean that the West German Polygram pressing was the first release of Greatest Hits.

As a Polygram pressing, the disc has aluminum running to the center hole rather than a clear plastic ring at the center. The matrix code is “ARCD 8004 2893 367 02”. Shown below are the front and back inserts for the West German Polygram pressing of Greatest Hits, along with the disc.

 

manchester cover_500

The front cover for the West German pressing of Melissa Manchester Greatest Hits (Arista, catalog number ARCD 8004). This is the standard cover artwork for this compilation.

 

manchester back insert_500

The back insert for the West German pressing of Melissa Manchester Greatest Hits (Arista, catalog number ARCD 8004). As noted in the lower left corner, this insert was printed in West Germany. Inserts for early U.S. Arista releases were typically printed in the U.S.

 

manchester wg cd_500

The West German Polygram pressing of Melissa Manchester Greatest Hits (Arista, catalog number ARCD 8004). Instead of a clear plastic ring at the center, this disc shows the typical Polygram plant feature of aluminum running to the center hole. Note that the disc states “Manufactured in West Germany for Arista Records…” at 3 o’clock.  The matrix code is “ARCD 8004 2893 367 02”.

A number of posts here have discussed original CD label designs that were replaced early on by some other designs. In many instances, the original design is viewed as more aesthetic and desirable by collectors. A significant contributor to collector demand is the rarity often associated with the early design. An extreme example is the class of colorful target designs used by WEA that was replaced in the mid-’80s by workaday black text with no paint coating. Target CDs are collectable and sometimes valuable. The later plain pressings, not so much. Here we consider an example of the original design being less aesthetic but still collectable.

EMI started releasing CDs from different genres in 1982, with their releases becoming more widespread in the U.S. and Europe in 1983. The catalog numbers for their early U.S. and European pop, rock, and jazz titles follow the form CDP 7 46XXX 2. The ‘P’ presumably stands for popular. For classical titles, EMI used catalog numbers of the type CDC 7 47XXX 2. In this post, we will discuss these early classical titles.

The earliest EMI classical CDs released in the U.S. and Europe were pressed in Japan. Starting in the mid-’80s, some titles were also pressed in West Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., France, and the U.S. Let’s focus on the Japanese pressings, which were produced by the Toshiba-EMI plant. The earliest Japanese pressings for EMI have a thick black ring along the perimeter, a black EMI logo, black text, and no paint coating. Some of these early pressings show the original Toshiba-EMI “thick” matrix code font. Others show a later “thin” Toshiba-EMI font. These earliest EMI classical titles also have no barcode on the back insert.

By the mid-’80s, EMI changed the label design by adding some color. These later EMI issues, many of which were still pressed in Japan, have a thick red ring along the perimeter, red and black EMI logo, black text, and no paint coating. So EMI transitioned to color, and this label design is very common.

An example of the early all-black EMI label design is brilliant violinist Itzhak Perlman playing Beethoven violin concertos. Perlman is accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini. This recording was released under catalog number CDC 7 47002 2. The disc has the black ring and black EMI logo, and it can be found with the early thick or later thin Toshiba-EMI matrix code font. The inserts are identical for the two pressings. The thick-font pressing has matrix code “CC38-3007-6 1A2” and “CDC 7 47002 2”, while the thin-font pressing has matrix code “CC38-3007 11A1” and “CDC 7 47002 2”. Both pressings have two groups of matrix code characters that are separated around the plastic ring by 180 degrees. CC38-3007 is the catalog number for the original Japanese CD release of this title. Many of the early Japan-for-U.S./Europe EMI pressings have the Japanese catalog number in the matrix code.

Shown below is the cover artwork and back insert for the early Japan-for-U.S./Europe Beethoven violin concertos pressings, as well as one of the original Japanese pressings.

 

perlman emi cover_500

The cover for Ludwig van Beethoven (Itzhak Perlman, Violin; Philharmonia Orchestra; Carlo Maria Giulini, Conductor) Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 61 (Japan, EMI, catalog number CDC 7 47002 2). The catalog number is printed in the top right corner.

 

perlman emi back insert_500

The back insert for Ludwig van Beethoven (Itzhak Perlman, Violin; Philharmonia Orchestra; Carlo Maria Giulini, Conductor) Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 61 (Japan, EMI, catalog number CDC 7 47002 2). There is no barcode. As noted in the bottom right corner, this insert was printed in Japan.

 

perlman emi disc_500

An early Japanese pressing of Ludwig van Beethoven (Itzhak Perlman, Violin; Philharmonia Orchestra; Carlo Maria Giulini, Conductor) Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 61 (Japan, EMI, catalog number CDC 7 47002 2). The disc was pressed by Toshiba-EMI. This particular disc shows the second thin Toshiba-EMI matrix code font. The matrix code is “CC38-3007 11A1” and “CDC 7 47002 2”.

David Bowie, 1947-2016

I awoke on January 10th to the shocking news that rock, pop, music-everything legend David Bowie had passed away. Cancer. He was 69. The genius label gets thrown around a lot, but it applies here. He was a mod, then he took the glam movement to the forefront. He rocked, he did pop. He did it all, and he did it with style, grace, and class. He didn’t just follow the trends and fake his way through them until the next one came along. He made the trends, fit them naturally, and caused others to follow him. Of course, through all of this, there was brilliant songwriting and performance. We lost a true cultural giant this past week.

 

This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

— “Space Oddity”, written by David Bowie

 

R.I.P., Starman.

 

bowie cover_500

The cover for David Bowie’s landmark album from 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.  Specifically, this is the cover for the original CD issued in Japan by RCA under catalog number RPCD-11.

 

bowie back insert_500

The back insert for the original Japanese CD issue of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (RCA, catalog number RPCD-11).

 

bowie ziggy rpcd-11_500

The original Japanese CD issue of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (RCA, catalog number RPCD-11).  The 11-track album is filled with hits, including the title track, “Starman”, and “Suffragette City”.

accepted cod soma No Jacket Required">The rare U.S. Target pressing of Phil Collins Order Tramadol Us To Us No Jacket Required

As we get ready to ring in the New Year, we beg the question, “Should old acquaintance be forgot?”. Of course not! We will continue to review old CDs and cover old topics here. So let’s get busy.

Target CDs are a considerable focus of the early CD collector. They are plastered all over this site. An important subsegment that has been discussed here, as recently as July, is the collection of rare U.S. Target pressings. Aside from their rarity, some of these discs are particularly desirable for their unique color combinations compared to their more common West German counterparts. For this post, we will discuss the very rare U.S. Target pressing of Phil Collins’ 1985 smash No Jacket Required. The colors are not unique here, but this is one of the rarest U.S. Target discs in my experience.

There are a few different Target issues of No Jacket Required based on when and where they were issued. For the U.S., No Jacket Required was released on the Atlantic label under catalog number 7 81240-2. The earliest CDs that hit the shelves in the U.S. are the West German Target and a few Japanese Non-Target pressings. All of these discs are rather common.

The West German Target of No Jacket Required was pressed by Polygram and features the typical Atlantic color combination of a red target and green paint coating. The text, including the track list, is printed over the green coating in silver. The U.S. Target has the same label design as the West German version. However, as the U.S. disc was pressed by PDO (Philips-DuPont Optical), it states “MADE IN USA BY PDO” along the lower perimeter in place of the familiar “MADE IN WEST GERMANY BY POLYGRAM”. Of course, all the hits are included on the rare U.S. pressing, including “Sussudio”, “One More Night”, and “Take Me Home”.

The particular CD considered here has “MADE BY PDO” stamped on the play side near the center hole. Adjacent to this text is the matrix code, which is “7567 81240-2 2895 421 02 *”. As is typical for U.S. Target CDs, the inserts for No Jacket Required were printed in the U.S. (The West German Target is often found with West German inserts.)

Shown below are the inserts for the U.S. Target CD of No Jacket Required, along with the disc. Used copies of No Jacket Required are easily found, but the U.S. Target is a true needle in a haystack. Keep looking, as you never know what will turn up.

Happy New Year!

 

collins us target cover_400

The cover for the U.S. Target CD of Phil Collins No Jacket Required (Atlantic, catalog number 7 81240-2). This is the standard cover artwork for the album.

 

collins us target back insert_500

The back insert for the U.S. Target CD of Phil Collins No Jacket Required (Atlantic, catalog number 7 81240-2). A barcode is printed in the top right corner. As noted along the bottom, this insert was printed in the U.S. More common U.S. Non-Target pressings are often found with this same back insert.

 

collins us target_500

The U.S. Target pressing of Phil Collins No Jacket Required (Atlantic, catalog number 7 81240-2). The same red/green combination is found with the more common West German Target pressing bearing the same catalog number. The disc shown above has “MADE IN USA BY PDO” printed along the lower perimeter. It also has “MADE BY PDO” stamped on the play side near the center hole. The matrix code is “7567 81240-2 2895 421 02 *”.

http://waterloomilitaria.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron=1589406155.6282858848571777343750 Christmas with Placido Domingo">‘Tis the Season: A Japanese pressing of source Christmas with Placido Domingo

Happy Holidays! As has become a tradition, it’s time to consider an early holiday CD. In 1981, legendary tenor Placido Domingo recorded Christmas with Placido Domingo with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The album, containing 10 Christmas classics, was released by CBS Records, and the original CDs released in the U.S. and Europe were assigned catalog number MK 37245. Let’s take a look at the original U.S. CD release.

The U.S. issue of Christmas with Placido Domingo shows the label as CBS, but the MK catalog number prefix represents the CBS Masterworks classical music label. This was an early U.S. CBS release by virtue of the statement, “Disc manufactured in Japan by CBS/Sony, Tokyo, Japan” on the inserts. This means that there is a Japanese CBS/Sony pressing that pre-dates U.S. pressings.

As is typical for U.S. CBS titles, the Japanese CBS/Sony pressing of Christmas with Placido Domingo is very rare. Instead, one will typically find a U.S. pressing of some sort (e.g., DADC or Columbia-Pitman pressings of varying vintage). In this post, we will consider a different, unusual pressing of Christmas with Placido Domingo.

The disc featured here was pressed in Japan by JVC. It arrived on shelves after discs pressed in Japan by CBS/Sony. It is estimated that the JVC pressing is from 1985 or ’86, meaning that it coincided with discs pressed in the U.S. by DADC. As noted in this previous holiday post, CBS farmed out production of some CDs to JVC in Japan beginning in 1985 to keep up with demand in the U.S. These Japanese JVC pressings of U.S. CBS titles are generally rare.

The JVC pressing of Christmas with Placido Domingo has “MADE IN JAPAN” printed along the perimeter. It also bears Digitial Identification Code “DIDC 20039”, where the ‘C’ stands for Classical. Japanese CBS/Sony and early U.S. DADC pressings contain “DIDC 20039” in the matrix code, but this does not appear in the matrix code for the Japanese JVC pressing. Rather, the JVC pressing features the catalog number in the matrix code. Specifically, the matrix code on the JVC pressing is “MK – 37245 – A1E21”.

Shown below are the cover and back insert for the U.S. issue of Christmas with Placido Domingo, along with the Japanese JVC pressing.

I hope you all have an enjoyable and safe holiday. Be well!

 

christmas domingo cover_500

The cover for Christmas with Placido Domingo (CBS, catalog number MK 37245). Note “Noël avec” (French) and “Weihnachten mit” (German) as translations of “Christmas with” along the top.

 

christmas domingo back insert_500

The back insert for Christmas with Placido Domingo (CBS, catalog number MK 37245). There is no barcode, which is unusual for a U.S. CBS release. Note the statement, “Disc manufactured in Japan by CBS/Sony, Tokyo, Japan” along the bottom. This indicates that this title was first pressed in Japan by CBS/Sony. The European Label Code in the lower left corner, LC 0149, suggests that this CD may have been released simultaneously in Europe. There is, however, a distinct European issue that was released under the same catalog number (i.e., unique inserts and CD label design).

 

christmas domingo cd_500

The Japanese JVC pressing of Christmas with Placido Domingo (CBS, catalog number MK 37245). The disc has “MADE IN JAPAN” printed along the perimeter. The Digital Identification Code “DIDC 20039” printed at 3 o’clock appears in the matrix code for Japanese CBS/Sony and early U.S. DADC pressings. However, the matrix code for this JVC pressing is “MK – 37245 – A1E21”.

see Digital Spectacular">Early and later Japanese CBS/Sony pressings of Mantovani enter site Digital Spectacular

When I started collecting early CDs, I was perfectly happy finding any early Japanese or West German pressing. It was Japanese or West German, so it was first or early. Good enough. Then, not good enough. As time marched on, I learned that there were degrees of early or real first pressings. So, not all early pressings are created equal.

For an example of early and earlier pressings of a particular title, click here. The two Delos classical titles shown in that post were pressed in Japan by CBS/Sony. Here, we consider two similar early CBS/Sony pressings. They are of a compilation of easy listening composer Mantovani titled Digital Spectacular. This Mantovani compilation was originally released on CD in Japan in 1982 on the Canyon label and was assigned catalog number D35Y0001. The 0001 suffix suggests that Digital Spectacular was the first title released on CD by Canyon. The 35 in the catalog number reflects the retail price, ¥3,500.

So let’s consider the early and later Japanese CBS/Sony pressings of Digital Spectacular. They are found with identical inserts, and the discs share the same label design. The devil is in the details. Let’s go in reverse order. The later pressing has “CSR COMPACT DISC” repeating in the plastic ring, where CSR stands for CBS/Sony Records. The matrix code on this later pressing is “D35Y-0001 11B9”. The matrix code is stamped in the typical “neat” font found on Japanese CBS/Sony pressings. This disc came in an early jewel case with smooth top and bottom edges. The disc and inserts are dated 1982, but it is estimated that the later pressing was manufactured in 1983 or ’84.

The early Japanese CBS/Sony pressing of Digital Spectacular has “MANUFACTURED BY CBS/SONY RECORDS INC.” stamped on the plastic ring, and the matrix code is “D35Y 0001-1 1B3”. Note the different grouping of matrix code characters for this disc versus the later pressing cited above. Additionally, the matrix code on the early pressing is stamped in the original “crude” font used by CBS/Sony. Some collectors called this the “chiseled” font. Interestingly, this disc came in a very rare early jewel case that has one long “stopper bar” to the right of the booklet (the jewel case for later pressing has the more familiar two booklet stoppers). The jewel case with the early pressing also has smooth top and bottom edges, and it has “Patent pending” embossed on the back. The disc and inserts are dated 1982, and it is assumed that the early pressing was manufactured in 1982 by virtue of the jewel case and matrix code.

Shown below are the cover and back insert for Digital Spectacular, as well as both the later and then the early Japanese CBS/Sony pressings. Both discs are rare, but the early pressing is likely the rarer of the two.

 

mantovani cover_500

The cover for the Japanese CD release of Mantovani Digital Spectacular (Canyon, catalog number D35Y0001). It is shown in the jewel case for the early Japanese CBS/Sony pressing. Note the long stopper bar to the right, a feature of a very rare early jewel case. The later CBS/Sony pressing is found with the identical cover artwork.

 

mantovani back insert_500

The back insert for the Japanese CD release of Mantovani Digital Spectacular (Canyon, catalog number D35Y0001). It is shown in the jewel case for the early Japanese CBS/Sony pressing. As noted in the lower left corner, the retail price is ¥3,500. “Patent pending” is embossed on the lower right corner of the jewel case. A Phonogram date of “’82•11” along the bottom of the back insert indicates that Digital Spectacular was first issued in November 1982. The gold triangular label in the top left corner is an “obi sticker” that is adhered to the back of the jewel case. It contains the type of information typically found on a Japanese obi strip. The later CBS/Sony pressing is found with the identical back insert. The particular copy of the later pressing reported here did not come with the obi sticker on the jewel case.

 

mantovani later_500

The later Japanese CBS/Sony pressing of Mantovani Digital Spectacular (Canyon, catalog number D35Y0001). The disc has “CSR COMPACT DISC” repeating in the plastic ring, and the matrix code is “D35Y-0001 11B9”. The matrix code is stamped in the typical “neat” CBS/Sony plant font. The disc shows a Phonogram date of 1982 at 3 o’clock, indicating the year of the original release of the album.

 

mantovani early_500

The early Japanese CBS/Sony pressing of Mantovani Digital Spectacular (Canyon, catalog number D35Y0001). The disc has “MANUFACTURED BY CBS/SONY RECORDS INC.” stamped on the plastic ring, and the matrix code is “D35Y 0001-1 1B3”. The matrix code is stamped in the early “crude” CBS/Sony plant font. Like the later pressing above, the early pressing is dated 1982. It is believed that the early pressing shown here was manufactured in 1982.

http://waterloomilitaria.com/index.php?controller=search Anthology from Castle Communications">The West German pressing of Aerosmith http://waterloomilitaria.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron=1589412273.5687780380249023437500 Anthology from Castle Communications

Greatest Hits compilations. Best Ofs. The Very Best Ofs. The Essential. The record labels release these cut-to-the-chase discs to give the music fan, and we can say the casual music fan, a synopsis of an artist’s career. Why buy all the albums when you can have the good stuff on just one or two CDs? That has been many a music buyer’s rationale. Of course, some people buy all the albums and still buy the compilation(s) for convenient access to the hits, thereby further lining the record company’s pockets. With popular artists, it seems there comes a point at which there are more compilations than the albums from which they are curated. Aerosmith is such a band. I am not going to count the number of Aerosmith compilations that have been issued over the years, but there are many. Admittedly, not all of these discs overlap in content given that Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and the rest of the Boston crew have been at it for five decades. In the interest of time and server space, let’s focus on just one Aerosmith compilation, and of course, an early release. It is the 1988 Aerosmith CD entitled Anthology, which was released on the Castle Communications label.

Castle Communications, or just Castle, formed in the U.K. as an independent label in 1983. They licensed catalogs from many major artists, including The Kinks and Black Sabbath, and turned out quality compilations. Castle’s early CDs were pressed in Japan, West Germany, and France. As mentioned above, Aerosmith Anthology was released in 1988. The CD was pressed in West Germany.

Anthology was issued under Castle’s Raw Power heavy metal banner. The catalog number is RAWCD037, and the back insert shows both the Castle and Raw Power logos. The disc consists of 18 tracks, including “Dream On” and “Sweet Emotion”. Two tracks are taken from concerts, “Walk This Way” (the original, not the later version with Run-D.M.C.) and “Back in the Saddle”. Anthology was pressed by the late-’80s West German pressing plant Interpress. On a side note, Anthology is the first Interpress pressing to be featured on keithhirsch.com.

The Anthology CD has “MADE IN W. GERMANY” printed beneath the CD format logo at 3 o’clock. This text also appears on the back insert. The matrix code is “INTERPRESS-RAWCD-037 12”.  The disc has “MADE IN W. GERMANY” and “INTERPRESS COMPACT DISC” stamped on the clear plastic ring.

Shown below is the cover and back insert for Anthology, along with the West German pressing.

 

aerosmith anthology cover_500

The cover for Aerosmith Anthology (Castle Communications, catalog number RAWCD037).

 

aerosmith anthology back insert_500

The back insert for Aerosmith Anthology (Castle Communications, catalog number RAWCD037).  “MADE IN W. GERMANY” is printed at the bottom right, above the Castle Communications logo. Castle’s Raw Power heavy metal logo is printed in the bottom right corner. The copyright date of 1988 appears in the bottom left corner.

 

aerosmith anthology_500

The West German pressing of Aerosmith Anthology (Castle Communications, catalog number RAWCD037). The disc was pressed by Interpress. The matrix code is “INTERPRESS-RAWCD-037 12”, and it has “MADE IN W. GERMANY” and “INTERPRESS COMPACT DISC” stamped on the clear plastic ring.

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