THE RECORD OF THE WEEK :
THE DANGEROUS TOUR PEPSI CANS

This week, the Showroom it's not going to presnet you a record, but a precious set of memorabilia: here it is a selection of Pepsi cans advertising the Dangerous world tour in 1992. Almost every country Michael visited with its tour, had its personalyzed can. I don't own every "release" but I was lucky enough to get some of them in a lot.
In the pictures, you can see the japanese, the greek, the brasilian, the turkish, the thai and, of course, the italian one, which I got personally when I went to the July 4th concert in Rome, stadio Flaminio. One of the nights in my life I'll never forget.

Today's WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM & BACK TO BACK #6
MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009 LIFE OF A LEGEND
JAPAN VERSION - WITH OBI
UK VERSION
ITALY VERSION

This is one of the most beautiful books released in 2009, just a few weeks Michael sadly left us.
I remember I bought the english version of this book in London, july 2009. I was there for the "This is it" concerts that never happened. The book is full of beautiful pictures, and today I've found a rare japanese version of it. It comes a big obi - just like the japanese records - and it's totally (of course) written in japanese language.
Both japanese and UK versions are here with the italian version too, bought it in an italian book shop...I know there's a french version around I still miss...guess I have to look for it to complete the whole set!
So it's time to write again my refrain:
The hunt goes on!!!! :-)

Today's WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM & BACK TO BACK #5
FAREWELL MY SUMMER LOVE JAPAN COMMERCIAL LP
MOTOWN/VICTOR VIL-6120
(PROMO WHITE LABEL MOTOWN/VICTOR VIL-6120)

Once again 2 borthers are meeting today! I owned the Farewell my summer love japanese promo, and strangely I didn't have the commercial release! Thank to the Bologna record fair, now I can show both copies on this "back-to-back saga". Both releases have the saame catalogue number and same picture sleeve (even though the promotional copy have a typical red sticker stating it's a promo on the top right corner in the front). The promo version had a white label with no additional infos, the commercial one have a coloured label with the Motown logo. 
Almost all the japanese releases have these double versions promo/commercial, but the promos are usually hard to find. It's easier to complete a set, when you've already got the promo copy, and not the commercial like it happened to me!

Today's WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM & BACK TO BACK #4
MOONWALKER STORYBOOK JAPAN EDITION
(+ USA & FRANCE VERSION)

Another new items enters today in the Showroom : it's a third "Moonwalker - The storybook" edition, released in Japan. Totally written in japanese language, this little book includes the same pictures of the orignal U.S. version of the Moonwalker Storybook. And I guess it's not so easy to find! 
Picture #3 includes also the french version of the book (titled "un livre pas commes les autres"), while the new japanese one..."meets the family"! :-)

THE RECORD OF THE WEEK : GOT TO BE THERE
AUSTRALIA MOTOWN STMLO-10085

This week, the Showroom chosen a rare australian press of "Got to be there". The picture sleeve shows the same photo used worldwide, but it has a particular writing on it:"includes Rockin'Robin", just under the title. The black labels look similar to the UK releases, like several australian presses at the time.
This oz release is very hard to find, especially in such a wonderful condition like the one shown in the picture.
 

Today's WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM & BACK TO BACK #3
BEN SPAIN LP REISSUE 
"REEDICION ALBUM LEGENDARIO" 
TAMLA MOTOWN SNL1-60103
(ORIGINAL PRESS: TAMLA MOTOWN MS-9044)

The  newcomer today is a spanish reissue of the album "Ben", released by Motown in 1972 and second release of the entire Michael's solo discography. The original spanish press had a totally different catalogue number, a different back (with song titles on a blue background strip), and different labels of course (blue labels). This reissue, named "reedicion album legendarios" (with the same sticker we have "Got to be there" and "Forever Michael" too), have a white/light blue label with 80's Motown logo,  and a full picture back sleeve.
Another great difference between the 2 spanish twins: the original press report under the title "Ben", the infos "Del film BEN producido en Cinerama releasing" (with the original writing watermarked!!!), the reissue hacve the same info but...in english language ("From the motion picture BEN released through Cinerama releasing").
I love these differences, it's one of the reasons why I collect.
By the way, here they are: both spanish "BEN" releases!

Today's WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM & BACK TO BACK #2 :
XSCAPE USA VINYL LP 
EPIC/SONY 88843053661 S1
(EUROPEAN VERSION 88843053661)

Well, I've had until now only the european LP release of Xscape, but today this record meets its twin-brother from USA (the newcomer in the collection). Yes, there are 2 versions of the Xscape album, even though the differences are very very small. How can you recognize an US press from an european one?
First detail : on the top left side of the back cover, the U.S. version have the "F.B.I. anti-piracy warning" logo, while the european have the Sony logo, and this is the most notable difference. Then, the american sticker have smooth corners, while the european have straight corners. And on the sticker...the US version has an "S1" at the end of the little catalogue number, a small detail the european press has not.
Take a look at the pictures to see all I described in a better way. I hope these infos are useful for all the collectors who didn't knew these things!

Today's WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM & BACK-TO-BACK #1:
18 GREATEST HITS ITALY (commercial)
MOTOWN/SIGLA ZL72158
(commercial & promo version)

In order to complete (where it's possible) the collection, The Showroom worked on several purchases to "complete" some releases,lately. That's why in the next few days you'll see several "back-to-back" items (often promotional copies vs. commercial releases of the same records). This is the first back-to-back, and it's a 18 GREATEST HITS vinyl release from Italy.
The newcomer is the commercial release (with a Motown/Sigla label, in a blue tone colour), while the one that was already in collection was the hardest-to-find promotional version (with a white label and black writings on it). Both released originally in Italy, the sleeves are the same. Easily recognizable for several italian writings (watch the "pubblicità TV" on the back sleeve, right side under); also the "SIGLA" logo on the front sleeve is a prerogative of the italian presses.

THE SHOWROOM MOST WANTED :
DANGEROUS COLLECTOR'S EDITION AUSTRALIA CASSETTE
EPIC/SONY EPC465802 8

Here it is the australian rare double-cassette set release for the "Dangerous collector's edition" released in 1992. The 2 cd version is a wonderful item to own with all its remixes taken from the Dangerous singles, even though it's not as rare as this cassette edition, rarely surfaced on the web on the auction sites. For 2 times I had the chance to buy it, but the set was incomplete without the outer cardboard sleeve so I passed....this item is still missing in my collection, and now it's in the "Most wanted" section of the blog.

THE RECORD OF THE WEEK : 

HISTORIA DE LA MUSICA ROCK - THE JACKSONS

SPAIN EPIC LSP15419

The record chosen this week, it's also a newcomer in the Showroom. It's a spanish release called "Historia de la musica rock:The Jacksons", which indeed is a reissue of the "Destiny" album (it has the same tracklist). It's the issue #83 in the series of the "historia", released by Orbis Spain, and only for the spanish market. On the back side, you can also read "producto especiales CBS", and the "Historia" logo it's on the label too!

What else I can say? "Let's dance, let's shout, shake your record down to the ground!"....mmmmh, no no no....damn this is not good.

It's better if you Shake your BODY down to the ground :-D