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We've said it before and we'll say it again - we love mispressings. This one seems to be a rather large screwup though!
It combines two different Jukebox 7"s from two different bands! The A-Side is "A Secret Place (Edit)" by Megadeth which was taken from their Jukebox single with "Trust" as the B-Side.
The second side is "Peanut Butter & Jelly" taken from the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" Jukebox 7".
We know the Beastie Boys have had split singles before, but they would not have used an album B-Side like PB&J, they would have used one of the singles like Intergalactic, which is why we believe this is a mispressing.
The Sounds of Science Anthology - it was to be a crowning jewel for Grand Royal which was close to shutting its doors.
It was eventually released in a 4LP set by Capitol Records, but originally it was to be released by Grand Royal. That's what make these Test Pressings for the Grand Royal version that much more special than usual. Coming in the standard Record Technology Incorporated stamped sleeves, they are nothing out of the ordinary to look at, but rest assured they are pretty cool when you think about the history of them.
A real gem for both Money Mark and Mo'Wax record label collectors today... the unreleased sleeve for the 'Push The Button' album. And both the vinyl and cd editions!
These were the original design for the sleeve which was scrapped before going into production. The foldout hard sleeve design was subsequently used by another MoWax release: Psyence Fiction by UNKLE (which had a guest appearance by Mike D but that's another story).
Rumoured to be only 5 copies in existance of each.
7", 10" and 12" Acetates are something of a rarity within Beastie Boys collecting. The only ones we knew about in collector's hands were the two Intergalactic 10"s (Prisoners Of Technology mix and DeeJay Punk-Roc mix) and the Country Mike EQ Balance 12".
Well here are two more for the list - both 12" acetates for The Scientists Of Sound.
The first one is single sided and was created on the 9th of June, while the second one was made the next day and is double sided.
Both were created by Bernie Grundman Mastering and feature the original catalogue number for this release (GR063) as opposed to the number it was eventually allocated (GR071).
I love typos on the early releases... like the Spanish LP "Licensed To Kill".
Today's mispressing is what we assume to be the original Dutch pressing of "She's On It". Instead of "Beastie Boys" we have "Beasty Boys".
All etchings in the runout groove are the same, and the sleeve is the same, so it was simply a vinyl label problem.
How many of these were printed? We have no idea.
An interesting thing to note is that we have more mispressing variations for She's On It than any other release.
If you thought the Intergalactic 12" Promo released in Sweden was hard to track down, what about it's Test Pressing!
Where as 100 copies of the Promo were pressed, only a handful of Test Pressings were created.
We all expected the following records to exist, but it's still damn exciting to finally track them down and confirm what is on them.
Show Vinyl - we all love show vinyl. Firstly they are extremely rare and secondly they usually contain instrumentals and slightly different versions of tracks available elsewhere.
Today we bring you more from the Hello Nasty tour - numbers 1 and 2. #1 Contains cuts from Licensed To Ill and #2 has Paul's Boutique tracks.
We already knew about #5 and #6 (which have Hello Nasty tracks along with miscellaneous beats), but what about #3 and #4? Logic would suggest they contain instrumentals from Check Your Head and Ill Communication but none of us have spotted them before so we can only speculate.
Costa Rica - stunning rainforests, beautiful beaches and yet another country to add to the list of places that released Licensed To Ill on vinyl.
We have know about the Brass Monkey 7" that was pressed in Costa Rica for quite a few years now, but up until recently this was the only release we knew about.
Figuring that surely they released something other than one 7" (and it not even being 'Fight For Your Right'), we decided to do some research and uncovered they did indeed press the first album as well.
Did they press other singles or even possibly Paul's Boutique as well? Who knows.
Something that has been flying under the radar for a while now - a US Promo 12" for Luscious Jackson's Naked Eye. Why did it take so long to find? Well on first glance it looks identical to the UK Promo 12" that comes in the plain die-cut sleeve.
Putting both records side by side, the only noticable difference is the UK copy has "For Promotional Use Only. Not For Sale" in a small font under the band name.
The US version is also a promo but for some reason neglected to include this information.
Both versions have the same track listing and both have non-standard catalogue numbers etched into the run-out groove ("LJ NAKED" and "GRAND ROYAL 96").
What's cooler than concert show vinyl? Not much in my collector's opinion.
Today we have the first show vinyl we have seen to surface from the Ill Communication era. What is even more exciting is that it features 3x (as far as we can tell) exclusive instrumental versions:
Just when you think you have all the possible versions of a release covered, someone goes and discovers a 'new' old variation.
An Italian pressing of 'Pass The Mic' on 12" vinyl. The only other Beastie singles to have been released in Italy that we know of is 'Hey Ladies' (on 7" and 12").
So are there other singles out there as well? 'So WhatCha Want' perhaps?
A Test Pressing with a different catalogue number to the finished product.. now this is interesting!
Pressed on the 11th of October 1994, this Test Pressing for (DJ) Hurricane's The Hurra LP does not feature "GR016" as you would expect for this release. Instead it has "CANE-001".
We have not seen any commercially released copies with this etched into the runout groove. So what is the story behind this? We wish we knew.
It comes in the standard RTI (Record Technology Incorporated) stamped sleeve with simple "A" and "B" stamped vinyl labels. Discography : The Hurra 12" : US [CANE-01] (Test Pressing)
21-Oct-09: We just realised that this is in fact a Show Vinyl! It contains instrumentals from the album, which explains the catalogue number!
We've been holding this one back for a while now, trying to get some more information on it.
We all know that Ill Communication was initially released by Grand Royal on Green Vinyl, but what if we told you there was a different coloured version also pressed?
Test Pressings were actually created on Blue Vinyl. According to someone working at Grand Royal at the time, the test pressings were done in blue because the plant was already doing a run of blue vinyl for someone else and they had the vinyl already mixed.
The record comes in a plain white sleeve and has Record Technology Incorporated (RTI) vinyl labels. The record was actually pressed on the 1st of April (April Fools Day) which makes it even funnier.
With all the hype around the new release of Paul's Boutique, here at Beastiemania we recently discovered an original (1989) blue cassette out of Canada. Though similar to the shade of blue to the US version, the Canadian version is distinct in the fact it has no sticker label on the cassette and the whole tape is solid blue.
Now, if you are a tape collector this is a huge find and brings up the question, "are there other color variations out of Canada?".
We thought that this old release that we finally got our hands on would suite today's site update.
"Let It Snow" was a track released by Luscious Jackson in 1999 but was only available on two releases. The first was as a b-side for the Nervous Breakthrough Jukebox 7" and the second was on this one track promo CD.
It comes in a standard jewel case and has both front and back inserts. The front image seems to be a picture of a beehive with a star and christmas lights on it. We assume this is to do with the 'Electric Honey' theme, but unfortunately it kind of looks like a fake green dog turd with lights on it.
The inside image however is a great picture of the group rocking out in snow gear.
This is a surprisingly hard to get promo and with this near exclusive track, is a great addition to anyone's Luscious Jackson collection.
What do you get when you combine Show vinyl (the ultimate collector's dream) with Paul's Boutique (the fan favourite album)?
A damn expensive and rare record is what! We had known of a single 12" show vinyl from the Paul's Boutique era, but here we have a second accompanying 12". Where as the first was "S-22800 INST 976 A/B", this is "...C/D".
This was even mentioned in Dan Leroy's excellent book on Paul's Boutique. Now to wipe the drool from my keyboard...
Those wacky guys over at Def Jam back in the 80s! This Spanish vinyl release of Licensed To Ill was sent out prior to the album being available and actually contains no grooves.
The 'record' has the full gatefold picture sleeve and vinyl labels that were used on the later commercially released version, but this came with an insert stating "If you are not satisfied with 'this record' call or write at P.Castellana... and 'fight for your rights (to receive a real record)' With the Beastie Boys you never know..." .
We found one of these on ebay and when researching it to add to the Discography, one of our staff members checked his spanish pressings at home and realised he had one as well, but had not noticed the lack of grooves before. I guess these things can happen when you have *that* many copies of the one album.
Someone recently came over to my house and was amazed at all the different copies of Licensed To Ill I have on vinyl, but what amazes me more is that we are still finding new pressings that we haven't even heard of before.
Our good friend 'Big Fat Love' dropped a bombshell on us this week with a copy pressed in Hong Kong. It makes sense when we thought about it seeing as there was already a cassette version made in Hong Kong, but this is the first piece of HK vinyl for the Beastie Boys we have seen.
No obi-strip like the Japanese version, but it does come with a lyric sheet insert printed in English.
A documentary recording released in 1998 called 'The Beast Inside' although not very common, has been known to collectors for a while, but until recently we did not know about a CDR version.
Released in a jewel case with BBC Radio International labels, we have no idea how many were created, but it can't be too many as this is the first one we have seen since it came out ten years ago.
Remember when Grand Royal closed and went up for auction? There was a stack of interesting items in the auction that the winner would get, and a lot of those items were DAT tapes. Unfortunately there were no cool Beastie Boys items listed, it was all material by the other Grand Royal artists.
This is the sort of thing we wanted to see in that auction - a Beastie Boys Root Down DAT.
Dated the 27th of April 1995, this features the tracks that were released on the Canadian and UK 12", but unlike those 12"s where the Israeli Radio Commercial is hidden at the end, this is listed on the sleeve as "So What'Cha Want (Israeli Version)".
How is it that the "So What'Cha Want" single was released 15 years ago and we have only just recently discovered that there was a second country that pressed up a vinyl version?
We all know about the American pressing, but did you know there was also one made in Germany? It features the same artwork as it's counterpart, but only contains 3 tracks and not 7.
Very similar to the German "Jimmy James" 12", the vinyl labels use the classic Capitol Records design (like Paul's Boutique) and not the newer design like the American ones.
With the unearthing of this release, there is now a bigger question - is there a German pressing for "Gratitude" or "Pass the Mic"?
Did you know that Zimbabwe used to release vinyl? We certainly didn't, which is why this rare find was a total surprise.
A pressing of Licensed To Ill (or as the labels state "Licenced To Ill") with the text "Manufactured and Marketed by Zimbabwee Music Corporation" printed on the back.
This has the came catalogue number as the South African pressing, but the vinyl labels look totally different.
What other countries out there released Beastie Boys vinyl that we don't know about yet?
Another Test Pressing out of the vaults... a Get It Together 12" pressed by Rainbo Records in 1994.
What makes this so special is the fact that it does not match any existing records that we know of. There is one track on the record - the Clean Version, which is repeated on the second side.
The catalogue number is "SPRO 79367" but this was not used for any other Beastie Boys releases. Was this 12" used simply to check the sound quality of the Clean Version, was it actually going to be pressed as a Promo with the Clean Version on each side? (doubtful), was it a mispressing that should have contained a different mix on the b-side? Who knows?
An interesting item for both Beastie Boys and Grand Royal collectors today. This is the Test Pressing for the Scientists Of Sound 12", which was the first in the "Blow Up Factor" series.
What is interesting though is that this has the original catalogue number which was intended for this release (GR063) etched into the runout groove and stamped on the vinyl label. This record was released commercially with the revised catalogue number of "GR071".
"GR063" was later used for 'Mic Reaction' by DJ Strictnine & Paranorm which coincidently was the second 12" released in the "Blow Up Factor" series.
Confused yet? ;)
Not so much an old release, but more one that slipped by us when it was released. This is a 5 track Promotional DVD released to promote To The 5 Boroughs.
It features 5 clips directed by James Frost, with track snippets from the album accompanying each one.
At this stage we only know of one collector with one of these so they seem extremely rare.
Hurricane never really made it to the same level as some of the other Grand Royal acts which is why this release is that little bit more special.
A promo cassette containing an appearance he did for the London based "Tim Westwood Radio Show" recorded in April of 1995. Two Hurricane tracks are played ("Comin' Off" and "Pass Me The Gun") along with an interview.
The thing that sets this show apart though is that along for the ride are also legendary groups The Roots and Gravediggaz, featuring Prince Paul. Everyone ends up beatboxing and freestyling in an hour long jam session.
We have been chatting to someone who used to work at Capitol and that's where this next gem comes from.
A Promo Cassette containing Instrumentals of 13x tracks from Paul's Boutique.
Apparently the label was considering re-releasing Paul's Boutique together with this Instrumental version of the album as a double pack. It was pressed by Chop Em Out (Capitol UK's mastering company of choice at that time) on a Chrome Super II cassette on the 17th of July 1992, and only 10 copies exist.
If you were one of the lucky radio listeners on 99X you too could have seen the Beastie Boys in a very exclusive gig and received a copy of that gig on a unique Promo CD.
This CD was recorded at the competition winner's gig on the 15th of October in 2004, and not only features the three live tracks that were recorded, but also the interview that was conducted. The version of 'Right Right Now Now' from this recording is featured on the '99X Live X 10 (Recently)' CD.
As only 50 of these were created, the chances of finding one - hmmm, not too good.
Up until recently most of us only knew of the French version of the Cookie Puss 12" being released with a picture sleeve. That is until two important factors came into play: (1) some observant person noticed that their copy didn't have "Made in France" on the vinyl label or the back of the sleeve, and (2) a Test Pressing was found made by Mayking Records.
Pressed on the 9th of April 1984, the Test Pressing shows that (most likely) the French and English copies were pressed a year after the American copies were released. This Test Pressing was actually pressed in France (Hence the french "Avril" on the stamp) but done for the UK release (hence the Mayking labels).
Note that both the English and French versions originally came with an insert (though the UK version is slightly smaller) and that on the English pressing, the A-Side vinyl label is on the B-Side and vice versa.
By the time that Ill Communication was released in 1994, vinyl pressings in Europe were definately in decline from the glory days of a decade before. That is what makes this pressings such a great find. It was pressed in Greece, and at the time that we write this, the only other Greek vinyl pressings that we know of are for the 'Shes On It' 12", 'Licensed To Ill' LP and 'Pauls Boutique' LP. The discovery of this double LP creates the question "Is there a Greek vinyl pressing for 'Check Your Head' as well?".
Another curious aspect of this release is that it uses the Capitol Records vinyl labels (as seen on the Paul's Boutique LP) as opposed to the other Ill Communication albums we have seen that have Grand Royal vinyl labels.
Who knows if it was a translation problem, a typing mistake or simply an oversight, but some versions of the Licensed To Ill LP pressed in Spain were mispressed.
The sleeves on these copies are identical to the normal Spanish versions but the difference lies with the vinyl-labels. The mispressed labels have named the album "Licensed To Kill", which is obviously where the title originates, but is not the actual name of the album.
A few of these copies have surfaced, though we have no idea how many were pressed before the error was discovered. For those people who already own the Spanish LP, dig it out now and check to see if you have one of the mispressings!
Although most Luscious Jackson items aren't considered as collectable as releases by the Beastie Boys, some of them are just as rare or more so.
This 12" is a Promo sampler of the band's first EP, 'In Search Of Manny' with three tracks taken from it. The American pressing was released by Grand Royal, but in the UK it was pressed by Big Cat Records. This UK 12" has a similar catalogue number to the commerically released version [ABB46 X] but as it was a promo, the 'X' has been replaced with a 'P' [ABB46 P]. The vinyl labels are blank and the record is housed in a plain die-cut sleeve, possibly because the artwork was not finished by this stage.
A press release was also included which explains who the band is, the reason for the album name and the origins of the band name.
In the Discography we already have a Test Pressing for the Yellow Vinyl version of The In Sound From Way Out! (with the test pressing actually being clear and not yellow). Well now we have another Test Pressing. This is on standard black vinyl and might seem quite boring, but for the collectors amongst us, it's a cool a find.
The A-Side label features the pressing plant logo with the matrix number and date of pressing, while the B-Side is blank. The sleeve is also plain with the only bit of information being the matrix number and the date. The date (17-May-95) is a great feature as with most of the older releases it's hard to pinpoint when they were actually pressed with any accuracy.
Note: It was later discovered that the clear vinyl version mentioned above would have actually been a mispress and not a Test Pressing.
Picture Discs are always a nice addition to a collection because generally they're a bit more exciting to look at than a piece of black wax. But when you have a Test Pressing of a Picture Disc, that's something to really get excited about. This is the uncut Test Pressing for the Girls 7" which was released in 1987 in England. The final version was cut into the shape of a Medallion (VW style) - this copy is still in the original circular format before it was shaped.
Something which has eluded a lot of the collectors out there has been this little gem picked up recently by Beastiemania.com's own Beastienut. The 'Three MC's And One DJ' Canadian pressed one track promo CD5 was rumoured to exist but we here at Beastiemania hadn't seen one ourselves. Like the Promo 12" that was also released in Canada, it features Three MCs without including 'Remote Control' like all of the English and European versions. The disc itself is similar to the Nasty Bits Promo CD5 (which again was pressed in Canada), but is white and has a square image in the middle.
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