Japanese Mini Lp CD versions...

[lakedistrictlad1]

Recently I've been treating myself to some of the Marvin Gaye, Supremes and Stevie Wonder albums issued in Japan as mini lp replicas.

The sound quality is superb, and I love the fact they have the original album covers and labels..and take up less space than jewel cases, which also get cracked or broken.

My questions are...and I guess only the powers at Universal can answer these...

1. Why do titles like the Supremes 'Reflections', and Stevie's 'At the beach' get issued in Japan and not elsewhere?

2. Will there be further titles available by the likes of the Four Tops or the Temptations?...and who makes the decision to issue them?

[tomato tom]

Ive thought that myself. I have the Mowest ODYSSEY self titled album on a Japanese CD. As far as I know, it has never been reissued on CD anywhere else. Stop The World We Wanna Get On by Hearts Of Stone was another Japanese only CD release..Paulo xxx

[honest man]

hello, the reflections has been issued it included 2 bonus songs also; i bought HOS CD from japan as well as a gc cameron cd, pity could not read notes in booklet, but i had the music, which is the main thing, cheers.

[theboyfromxtown]

Honest

Can you not read the sleeve notes because the language is Japanese or because you can't find your glasses?

Or both!

[honest man]

John you are cheeky, because i cannot read japanese, of course. i am still trying to sort out those emails, you are as bad as me, ha ha, cheers mate.

[vcq]

I purchased Stevie Wonder's I Was Made To Love Her SHM-CD pressing; it was apparently issued domestically early in the 90s, but has been out-of-print since. At that same Tower Records in Nagoya, they had numerous out-of-print reissues of Stevie Wonder [[I was specifially looking for Stevie albums) from the early 1960s.

Apparently there must be some kind of market for these reissues; Japanese record shops are always booming when I go in, although there's rarely anyone browing in the soul / R&B sections. If you're ever in Tokyo, Disk Union has over 35,000 new and used CDs in stock, and Nagoya has an excellent soul section at the Tower Records in Sakae.

List of Stevie Wonder SHM-CD reissues:
http://tower.jp/search/item/stevie%20wonder/1/?facetPageNo=1&limit=20&representFormatId=120&direction=false&refine=representFormatId&highlight=false&offset=0

Also, I looked on the Tower Records Japan website, but it seems that most of the mini-LP reissues are limited to Stevie Wonder; other SHM-CD pressings are the "Gold" series or Definitive Collections, not the original LP artwork. Not sure why it's limited to only Stevie Wonder. I'll keep an eye out on my next trip to Sakae and report back if I see any other Motown LP reissues.

[nabob]

It's always been that way that CDs by US artists are more readily available and reissued by the foreign subsidiaries of the US majors. My guess is that the suits in the US feel that there is not enough market for "a fair" return. The early 90s were filled with trips to Europe and Japan planned specifically for buying CDs. There are titles in the library that didn't see domestic releases for as many as 20 years, if at all.

An attempt was made to order from Disk Union http://diskunion.net/black/, but payment could not be negotiated through the Japanese script. A help request was never answered. Any one have any insight into completing payment on transactions? This site has some great offerings.

[vcq]

nabob; I just sent you a private message. I've placed several orders through Japanese websites, and I'm happy to try and help.

Cheers,

VCQ

[Kamasu_Jr]

Personally, I find some Japanese pressings way too expensive. They don't sound any better than some of their US counterparts. These albums from the Sixties weren't recorded for the digital age, so there's only so much sound you are going to get from them.
I do think the Japanese tend to be interested in some genres like Jazz, and artists' entire careers, especially those artists like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye with long, distinguished careers BUT YOU CAN"T FIND OLD Sam Cooke albums in Japan or albums by the Impressions, etc..

[lakedistrictlad1]

Kamasu, it never ceases to amaze me at what they DO issue over there. No Sam Cooke as you say, which is odd - yet you can get the whole back catalogue of the Bay City Rollers. Who?....exactly!

[Kamasu_Jr]

Kamasu, it never ceases to amaze me at what they DO issue over there. No Sam Cooke as you say, which is odd - yet you can get the whole back catalogue of the Bay City Rollers. Who?....exactly!

Aren't the Japanese known for being faddish? When Soul music was enjoying a revival there, they did reissue some interesting titles. But I was checking the other day and found the Japanese were reissuing Billy Preston's work nn A&M, but not his Motown LPS. They've reissued Merry Clayton's A&M output, but you won't find Margie Hendricks, Dee Dee Warwick or much Stax-Volt.

[vcq]

I've seen loads of jazz clubs in just about every city I've visited in Japan...and I was surprised by the lesser-known soul artists that turn up in every Tower Records and HMV.

2493

[[Taken on a side street in a Naramatchi shopping arcade, Nara, Japan)