Promo copies

[buckaroo]

Originally Posted by KEN

In buying a 12" record, those records or promos that were issued in a 45 rpm format usually had superior sound quality when compared to 33 1/3 rpm. The trick is to find a 12" copy in pristine condition. As stated above, if the 12" single was not stored properly, both promo and commercial releases could be of inferior quality. If you get lucky and find a clean copy, there is not much difference in sound quality of commercial versus promo releases, unless one is 45 rpm and the other is 33 1/3 rpm...

And there are one more set of 12" singles issued that we haven't addressed, namely test pressings. And you thought this was an easy question...

Yes. That's one of the main reasons I stopped seriously collecting records a few years back. Because unfortunately, many of the LPs and singles from the '70s and '80s I saw were scratched up.

Originally Posted by Simon White

I like to physically look through records, spotting things I don't know that look interesting ect.

Yeah, you can't beat that feeling when you flip through some records and finally find that track you've been after for years. But I just can't be arsed to spend hours in a record shop anymore . Also, as I mentioned in a early post, technology has caused quite a few record stores to close recently, because they didn't forsee things, and continued to charge hefty dosh for vinyl: Reckless Records, Tower Records, etc.

[Simon White]

Originally Posted by buckaroo

Yes. That's one of the main reasons I stopped seriously collecting records a few years back. Because unfortunately, many of the LPs and singles from the '70s and '80s I saw were scratched up.


Yeah, you can't beat that feeling when you flip through some records and finally find that track you've been after for years. But I just can't be arsed to spend hours in a record shop anymore . Also, as I mentioned in a early post, technology has caused quite a few record stores to close recently, because they didn't forsee things, and continued to charge hefty dosh for vinyl: Reckless Records, Tower Records, etc.

Hate to admit it but I can't put the hunting hours in like I used to either. I put it down to err....maturity.... the relative lack of 'good' things to look for and (for Northern Soul stuff) the "price guides", which have ruined casual collecting.

As you say Buckeroo, the slow death of vinyl shops is a big factor and the bad condition of lots of records...is scratching and mixing to blame? But there are still shops out there especially in London..Soul Brother and Crazy Beat spring readily to mind and the monthly Black Music Fair in Kilburn is always worth checking out, as are the record fair at Spitalfields market and, to a lesser extent Portobello Rd. It was probably awful, but I'm still annoyed with myself that I didn't buy the 12" of Patti Boulaye doing Melba Moores 'You Stepped Into My Life' I saw there a few weeks back for one pound....but I didn't like the sellers attitude !

[buckaroo]

Originally Posted by Simon White

...I didn't like the sellers attitude !

Tell me about it!! Some of these guys think they're doing us a favour, by letting us buy their shit.

The last time I went into Soul Brother (early '90s), I found it a bit pricey

[Simon White]

Originally Posted by buckaroo

Tell me about it!! Some of these guys think they're doing us a favour, by letting us buy their shit.

The last time I went into Soul Brother (early '90s), I found it a bit pricey

Price is a sensitive issue especially these days eh, buckeroo? But the small specialist independent shops really struggle partly because the big shops offer massive discounts while at the same time stocking less and less music, especialy the type we want.
The likes of Crazy Beat and Soul Brother, both who have huge stocks of the music we love, deserve support when possible because without that support I fear they won't exist much longer !

[kaliffen]

Im buying promos and normal versions, it depends on how the tracklisting is and to some extend how the label looks like.
There are quite a few promo only versions of good tracks (Spanish Hustle), and there are quite a few completely boring promos (80% of all Prince) that had a better commercial released version.

I hate Prelude promos...looks bad and running 45, however the instrumental version of sharon redds Never gonna give up is not available on the normal release. However i think Tommyboys first promos are cool because they are soooo rarely seen, but my planet rock is missing the bonus beats.

I have a good collector friend that hates promos because they were/are so common compared the normal releases. But perhaps that is only true for this area Copenhagen but we were flooded by US promos and cutouts in the early 80s exported from the US.
Read about them in this book Amazon.com: Hit Men: Books: Frederic Dannen

[Simon White]

Originally Posted by kaliffen

Im buying promos and normal versions, it depends on how the tracklisting is and to some extend how the label looks like.
There are quite a few promo only versions of good tracks (Spanish Hustle), and there are quite a few completely boring promos (80% of all Prince) that had a better commercial released version.

I hate Prelude promos...looks bad and running 45, however the instrumental version of sharon redds Never gonna give up is not available on the normal release. However i think Tommyboys first promos are cool because they are soooo rarely seen, but my planet rock is missing the bonus beats.

I have a good collector friend that hates promos because they were/are so common compared the normal releases. But perhaps that is only true for this area Copenhagen but we were flooded by US promos and cutouts in the early 80s exported from the US.
Read about them in this book Amazon.com: Hit Men: Books: Frederic Dannen

Interesting ..he thinks there are more promos than issues of some things ? I really do have my suspicions that this will turn out to be more and more true as more promos from DJ collections come onto the market having been stored away and looked after from the start while the issue are getting trashed.

[Cdnbob]

Hey guys thanks for all the info on promos versus retail. Found it really interesting. Just to add to the discussion, I recently started buying vinyl again and the funny thing is a lot of what vinyl I've been finding and buying has been promo copies. I've actually been surprised to find so many promo copies of disco stuff out there.

[Graham_Start]

Originally Posted by Cdnbob

Hey guys thanks for all the info on promos versus retail. Found it really interesting. Just to add to the discussion, I recently started buying vinyl again and the funny thing is a lot of what vinyl I've been finding and buying has been promo copies. I've actually been surprised to find so many promo copies of disco stuff out there.

It's not so surprising when you consider that a lot of the dance music on vinyl that's still circulating out there is from DJ collections.

There are a few releases where there were more promo copies pressed than commercial ones, but that would only be the case if the record was a serious flop (the Lightning album is a good example). If a label ends up giving away more copies than they sell, they can't have done too well on such a release.