Hi Chris, you are spoiling us with all these vids - keep up the good work, some great stuff shown! Re Factory Samples - I've just had a look on a Facebook group I belong to showing off first pressings of records. Lots of examples on there on the Factory Samples, including Decca and Philips pressings - those stickers are in a different format to the more common EMI ones you discussed. There is not a single comment as to where these come from. I would have thought someone might know, but could find nothing. I have an unusual example though on my copy of Valentine by Roy Harper (great album). We have the FS sticker on this, but the Harvest labels have the Gramophone wording on one side and the EMI wording on the other. The two labels are also totally different shades of green. It was sold to me sleeveless (Ebay). This may indicate a factory reject in this case. It doesn't really explain the majority of other cases though. The mystery may be solved one day!

@thesuffolkrecordcollector680

7 ай бұрын

Hi George,always great to hear your comments,I posted the video to try and solve the issue as I wanted to know ,never really expected to find out,,Iny opinion the power of you tube is amazing ,who would have thought they were sent to local news papers for review ,so really they are another type of promo in a way .. All the best chris..

Another enjoyable video. I have a copy of Free At Last from that 1984 Polystar run of reissues and the sound quality is far better than my original UK pressing. My copy isn't the promo white label though just the blue one but I can confirm the regular pressings do sound great and anyone needing a new copy should snap it up if they see it at right money.

@thesuffolkrecordcollector680

7 ай бұрын

Hi Martin ,can't agree more with you,mine were cheap and for me we're a no brainer,haven't seen any since ,but I very rarely shop online ,probably why I haven't seen any.. All the best chris..

Jeez Chris, you're becoming a prolific video maker!.. I have that same sticker on my copy of Fully Qualified Survivor..I guess I thought it was a promo copy but your alternative explanations could be just as likely. Thanks again for the shout out along with your kind and complimentary remarks about my channel. You're absolutely right about not having pre conceived feelings towards music we've never heard..there's so much variety out there in music to discover and enjoy..I often feel for people who are obsessed with just one genre of music and never look to broaden their horizons, they're definitely missing out.

@thesuffolkrecordcollector680

7 ай бұрын

Rob I have just had a definitive answer to to the question of the sticker,an elderly gentleman local to me who worked on a local news papers as a journalist and record reviewer for 50 years has told me that the sticker in question was put on at the record plant to send to local news papers as review copys,the big papers ie,nme etc,and radio stations got the white label promos,local news papers weren't deemed large enough so they just put that sticker on ,plus that sticker as far as he knows is always on a true 1st pressing. I'm quite amazed that I got an answer as people I know didn't really know what that sticker was ,the power of you tube.. All the best chris..

@robison5396

7 ай бұрын

@@thesuffolkrecordcollector680 Thanks for the explanation..I wonder which papers got our copies then?.

@thesuffolkrecordcollector680

7 ай бұрын

Well he worked for a local paper here in Suffolk called the east anglian and freelance to the local paper in Sudbury which is only 10 miles from me ,so a local paper near from where you bought the record from might might be the awnser rob.. All the best chris..

Chris: Hello from a fellow son of God's own country (Sudbury to be specific) and a retired provincial journalist of near enough 50 years experience. I think I can clear up your stickers confusion. Back in the day, record companies would send white-label promos to radio stations, specialist music mags and national newspapers to generate pre-release publicity but they would also lift records from the first production run and ship them out to reviewers on regional and local papers. More often than not they would stamp or sticker the covers, sometimes even cutting a notch in the corner, to underline that technically these remained the property of the company who didn't want them being flogged on the black (well, greyish) market. It sounds a mite petty but hundreds of copies of hundreds of albums potentially adds up to a fair chunk of change each year. I should add, hand on heart, that I never resold a record but because I didn't like the artwork being obscured I habitually removed the stickers. That sometimes meant the sleeve was damaged but, ironically enough, even when the sticker came off clean I probably reduced its rarity value in today's VC market! Hope that helps and please keep up the good work. I only subscribe to two of the countless 'old bloke talks about music' channels and your's is a particular treat because it proves that the Suffolk accent hasn't been completely swamped by Estuary English commuters...

@thesuffolkrecordcollector680

7 ай бұрын

Hi Alan,thank you for your kind words,and also thank you for clearing this up for me ,I would never have known the stickers were for local and regional news papers as review copy's ,thank you I would never have known that ,it had been bugging me for a long time.. All the best chris..

@georgeprior-vinylshowtell4934

7 ай бұрын

Interesting stuff Alan - should have read this before posting my own reply above!

Just guessing.but I would say there were taking off the production line and played to test and could not be sold as new so we’re giving away to promoters shop to play in shops

@thesuffolkrecordcollector680

7 ай бұрын

No I have just had an answer to that from a local reporter,who worked at a local newspaper for 50 years ,they are review copies for local newspapers