doctamario said:

I had this one....

langebleu said:

I've seen pictures of the 1987 official Black Album CD... one was a shrinkwrapped "longbox" (remember those?), and the other was the disc itself. So I believe that copies of the release still exist.

langebleu said:

Actually, there was a non-promo vinyl release in Europe... I had a record store import two copies for me.

Speaking of vinyl 1994 Black Albums, some of the promos had serial numbers and were pressed on colored vinyl (white, grey, and peach, as I recall). I've also seen pictures showing that some numbers were duplicated, so these promos might not be quite as rare as previously believed.

Every once in a while I'll get an email from someone who has a Black Album bootleg, thinks it's the official 1987 version, and wants to know how much it's worth. I'm tempted to reply, "Probably much less than you paid for it."

matt said:

Well, there sure are a lot of them on ebay...

Read my sig if you have any questions:

what's a promo? How is it different from a real CD?

matt said:

More pics of this one here: http://users.skynet.be/yo...kalbum.htm
[Edited 4/13/05 4:09am]

doctamario said:

'real' CDs (or LPs etc) are whats commercially available.
It's all the stuff that you can (or could) buy in a regular record shop.
eg. walk into a record shop and pick up a copy of Musicology. That's a 'real'
official release. It has a picture cover, booklet/artwork etc.

Promo CDs (or LPs etc) are not commercially available. You can't walk
into a regular record shop and buy a promo (or you shouldn't be able to).
They are advance copies of singles or albums given to radio stations / DJs etc
so they can play a track before it's released to the general public. Usually
they will not have the full artwork, instead being housed in a basic title
sleeve or a generic record company sleeve.
eg. the version of Musicology given away free at concerts last year.

BorisFishpaw said:

Alright, cool. Thanks

MetroArea said:

So there were "explicit lyrics" labels on CD's even then?

doctamario said:

Black album was 1987, explicit lyric stickers came in 1985, Prince being one of those named at the time as a major culprit with Darlin' Nikki and Appolonia with 'Sex Shooter'. Dear me.

In 1985, under pressure from the National Parent-Teacher Association and the Parents Music Resource Center (led by now-Second Lady Tipper Gore), the recording industry agreed to voluntarily sticker music with violent or sexually explicit lyrics. The measure was meant to help parents decide what music may or may not be appropriate for their children to hear.

am I in the right forum?

wasitgood4u said:

It was actually a Richard Avedon shoot for RS that had him and Vanity vamping it up. It was 1999 era. Pre-Purple Rain. I had it on my wall as a lil tyke.

What was the point of the longbox?

doctamario said:

organization in the stores... using record or cassette racks to stock CDs.

so just wondering...i have a copy on vinyl that i got in maybe '89 or '90 at a little college wrecka stow when I was in college U-Tejas, Austin...all black with cover but if you kinda tilt the cover to the side, there's this picture of Prince that's also in black, kinda like a laser print or sumthin..still have it in mint condition...is it worth anything other than the $30 i paid for it?

FamousBluRaincoat said:

It was also considered a theft preventative.

doctamario said:

This was the first version I got on CD. I was so excited to finally get it on a CD....and then I listened to it! Oh man, the sound on this was CRAP and the tracks had gaps in-between them! Horrible!

doctamario said:

....and here we have the first Vinyl bootleg of it I ever bought! It replaced a really crappy cassette recording a friend of mine had made (and I in turn made for dozens of my friends). This was one of the better bootlegs made of it.

JediMaster said:

... which is why cassettes had those big silly plastic jobbers on them too.

slavindog said:

ur right. My bad.
[Edited 4/14/05 7:49am]

meltwithu said:

I doubt it's worth even that.

doctamario said:

Seen this Boot Back in 1992.....
Thats an OLD COPY

I have 2. One is all black and the other has
Prince with legg warmers on and his name is on the bass drum
all the songs r the same tho.

Oh no its a boot

FamousBluRaincoat said:

So what was the rest of it? Just air?

MetroArea said:

Hallelujah!!

doctamario said:

hey I had that same one back in the daY....


my friend told me he went to many lengths to get me that !

I never told im it was a boot cuz back then that was the only way I could hear it even if the pitch was off

doctamario said:

Yes! This Was Pulled And Was Stopped From Hiting The Streets,It Was Not A Bootleg It Was Never Supposed To Be Released,Old Friends For Sale Is A Very Nice Song On This CD.Only Thing Different From Black Album That Was Realeased Later.. O+>

boston3 said:

Wrong! It's a bootleg.

Geeze.....why would Prince use a promopic from 1984 for the Black Album?