Black Coffee In Bed – UK – 7″ – promotional DJ copy – edit
AMS 8219 DJ UK 7″ picture sleeve promotional copy
Description
AMS 8219 DJ UK 7″ picture sleeve promotional copy
Black Coffee In Bed / The Hunt
A specially edited version over a minute shorter for promotional use only (time 5:01). Has the words “Edited Version For Promotional Use Only” on the label.
The confusion over the number of edited versions of the song and the promos available gives rise to an interesting story from A&M, which goes like this:
“With reference to the above single, the following is a summary of the problems encountered in the last 24 hours and the action taken to remedy the situation.
Problem 1
Press using the “D.J” version for review
Problem 2
Damaged pressings of the “D.J” version sent to the promotion
department.
Comments
Normally any records which have been edited for the requirements of radio playback are designated as “promo” versions carrying the large ‘A’ logo and the statement “Promotion Copy not for resale”. These same records are also used by our Press Office for review purposes.
This procedure remains constant for all single releases and is only amended if I am specifically asked for a different course of action. Nobody asked me to provide the press office with the long version, hence press were provided with the edited version. When you brought this to my attention (last night) I advised the press office of the problem but unfortunately they had already sent out some of the product. This morning 50 copies of the longer (commercial) product were sent up to Mortimer Street in order that they could complete their mail-out this afternoon.
I received a call this morning from Ada who advised me that the promo Squeeze singles which he had been given carried a bad scuff across the recorded surface. I then checked the remaining promo copies in our New Kings Road warehouse and found them to be absolutely disgraceful. I would estimate that approximately 80% had excessive damage to either the A or B side rendering them unusable.
The result of this was that CBS immediately repressed 500 copies which were received at Mortimer Street mid afternoon and have now been mailed out from there.
In addition the total stock of commercial pressings held at Barlby Road is being examined for any similar damage.
The damage is caused at the bagging stage of the manufacturing process. All promo records are hand assembled, whereby the records come from the press on “spindles” which hold approximately 50 records, the record is then removed from the spindle and inserted into the bag prior to boxing up in packs of 50. Obviously, the packing operator is quite simply not lifting the record absolutely clear of the spindle so that the record is drawn across the tip of the spindle. This is probably one of the operators striving for a greater output per hour, hence the expression “less haste more pace”.
I can only apologise for any inconvenience which this has caused, all concerned with the single but assure you that in the time scale everything possible was done to retrieve the situation.”
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