QUES / REMARK(S): Tarantula / That’s the Way 7\" vinyl

[manillascissor]

i only just noticed this:

1- Tarantula 7\":
http://spfreaks.com/default.aspx?page=C … &item=1638
the clear PVC sleeve is totally NOT that uncommon. i’ve got quite some examples in my own collection and i see the quite a lot in my local vinyl record store. this is especially so for coloured pressings and/or, of course, picture disc or shaped disc singles.

2- That’s the Way 7\":
http://spfreaks.com/default.aspx?page=C … &item=1842

point of interest, which i somehow must have just ‘missed’ before when reading the entries… –
> there are two totally different pressings!
please note!: i’m NOT talking about the colour variation here and now…

the UK pressing > purple > with the artwork dude credits > runs @ 45rpm.
the US pressing > reddish > missing the artwork dude credits > runs @33 rpm.

now, this is QUITE interesting stuff!!!

a – this pressing will not have been massive: i estimate 1.000 copies per territory? considering the current single market and the vinyl market?!
b- still: there were 2 different pressings made; one for the US market and one for the UK.
c – in and of itself, this is quite ‘strange’/special as the UK still is considered to be quite a valid vinyl market, whereas the US seems quite dead and buried for vinyl; apart from niche bands and/or specialised limited releases by (cult)labels…
d – so: they had to design and make 2 different stickers for this release…
e – where were these singles pressed?
f – were the reddish ones for sale in the UK too? or, only in the US? or, at all in the US?
g – so: there were TWO different pressing master plates made for just ONE and VERY LIMITED 7\" release!!!… as this follows immediately from the difference in running speed(s)!
h – now: i’m wondering if someone has both versions and could run a thorough check for the mix and master between the two! normally a single running @ 45rpm would be expected to sound ‘better’ as there’s more surface area for sonic information to be detailed (same length of the song, higher speed = more ‘distance’ in the groove covered…) when compared against the a single running @ 33rpm. (for reference, for example: the 12\" singles for TSP for, for instance, Cherub Rock or SIYL, both playing @ 45rpm sound way better and in more detail(s) when compared to the LP-version(s), playing @ 33rpm.)

main questions:
I – can someone check the versions to check if these are the same mixes / masters?
II – can someone chip in with a ‘reasonable’ explanation for two masters and two different pressings for a release which i highly doubt to have a pressing of more than 2.000 copies in total across the two pressings.

just curious.thnx.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

the colour (red vs. purple) is directly linked to the origin (us vs. uk).

and it’s not so weird to have a different pressing for us and uk. it’s happened before, and also for limited vinyl releases. check out the 1979 mixes 12\" for example. it was released in the us and in the uk, and both releases have a different rpm.

my theory is that it’s more common in the us to release 33 rpm vinyl singles. and in the uk 45 rpm vinyl singles are the norm.

either way, if the single gets a vinyl release in both uk and us, it’s only normal they have unique pressing plates. this has always been this way. (if this wasn’t the case, the vinyl is normally pressed in one country, and then maybe exported.)
check out the siamese dream vinyls, for an example of this: the little bit of talking between spaceboy and silverfuck is on side 3 on the us release, but on side 4 on the uk release. (or was it the other way around?)

quite interesting: yes. but not more than that, for me.
i have both, but i don’t feel like comparing much. i never heard any difference listening to them on my stereo, and i wouldn’t know what more i can do.

[Sven]

the colour (red vs. purple) is directly linked to the origin (us vs. uk).[/quote:sw4kiq7b]
agreed, that’s perfectly clear, indeed.

and it’s not so weird to have a different pressing for us and uk. it’s happened before, and also for limited vinyl releases. check out the 1979 mixes 12" for example. it was released in the us and in the uk, and both releases have a different rpm.

my theory is that it’s more common in the us to release 33 rpm vinyl singles. and in the uk 45 rpm vinyl singles are the norm.[/quote:sw4kiq7b]
which would be odd. i just can’t think of a valid reason for different rpms across these territories…
i can understand a 7" @ 33rpm to fit a longer time, but this fits perfectly on either speeds.
i checked some of my books on vinyl collecting and online sources, but was unable to find any hard rule for 33 rpm for US singles. as a matter of fact; most US pressings seem to adhere to the 45rpm speed.

either way, if the single gets a vinyl release in both uk and us, it’s only normal they have unique pressing plates. this has always been this way. (if this wasn’t the case, the vinyl is normally pressed in one country, and then maybe exported.)
check out the siamese dream vinyls, for an example of this: the little bit of talking between spaceboy and silverfuck is on side 3 on the us release, but on side 4 on the uk release. (or was it the other way around?)[/quote:sw4kiq7b]
of course two different pressing plates are not unique for split territory releases.
i was just wondering as to the why of two releases. this release was quite limited i estimate.
same as the 1979 mixes 12" indeed. i find it a little bit strange in fact to produce split releases for these quite limited editions.
therefore indeed: i wonder why there wasn’t just one pressing made, including subsequent import/export.

i just never noticed the difference in the SD vinyls. thanks for pointing that one out!

[manillascissor]

i don’t find this release very limited either. nothing suggests that to me.

[Sven]

the assumed quite limited amount pressed, at least to me, follows from the fact 7\" singles from quite popular and thus commercially ‘happening’ acts nowadays oftentimes turn out to be rather to very low in number/quantity.

TSP at the moment of release was commercially no ‘happening’ act, to say the very least.
this was the second single of an album which didn’t sell great, to any commercial standard.
the Tarantula-single failed to make quite an impact commercially too.
the market for singles is downright totally down the drain; especially in terms of cd singles; for the UK market the vinyl still holds some ground, mostly due to collector’s value(s).

my personal economic and commercial logic has it that it’s not quite that inconcievable for this release to have been kept quite low in quantity.
highly commercially interesting singles for TSP in the high times of SD clocked in at 5.000 copies (or a little bit more,maybe, for Disarm)…
i’d be very surprised if this single was pressed to that amount.
given the ‘relative scarcity’ in shops here in Holland (normally well stocked due to great import channels with the UK), i’d guess this was made to max. 2.000 copies for the UK and the same for the US, maybe less even for the US as the UK vinyl market is much much stronger.
for a release in these pressing figures to feature two different masters and pressings, this does remain quite odd to my taste. ok: the 1979 mixes 12\" was pressed in even lower numbers and was also split as per territory.
maybe in fact, the only reason IS a territorial issue of manufacturing, import/export, whatever to explain this hassle for just some couple of thousand (if that!) vinyl singles.
needless to say perhaps: the single failed to make quite an impact or dent in the charts.
somehow, i really feel this was to be expected and was indeed expected. which therefore begs the question as to why all the hassle with even two different vinyl pressings of this single for a song taken from a commercially failing record by an act failing to address a new audience commercially…?

[manillascissor]

i get what you’re saying, but i just see too many around, after 2 years.

also, was the 1979 7\" pressed at around 10,000?

and MCIS around 20,000?

[Cool As Ice Cream]

which therefore begs the question as to why all the hassle with even two different vinyl pressings of this single for a song taken from a commercially failing record by an act failing to address a new audience commercially…?[/quote:hzxo2u7f]
i guess they made the decision to release this 7" in both uk and us, for whatever reason.
and then they looked at what would be the cheapest option: press it once and export, or press it twice. i assume pressing it twice ended up cheaper, which is why they chose to press it twice.

look at all cd releases: even a silly ep like american gothic got pressings all over the world. (except the us. but i think that was because they decided not to have a cd release in the us, for whatever reasons.)
clearly they do that because it’s cheaper this way.

exceptions i can think of: special releases like the tafh box, or that zeitgeist deluxe edition (book-like). these were all made in the us, and then distributed all over the world. clearly in this case, manufacturing was too expensive to manufacture it on different locations.

[mirrorboxer]

Even more engaging and interesting than the colors/territory debate is the sleeves. Nobody has even mentioned the differences in the plastic for That’s the Way:

1. The US one has a clear plastic sleeve with a fold over flap
2. The UK one has a textured plastic sleeve that remains open at the top

POINT OF INTEREST

*My US clear plastic sleeve was stuck to the vinyl when I purchased it leaving markings on the vinyl, yet my UK vinyl remains unharmed.

[manillascissor]

that really sucks man.

[Author]

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