Herbie Hancock "Stars in your eyes" .. 11 minute 12" dj promo mix

[ashley]

.. back in 1980 I purchased Herbie Hancock's "Monster" album, thinking the 7 minute LP version of "Stars in your eyes" was the long mix ..

.. so imagine my suprise after all these years to discover there was an unreleased 11 minute 20 second white label promo dj mix ..
:icon_mrgreen:
.. well, I should have known shouldn't I?

.. I've only just discovered the 12 minute U.S. promo version of Issac Hayes "Don't let go" .. which is a good 5 minutes longer than the British 12" issue .. those lucky U.S. 70s jocks were spoilt rotten by the U.S. record labels / pools .. I wonder how many other extended U.S. promo 12" mixes I'm yet to discover?

.. anyway .. CBS have finally put out the long 11 minute mix on 12" vinyl for us ordinary mortals to purchase .. check out the sound-clip on Juno:
Herbie HANCOCK - Stars In Your Eyes

.. the only small puzzling factor is that the label still reads "demonstatration copy not for sale" .. just like it did back in 1980 ..
:icon_eek:
.. maybe a few promo copies were found in the CBS vault & finally reached the shops after almost 30 years?

[the disco kid]

Ashley, it's a bootleg that's why it says demonstration copy on it. They just copied the label from an original promo. Seems like every sought after rare record is being bootlegged now a days. CBS / Columbia records have nothing to do with this release

[ashley]

.. bootleg or legally sanctioned re-pressing?
.. we may never know ..

.. this tune is currently very popular with the cosmic disco crowd ..

[BrunoRepublic]

.. bootleg or legally sanctioned re-pressing?
.. we may never know ..

We do know, and it's a bootleg.

[the disco kid]

.. bootleg or legally sanctioned re-pressing?
.. we may never know ..

.. this tune is currently very popular with the cosmic disco crowd ..

ummm, Ashely, like Graham said...we do know...

it's a bootleg, and it's because the "COSMIC" crowd has made this popular again that it was bootlegged.

[ashley]

.. well if this record is a bootleg, it looks very convincing ..
:icon_confused:
.. it arrived in sealed cellophane with a slight yellow discolouring of the record label (which suggests it could be an old copy) .. although the cardboard jacket itself looks new ..
:icon_confused:
.. it plays perfectly, with no obvious distortion or inferior sound .. but then I'm no expert in these matters ..
:icon_idea:
.. is there no possibility CBS could have licensed this for a european pressing? If this track appeared on some various artists compilation CD everyone would simply assume all royalty payments had been honoured ..
:icon_eek:
.. a couple of years back when British record label Almighty was putting together their "We love disco" double CD compilation, the compilers wanted the extended 5 minute 12" promo mix of Johnny Mathis "Gone gone gone" .. they approached CBS in the U.S. who could only provide a master of the original 3 minute album mix .. CBS had never bothered to keep the extended 12" version .. in any format whatsoever ..

.. so they had to find a surviving 12" vinyl promo copy and (with the permission of the licensee, of course) remaster it themselves ..
:icon_question:
.. so if CBS are agreeable to licensing their lost products, why should this case be any different?

.. If "Stars" has been adopted by the Paris cosmic space set, this will generate interest in Herbie's "Monster" album (which contains other equally good tracks) and is still available to purchase in all available formats .. it could even generate interest in Herbie's many other projects .. CBS can't loose .. they are in a win win situation .. without doing anything in the way of new (and expensive) promotion ..

[BrunoRepublic]

.. well if this record is a bootleg, it looks very convincing ..
:icon_confused:

Convincing to you, perhaps. It's blindingly obvious to everyone else that it's a fake. You seem to want so much to believe that it's legit, so very very much, despite the facts that I and others here present to you. IT IS A BOOTLEG.

.. it arrived in sealed cellophane with a slight yellow discolouring of the record label (which suggests it could be an old copy) .. although the cardboard jacket itself looks new ..
:icon_confused:

Big Clue #2 (Big Clue #1 being a promo copy for retail sale). They probably just scanned the label from the original.

.. it plays perfectly, with no obvious distortion or inferior sound .. but then I'm no expert in these matters ..

I'm not familiar with the track, so I don't know if it was released on a compilation somewhere at some point. But a good needle-drop with some declicking can give great results, and any flaws would be hard to discern from the surface noise on the new vinyl.

.. is there no possibility CBS could have licensed this for a european pressing?

If they had, it would have a barcode, legal details for the label, and would not say "DEMONSTRATION COPY -- NOT FOR SALE" on it. The lack of a barcode (that's how record sales are tracked these days!) is Big Clue #3. Even the purist reissue labels put stickers on the shrinkwrap with the barcode.

.. so if CBS are agreeable to licensing their lost products, why should this case be any different?

Because obviously... VERY OBVIOUSLY... they are NOT. Look, if you really believe this is legit, I know a Nigerian Prince who needs your help transferring some money outside of the country. Oh, and I'll sell you a new unlocked iPhone 3G for $150 too.

CBS can't loose .. they are in a win win situation .. without doing anything in the way of new (and expensive) promotion ..

A major label like Sony (BTW, that's Yet Another Big Clue! CBS has been gone for well over a decade!) doesn't bother promoting something of which they can only expect to sell a couple of hundred copies. They are interested in things that will sell tens of thousands of copies at the bare minimum. Big labels move slow, they are reluctant to license titles, there are lawyers to pay and contracts to sign for any release, and half the time they can't find the tapes anyway. It makes no business sense to reissue something so niche, especially not at a time like now when the music market is falling through the floor.

If this was a legit release, there would be some promotional material out there. A website, a sticker with current label legal details, a barcode so it could be tracked and sold in legit retailers, a website promoting other releases, and so on... and so on... and on and on and on... that's how business is done today. If a new record doesn't have these things, it's not legit, period.