Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1Abbey Road (1969)Abbey Road (1969)Released Sep 26, 1969Apple AP-8815, Japan, 1969 The first Japanese pressing gives itself away by what is missing: "Her Majesty" is not printed on side B's label. It came with a shaped obi, an English lyric insert and a plain black paper inner sleeve, with ¥2,000 printed on the obi and back cover. Red vinyl copies…0
  2. 2Made in Japan (1972)Made in Japan (1972)Released Jan 1, 1972Warner-Pioneer P-5066~7W, Japan, 1972 In Japan this double album of the August 1972 Osaka and Tokyo shows was titled Live in Japan, and the first press has green labels. Initial copies were announced with a color negative film included, and some early copies add a foldout promotion sheet, while…0
  3. 3The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)Released Jan 1, 1973Harvest/Odeon EOP-80778, Japan, 1973 The Japanese first pressing, released April 20, 1973, packs a lot into its gatefold: an obi, a 32-page booklet, two posters and an art postcard. The tracks are lettered A to G rather than numbered, durations appear nowhere on the label, sleeve or inserts, and…0
  4. 4Waltz for DebbyWaltz for DebbyRiverside/Victor SMJ-6118, Japan, 1975 Victor's 1975 stereo reissue of the Bill Evans Trio's June 1961 Village Vanguard set is an affordable way into Japanese jazz pressings. It was made in Japan by Victor Musical Industries from Milestone's master recording and comes with an orange obi and a…0
  5. 5SUNSHOWER (1977)SUNSHOWER (1977)Released Jan 1, 1977Panam GW-4029, Japan, 1977 Taeko Ohnuki's second solo album, released July 25, 1977, came with a lyric sheet and an obi and sold for ¥2,300, with mastering credited to Toyokasei. The trap with this one is the number of later pressings: a 1984 reissue under GW-4107, then Crown vinyl reissues from…0
  6. 6Cool Struttin'Cool Struttin'Blue Note/King GXK 8043, Japan, 1978 King Records issued this stereo pressing of the Sonny Clark session recorded on January 5, 1958 as part of its Blue Note Masterpiece Selection 150 series, with an obi and a Japanese liner-note insert, at ¥2,300. A Japanese Blue Note reissue like this is a…0
  7. 7Cheap Trick at Budokan (1978)Cheap Trick at Budokan (1978)Released Jan 1, 1978Epic/Sony 25•3P-5, Japan, 1978 This is the edition that came first. The album was meant for release only in Japan, came out there on October 8, 1978, and sold an estimated 30,000 import copies in the United States before Epic released it domestically in February 1979. The Japanese copy comes in a…0
  8. 8Solid State Survivor (1979)Solid State Survivor (1979)Released Jan 1, 1979Alfa ALR-6022, Japan, 1979 Yellow Magic Orchestra's second album shows how much the obi matters for dating a copy. The first version, released September 25, 1979, is pressed on translucent yellow vinyl with red labels and has a red obi that mentions the yellow vinyl. Every later version is on…0
  9. 9Pocket Park (1980)Pocket Park (1980)Released Jan 1, 1980See-Saw C25A0077, Japan, 1980 Miki Matsubara's debut album, released in January 1980, has one of the fuller packages on this list. The sleeve opens on the left with the obi on its right edge, and inside are a 30cm insert with credits on one side and lyrics on the other and a 60x90cm fold-out…0
  10. 10A Long Vacation (1981)A Long Vacation (1981)Released Mar 21, 1981Niagara 27AH 1234, Japan, 1981 Eiichi Ohtaki's album, released March 21, 1981 and manufactured by CBS/Sony, wears Hiroshi Nagai's illustration on the front, with an obi designed by Yasushi Nakayama and an insert carrying the credits and lyrics. The useful dating clue sits inside: copies pressed…0