pressing numbers etc...

[hoellihozb]

As far as I know this topic was not discussed until now.
But I think its quite interesting...

How much were pressed of a disco promo 12", and a commercial disco 12"?

I know, of course these numbers vary from label to label.
But if we are talking about mercury (for example), what numbers (ca.) were pressed. Perhaps somebody knows something...

It would also be interesting to know, whether there often were also 2nd/3rd/4th pressing promos as well?

1 example for a later pressed promo:
Exodus "Together Forever" on the charlotte amalie label was pressed twice, as far as I know. (???)
A lot of copies sold are different to the original 1st pressing.

greets!

[Forrrce]

There are no hard and fast answers for this one. It would be interesting to know if some labels (especially majors) had set runs on promos, though I guess individual quantites would have depended on the target markets and the artists' budgets.

I've never known why some records were promoed more than once. Michael Jackson's 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough', for instance, has at least 2 US promo 12"s - one has the LP version and the edit, while the other just has the LP version on both sides. The US issue 7" is the full-length LP version - I find this a little strange.

Some independents, like Prelude & West End, went through phases of promoing their 12"s on 45 rpm singles then commercially issuing them at 33 1/3. Again, I don't really see the point in doing this - if it were a sonics issue, why should the ones buying the records lose out?

There's also the angle of plain-and-simple remasterings, alternate mixes or radio edits, a capellas, different timings; and so on. I'm sure every case is different (and some erroneously so, maybe) but it's fun when an alternative to something you have shows up and there's an obvious difference.

[BrunoRepublic]

There are several records where promos are more common than commercial copies. The Lightning album on Casablanca is a good example, as are many of the more obscure AVI releases.

[hoellihozb]

Yes of course, and a lot of records never went to commercial status, such as India "You should be loving me"
This was just released as reprise promo, the first collaboration from kenny dope and louie vega

[in-the-groove]

I saw an old ad that Atlantic Records took out in Billboard magazine in late 1975 announcing the new Atlantic 12" Disco Disc series (DSKO numbering). According to that ad, Atlantic was pressing 3,500 copies of those early titles...

I think that promo pressing runs could vary wildly in number, even by label. For example, Columbia pressed certain titles with an eye primarily towards radio promotion... some of these radio-oriented pressings seem to be very hard to find today ("Hold The Line" by Toto and "Black Betty" by Ram Jam, for example) compared to pressings that were geared more to disco use ("Shake Your Body Down To The Ground" by The Jacksons, etc.).

Kevin

[Bernie]

I saw an old ad that Atlantic Records took out in Billboard magazine in late 1975 announcing the new Atlantic 12" Disco Disc series (DSKO numbering). According to that ad, Atlantic was pressing 3,500 copies of those early titles...

Nice info Kevin. Since it's coming from the label itself that gives everyone an accurate idea of how many of at least the first releases there were. Curious how many of the 7 inch 33's Atlantic pressed right before the switch to 12 inchers?

[Mixmachine]

[quote="Forrrce"].

Some independents, like Prelude & West End, went through phases of promoing their 12"s on 45 rpm singles then commercially issuing them at 33 1/3. Again, I don't really see the point in doing this - if it were a sonics issue, why should the ones buying the records lose out?

quote]

One reason may be that many customers returned to the shop very upset because they had been sold a defective record that played to "Slow" :lol: