Collecting log: 57 Channels (And Nothin' On) US 12-inch Maxi single and Supplementary Note to BORN TO RUN US pressing LP variants: unusual red labels (JC 33795) on Sep 13, 2015

Do unusual red US Columbia labels without a yellow-rim indicate
the later regular pressing around early 1990's?

Another 12-inch vinyl I bought at cheap in my recent trip to Tokyo but not mentioned on the last blog was 57 Channels (And Nothin' On) - The Remixes (Columbia 44 74416) that is issued in the US back in 1992. This Maxi single contains three variants of the title track remixed by Little Steven, plus the non-album B-side Part Man, Part Monkey that is almost regularly played in 1988 during TUNNEL OF LOVE EXPRESS Tour. I remember I first listened to this tune in 1991 through a 3-CD bootleg called SPRINGSTEEN, RAITT AND BROWNE (TCD 16, Templar Records) that was managed to get by mail order to the now-defunct Great Dane Records, Milan, Italy (Templar was a sort of sub-label of Great Dane that distributed bootleg CDs under Templar labels). The bootleg captures the famous solo acoustic performance on November 16, 1990, which is now available as an official live archive release. I also experienced the live performance back in 1993, right in this noisy remix arrangement.

For not obvious reason(s), I had not tried to get a copy of this particular release before. Maybe it was just because I had not had the opportunity to purchase it (in fact, this was the first time for me to see the real copy at shops), or just because there were no positive reasons to buy it, even though all the 4 tracks are still not available on any regular LP releases (BTW, I still wonder why the original version on the HUMAN TOUCH album was not included on this 12" single).

A major difference is the introduction of bar codes on both sides of the labels of the 1992 remix disc. I'm wondering what is meant by an inverse triangle on the left of a spindle hole. I don't know, but I guess it refers to the main side (Side 1 or Side A) because this symbol is absent on Side 2 or Side B label of each disc (shown as two smaller images vertically arranged in the middle of the panel). Can anyone confirm this?

Anyway, going back to the accommodation and taking out the disc from the sleeve, to my little surprise, I found that the record labels looked like what I called "unusual" when I mentioned about a variant pressing of the US BORN TO RUN LP (refer to the previous post on September 13, 2015). In that blog article, I wrote "Probably, a minor label variation for Columbia Records reissue series (maybe after 1980?) that is nothing to rave about, but just to record it here, for reference purposes." But back then, I was not able to narrow down when this non-common Columbia label reissue was out in the US market, because I couldn't find out any other example of this label.

Hand-etched on the dead wax of 57 Channels is "Precision TD",
which may indicate Cutting Engineer Tim Dennen at Precision
Mastering, Hollywood, CA (However, some others say Tony
Dawsey at Masterdisk, NYC; I don't know which is correct)

Still, I don't know exactly when the US Columbia has changed the label design or introduced this non-familiar version of the label to LP and 12" discs. As far as Springsteen titles are concerned, the regular red labels with a yellow COLUMBIA rim are used up to Chimes Of Freedom 12" EP that is released in 1988, but both HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN, the 1992 twin album, employ custom-designed labels. Although the detailed information still remains to be obtained, it is at least now clear that that particular copy of BORN TO RUN LP is one of the very late regular releases, most likely pressed just before 1990 or shortly after.