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What Is A Pressing?


grouse

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Following from JM's Auction thread, here are my definitions.

 

Original - A record intended for general release to the record buying public, made around the time of the recording.

 

Re-issue - A record made for general release to the record buying public but after the original release.

 

Pressing - A record made specially for the northern scene

(Columbia special products, those MGM things you could buy in Russ' little record booth on the balcony, bootlegs, and issues of the Carstairs ect) Pressings can either be legally done with the label owners permission or Illegal bootlegs.

 

Bootleg - A record made specially for the northern scene without the owners permission

May or may not look like the original.

 

Counterfeit - A record made specially for the northern scene without the owners permission and intended to look like the original.

 

You may or may not agree with the above but they are what I have always used when trying to describe a record...

 

Edit:

 

All British including Grapevine and Kent etc

Who cares, they are just another foreign release, although I do have a few which don't exist as original (Betty Boo etc)

Edited by grouse
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Pressing - A record made specially for the northern scene

(Columbia special products, those MGM things you could buy in Russ' little record booth on the balcony, bootlegs, and issues of the Carstairs ect) Pressings can either be legally done with the label owners permission or Illegal bootlegs.

 

Bootleg - A record made specially for the northern scene without the owners permission

May or may not look like the original.

 

 

 

Confused.

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It's nowhere near as straightforward as that. When bands/artists become popular previously unreleased singles and albums get released by labels that they were originally signed to. They are "intended for general release to the record buying public" but not "made around the time of the recording" (both quotes are your terms of reference).

Furthermore, records used to stay on catalogue for years, sometimes with obvious changes to the label, sometimes without. The whole point about ypou needing knowledge and experience in the world of record (and other forms of) collecting is that you can't boil it down to a few basic statements.

 

Finally : Bootleg - a record made specially for the northern scene without the owners permission - where do all the Beatles, Bowie, Dylan, Joy Division etc, etc etc bootlegs fit into this definition..?

Edited by Godzilla
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It's nowhere near as straightforward as that. When bands/artists become popular previously unreleased singles and albums get released by labels that they were originally signed to. They are "intended for general release to the record buying public" but not "made around the time of the recording" (both quotes are your terms of reference).

 

They would be pressings.... specially made

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Finally : Bootleg - a record made specially for the northern scene without the owners permission - where do all the Beatles, Bowie, Dylan, Joy Division etc, etc etc bootlegs fit into this definition..?

They would be bootlegs, I was only talking about northern, as I don't collect Beatles records (they're British anyway so don't count) and have never heard of Joy Division

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Finally : Bootleg - a record made specially for the northern scene without the owners permission - where do all the Beatles, Bowie, Dylan, Joy Division etc, etc etc bootlegs fit into this definition..?

Always thought the term 'bootleg' does not really fit when describing illegal releases of previously legally released records.  

 

Bootlegs are really a 'rock'/'pop' thing and describe illegal releases of live shows and studio outtakes, normally of highly collectable and popular acts like those Paul lists.   Dylan's basement tapes for example or Something like 'Because The Night' by The New Jersey Devil (Springsteen)....

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Yes my friend, exactly what I said ages ago back, you'd have a box of pressings and you knew exactly what they were, no over complications - they were not originals

I don't think anyone would disagree with that would they?

 

Pressing though, the term has become somewhat legitimised dues to way items are described on ebay and more recent collectors don't understand the term as we do/did.  People have also over complicated matters in their own quest to be seen doing it the right way when they know they are doing it the wrong way.....if you get my drift.

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you can't say that......!

Correct Mike, I still love em still to this day.

I drive through Macclesfield very occasionally & it's like a holy town for me, birthplace of my hero.

I know a lad that still has a Warsaw EP called An Ideal For Living, (with a little drummer cat) been trying to prize it off him, no chance, he knows it's full value unfortunately. :-)

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Guest john s

I know a lad that still has a Warsaw EP called An Ideal For Living, (with a little drummer cat) been trying to prize it off him, no chance, he knows it's full value unfortunately. :-)

It's been pressed, you know. :)

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It's been pressed, you know. :)

 

First counterfeit of this was way back, 1981, I've still got the sleeve but no record (though they changed it slightly to The Ideal beginning)

Nobody really wants the EP though because it's such terrible quality, it's the 12" that people want, it was remastered.

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Ha ha, yeah I know, on 12", that Warsaw track was on on "unknown pleasures" & 'Still' anyway, if my memory serves.

The original fold out 7" with drummer boy only had a very very limited run, like 500 or so.

Proper collectable & rare.

 

Peter Hook was saying he scrapped as many of these when he got them back from the pressing plant because the quality was so bad then they paid for it to be reissued on 12". I know I said that above, but I'm just trying to make it more understandable :-)

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Peter Hook was saying he scrapped as many of these when he got them back from the pressing plant because the quality was so bad then they paid for it to be reissued on 12". I know I said that above, but I'm just trying to make it more understandable :-)

I'll have to read the book Pete, sounds good.

They were crap at business it seems?

Think they lost money on everything the did?

Cept Blue Monday of course!

Bet it's an interesting read that.

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I'll have to read the book Pete, sounds good.

They were crap at business it seems?

Think they lost money on everything the did?

Cept Blue Monday of course!

Bet it's an interesting read that.

They lost more money on the initial run of  the Blue Monday 12 inch in the die cut sleeve than almost anything else they did!

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My definitions:

 

Original - first legal press. Applies to local and later national releases, both original. Releases in other countries can be originals too if issued around the same time, e.g. within 2/3 years after the initial issue, e.g. UK Stateside issues

 

Reissue - much later legal re-release due to demand, be it from the Northern scene or Doo Wop scene or whatever. Independent of country of origin, e.g. most UK Grapevine releases are reissues even though they're first UK releases.

 

Pressings/Bootlegs: both the same, illegal re-releases. Or illegal presses of previously unissued recordings, e.g. Bob Dylan's infamous basement recordings.

 

Counterfeits: Pressings/Bootlegs made with every effort to look like the original presses.

 

Have I forgotten anything?

 

Edit: have amended the "pressings/bootlegs" bit.

Edited by Benji
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It took a while to break big didn't it?

More a a club record before radio/charts?

 

The number of copies it sold initially worked against them! Here's the info from Wiki, Ade :thumbsup:

 

The artwork is designed to resemble a 5¼" floppy disk. The sleeve does not display either the group name nor song title in plain English anywhere; the only text on the sleeve is "FAC SEVENTY THREE" on the spine. Instead the legend "FAC 73 BLUE MONDAY AND THE BEACH NEW ORDER" is represented in code by a series of coloured blocks. The key enabling this to be deciphered was printed on the back sleeve of the album, Power, Corruption & Lies.[17] "Blue Monday" and Power, Corruption & Lies are two of four Factory releases from this time period to employ the colour code, the others being "Confusion" by New Order and From the Hip by Section 25.

 

The single's original sleeve, created by Factory designer Peter Saville and Brett Wickens, was die-cut with a silver inner sleeve.[17] It cost so much to produce that Factory Records actually lost money on each copy sold. Matthew Robertson's Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album[18] notes that "[d]ue to the use of die-cutting and specified colours, the production cost of this sleeve was so high that the single sold at a loss." Tony Wilson noted that it lost 5p per sleeve "due to our strange accounting system"; Saville noted that nobody expected "Blue Monday" to be a commercially successful record at all, so nobody expected the cost to be an issue."[19] In Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records, Saville states "I am so bored with this story. We didn't even know how many of these expensive covers were ever made anyway."[20]

 

Robertson also noted that "[l]ater reissues had subtle changes to limit the cost" (the diecut areas being replaced with printed silver ink).[19]

The artwork was so late that Saville sent it straight to the printer, unreviewed by either the band or the label.[21]

The 1988 and 1995 versions were packaged in conventional sleeves.

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My definitions:

 

Original - first legal press. Applies to local and later national releases, both original. Releases in other countries can be originals too if issued around the same time, e.g. within 2/3 years after the initial issue, e.g. UK Stateside issues

 

Reissue - much later legal re-release due to demand, be it from the Northern scene or Doo Wop scene or whatever. Independent of country of origin, e.g. most UK Grapevine releases are reissues even though they're first UK releases.

 

Pressings/Bootlegs: both the same, illegal re-releases.

 

Counterfeits: Pressings/Bootlegs made with every effort to look like the original presses.

 

Have I forgotten anything?

 

Not bad Benji - However: Carver? Carver with photocopy label stuck on :lol:

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Oiginal

Re-Issue.....2nd press or another label but legal

Bootleg illegal

counterfeit illegal and made to deceive.

 

Yep, that's pretty much it Chalky - apart from the spelling of original  :wink:  Apart from that, it's simple and accurate - why complicate this -unless one wants to deceive?

 

Cheers

 

Richard

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I'll have to read the book Pete, sounds good.

They were crap at business it seems?

Think they lost money on everything the did?

Cept Blue Monday of course!

Bet it's an interesting read that.

 

Great book mate, unbelievable really, they were still staying in crappy b & b's and driving an old Ford Transit while making Closer - they literally had no money, Rob Gretton gave them like £9 each per week.  Very very good read.

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My definitions:

 

Original - first legal press. Applies to local and later national releases, both original. Releases in other countries can be originals too if issued around the same time, e.g. within 2/3 years after the initial issue, e.g. UK Stateside issues

 

Reissue - much later legal re-release due to demand, be it from the Northern scene or Doo Wop scene or whatever. Independent of country of origin, e.g. most UK Grapevine releases are reissues even though they're first UK releases.

 

Pressings/Bootlegs: both the same, illegal re-releases.

 

Counterfeits: Pressings/Bootlegs made with every effort to look like the original presses.

 

Have I forgotten anything?

I don't agree with 'Bootlegs' being described as 'illegal re-releases'  - I  remain convinced a bootleg is a release of a previously unreleased track be it 'Live' or a studio take/outtake NOT previously released legally...

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I don't agree with 'Bootlegs' being described as 'illegal re-releases'  - I  remain convinced a bootleg is a release of a previously unreleased track be it 'Live' or a studio take/outtake NOT previously released legally...

 

I think I agree with you Mike.  Correct name for an illegal copy of a ptreviously released 45 is a pirate copy.  

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They are all pressings.....that`s how records are made!

It's more of a squeeze than a press....it's made on a press tho...i think they should be called squeezeds...

I have seen a first issue of The Wall Pink Floyd....demand picked up and changes were made so I presume that's a second issue, third and forth...then years after to maintain the catalogue it could have been reissued but after it was not in production for a time....but if someone took a cut from the master tape and pre released then that's the bootleg copy...so if it's copied after the release it's a counterfeit.

Edited by Prophonics 2029
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I don't agree with 'Bootlegs' being described as 'illegal re-releases'  - I  remain convinced a bootleg is a release of a previously unreleased track be it 'Live' or a studio take/outtake NOT previously released legally...

 

Sorry, but that's just semantic bullshit. Basically, bootleg=pressing=pirate copy. An illegal release. Please don't get into anal details, e.g.  like some major UK company didn't have the rights to release certain songs back then. Or the recording wasn't released at the time e.g. Bob Dylan's basement tracks. If you press a record to satisfy demand from the peer group without the rights it's illegal, a bootleg, a pressing, a pirate copy.

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Not bad Benji - However: Carver? Carver with photocopy label stuck on :lol:

 

Good question. Carvers sold are illegal presses. Carvers cut for home listening are ok in my opinion. I have two myself. But if you use carvers to play at dances you commit a crime according to OVO law and therefore you shall be tarred and feathered.

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Bloody hell....... that's awful

It sounds more Velvet Underground than Nolan...but then VU could have inspired N F Porter...didn't Nolan have a megga fit and famous girl friend / wife.??

I use to have a bootleg tape of this and all the Warsaw 1978 stuff...it wasn't scrapped..issued a lot later but that's all 36 years ago and I could be wrong.

Edited by Prophonics 2029
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My definitions:

 

Original - first legal press. Applies to local and later national releases, both original. Releases in other countries can be originals too if issued around the same time, e.g. within 2/3 years after the initial issue, e.g. UK Stateside issues

 

Reissue - much later legal re-release due to demand, be it from the Northern scene or Doo Wop scene or whatever. Independent of country of origin, e.g. most UK Grapevine releases are reissues even though they're first UK releases.

 

 

So what is your opinion on album only tracks, later released on a 45 to cover demand? As a bad example The Tempests - Someday on the Sevens label (although i'm not to sure of the legitimacy of this) are these an original 45? this would count as the original 45 release. (not that i would ever play it out (i don't even have a copy) but have seen it played.

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1/ a bootleg is an unofficial or illegal issue of a recording that's never been released.

 

2/ a pirated song is one that's shared illegally (think pirate radio).

 

3/ a pressing is, quite literally, something that's been pressed or has been issued! It should be preceded by words such as "1st", "2nd", "illegal", "legitimate" or any appropriate adjective. More modern day usage (as in this context) omits the words "illegal", "dodgy", "suspect", which is why many people find its use confusing.

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My definitions:

 

Original - first legal press. Applies to local and later national releases, both original. Releases in other countries can be originals too if issued around the same time, e.g. within 2/3 years after the initial issue, e.g. UK Stateside issues

 

Reissue - much later legal re-release due to demand, be it from the Northern scene or Doo Wop scene or whatever. Independent of country of origin, e.g. most UK Grapevine releases are reissues even though they're first UK releases.

 

Pressings/Bootlegs: both the same, illegal re-releases.

 

Counterfeits: Pressings/Bootlegs made with every effort to look like the original presses.

 

Have I forgotten anything?

We used to use the term "pressing" for both legal and illegal reissues. Bootleg was used to be more specific when obviously illegal, but pressing was a more umbrella term for anything we knew wasn't the original.

It seemed to work ok back then!

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So what is your opinion on album only tracks, later released on a 45 to cover demand? As a bad example The Tempests - Someday on the Sevens label (although i'm not to sure of the legitimacy of this) are these an original 45? this would count as the original 45 release. (not that i would ever play it out (i don't even have a copy) but have seen it played.

 

Pretty simple, "cover demand" are the key words. Tempests on Sevens would have been a reissue if it was legal. But I never heard of Tempests on Sevens. I know of Tempests on Stardust and that 's a bootleg because of lack of rights. It would be a first 45 press but not an original 45 release.

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We used to use the term "pressing" for both legal and illegal reissues. Bootleg was used to be more specific when obviously illegal, but pressing was a more umbrella term for anything we knew wasn't the original.

It seemed to work ok back then!

 

"We used" and "back then" are the key words. This is 2015 and not the 70's. Some terms have changed. Accept it.

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Weller has taken music from everywhere. Backyard Construction are owed a few quid for My Ever Changing Moods and Nick Lowe should take him to the cleaners.

 

 

Wiggy are you basing your observations on the similarity in the music or more the shirts they are wearing? :-)

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Pretty simple, "cover demand" are the key words. Tempests on Sevens would have been a reissue if it was legal. But I never heard of Tempests on Sevens. I know of Tempests on Stardust and that 's a bootleg because of lack of rights. It would be a first 45 press but not an original 45 release.

Sorry i meant "Stardust", But as the first issue on a 45 it has to be an original 45 issue (ie first time ever issued on a 45), original = first.

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