NEW INFO AND INTERESTING RESEARCH BITS....

Hey there everyone...  So I'm going to restart this blog because recent research I've done has taught me quite a lot about collecting and variations of media types of albums.  For example, sometimes on cassettes you see one of two logos...  AR or SR.  Have you ever wondered what this actually means?  Well, here's the answer.  Back in the 80's there were 2 manufacturers who were producing cassette media for the major labels.  One was Specialty Records Corporation located in Pennsylvania and Allied Records Company located in California.  Cassettes marked SR would have been manufactured by Specialty Records Corporation and would've been distributed on the east coast whereas cassettes marked AR would have been manufactured by Allied Records Company and distributed on the west coast.  

Now whether or not this should count at a variation is easily answered...  Coins and other types of collectibles that are manufactured, struck or printed at multiple locations often carry a mark or indicator and are considered variations by collectors of those items.  A good example are the state quarters.  Collectors of the state quarters were struck in two locations, the Denver Mint and the Philadelphia Mint.  The Denver Mint quarters show a D under the date while the Philadelphia Mint quarters show a P.  For collectors, a quarter from each mint would be considered necessary for a complete collection.  

Therefore, I'm going to alter my list of cassettes to include AR and SR variations.  Eventually, the manufacturing was consolidated into WEA which printed not only US releases but some international versions as well.

I've also done some research into variant pressings commissioned by music clubs.  There were three different clubs that would order special printings for their customers.  These clubs were Columbia House, BMG and RCA.  Each one of these companies would use unique catalog indicators or barcodes to identify them as club releases and restrict their sales to club members only.  Although these releases are more rare than those sold in stores, their prices vary greatly.  Although they generally sell for less than their standard counterparts, some sellers ask for higher prices because of the rarity of the item.

RCA music club usually assigns a 7 digit identifier beginning with C followed by six numbers.  The code is printed on the cassette cover and on the spine.  It also appears on the cassette itself.  Another strong difference with these cassettes is they are usually printed on white plastic cassettes while the standard Paisley Park issue at the time was a clear cassette.

Columbia House would add a W4 to the last five digits of the barcode.  They would also offer white case variants as well as clear case variants.  

Anyway, I'll write more as I get further information.  I've decided I'll probably delete all entries thus far and focus on releases as I get them all.  We'll have to see what happens.  Right now, I need to rewrite my catalog.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY (8-TRACK) S124370

"Around The World In A Day" had two distinct 8-track releases.  Neither were commercially available in retail stores.  They were produced by music clubs for sale to their members.  

One was manufactured and distributed by RCA Music Club and the other was through Columbia House.  The Columbia House release featured a black casing and had the serial number W8 25286.  The RCA version features a cream colored casing and the serial number S124370.  

This entry covers the RCA release.

The versions of Prince albums appearing on 8-track are limited to only the first 3 Paisley Park albums.  At least that's my understanding.  I haven't seen another Paisley Park 8-track come up for auction or sale in awhile now..

The songs play in continuous sequence on 8-tracks.  There are four sections and each contains songs or portions of songs.

Here is the tracklist as it appears on my 8-track.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY
01. Around The World In A Day (Prince, John L. Nelson, David Coleman), Paisley Park (Prince), Condition Of The Heart (Beg.) (Prince)
02. Condition Of The Heart (Concl.) (Prince), Raspberry Beret (Prince), Tamborine (Prince)
03. America (Prince), Pop Life (Prince), The Ladder (Beg.) (Prince, John L. Nelson)
04. The Ladder (Concl.) (Prince, John L. Nelson), Temptation (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY (8-TRACK) W8 25286

"Around The World In A Day" had two distinct 8-track releases.  Neither were commercially available in retail stores.  They were produced by music clubs for sale to their members.  

One was manufactured and distributed by RCA Music Club and the other was through Columbia House.  The Columbia House release featured a black casing and had the serial number W8 25286.  The RCA version features a cream colored casing and the serial number S124370.  

This entry covers the Columbia House release.

The versions of Prince albums appearing on 8-track are limited to only the first 3 Paisley Park albums.  At least that's my understanding.  I recently watched "Parade" 8-track sealed in original packaging sell for over $400 on eBay.

The songs play in continuous sequence on 8-tracks.  There are four sections and each contains songs or portions of songs.

Here is the tracklist as it appears on my 8-track.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY
01. Around The World In A Day (Prince, John L. Nelson, David Coleman), Paisley Park (Prince), Condition O The Heart (Beg.) (Prince)
02. Condition O The Heart (Concl.) (Prince), Raspberry Beret (Prince), Tamborine (Prince)
03. America (Prince), Pop Life (Prince), The Ladder (Beg.) (Prince, John L. Nelson)
04. The Ladder (Concl.) (Prince, John L. Nelson), Temptation (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY (LP) W1-25286

I've already discussed the retail edition of this album.  This version was sold through a music club.  

There's very little difference between these two records.  In fact, the vinyl itself is the same.  The difference is in the packaging.  Like the regular version, the outer jacket wraps around and the differences can be found there.  On the spine, the reference number is W1-25286.  The other difference is the absence of a barcode.  It's missing from this version.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY

01. Around The World In A Day 03:25 (Prince, John L. Nelson, David Coleman)

02. Paisley Park 04:41 (Prince)

03. Condition Of The Heart 06:46 (Prince)

04. Raspberry Beret 03:31 (Prince)

05. Tamborine 02:46 (Prince)

06. America 03:40 (Prince)

07. Pop Life 03:42 (Prince)

08. The Ladder 05:26 (Prince, John L. Nelson)

09. Temptation 08:21 (Prince)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PARADE (CD/JAPAN) 0 7599-25395-2

It appears that even at the time of pressing for the "Parade" album, CDs were being manufactured out of country by Warner Bros.  The American releases of "Parade" featured CDs pressed in Japan, Germany and the United States.

Once again, black and white are the main colors appearing on the insert booklet and the cover.  The only color appearing occurs on the CD where the song titles are listed in red.

The tracking is the same as the LP and Cassette versions.  The German and Japanese pressings are housed in regular CD cases with inserts and packaging printed in the US.  But only the German and Japanese versions were encased in longboxes.  The US pressings were used for music club releases.  This is the Japanese manufactured disc.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PARADE
01. Christopher Tracy's Parade 02:11 (Prince, John L. Nelson)
02. New Position 02:21 (Prince)
03. I Wonder U 01:40 (Prince)
04. Under The Cherry Moon 02:57 (Prince, John L. Nelson)
05. Girls & Boys 05:30 (Prince)
06. Life Can Be So Nice 03:12 (Prince)
07. Venus De Milo 01:54 (Prince)
08. Mountains 03:58 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman)
09. Do U Lie? 02:43 (Prince)
10. Kiss 03:38 (Prince)
11. Anotherloverholenyohead 03:58 (Prince)
12. Sometimes It Snows In April 06:50 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PARADE (CASSETTE/WHITE) 0 7599-25395-4

Ok, this one is a little weird.  Normally, when you have a music club edition of a cassette, it's manufactured on a white cassette rather than the clear cassette with the black insert.  However, this is the normal commercial version of "Parade" except manufactured with the white cassette.

It shares the same serial number and identical insert as the clear cassette release and there are no markings to identify it as different from the more common version.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PARADE
01. Christopher Tracy's Parade 02:11 (Prince, John L. Nelson)
02. New Position 02:21 (Prince)
03. I Wonder U 01:40 (Prince)
04. Under The Cherry Moon 02:57 (Prince, John L. Nelson)
05. Girls & Boys 05:30 (Prince)
06. Life Can Be So Nice 03:12 (Prince)
07. Venus De Milo 01:54 (Prince)
08. Mountains 03:58 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman)
09. Do U Lie? 02:43 (Prince)
10. Kiss 03:38 (Prince)
11. Anotherloverholenyohead 03:58 (Prince)
12. Sometimes It Snows In April 06:50 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman)

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PARADE (CASSETTE) 0 7599-25395-4

The cassette release of "Parade" was the typical kind for Paisley Park during this time period.  The clear cassette with the black insert with white lettering.  The case was clear and the Paisley Park logo appears on the both sides of the cassette and on the cover insert.

Unlike the CD and LP versions of the album, the cassette shows the photo of Prince right side up.  Whereas, on the CD and LP, it's often to the side.

There are multiple versions of the cassette and I hope to discuss them all eventually.

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION - PARADE
01. Christopher Tracy's Parade 02:11 (Prince, John L. Nelson)
02. New Position 02:21 (Prince)
03. I Wonder U 01:40 (Prince)
04. Under The Cherry Moon 02:57 (Prince, John L. Nelson)
05. Girls & Boys 05:30 (Prince)
06. Life Can Be So Nice 03:12 (Prince)
07. Venus De Milo 01:54 (Prince)
08. Mountains 03:58 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman)
09. Do U Lie? 02:43 (Prince)
10. Kiss 03:38 (Prince)
11. Anotherloverholenyohead 03:58 (Prince)
12. Sometimes It Snows In April 06:50 (Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman)