EUROPEAN 3INCH SINGLES

PART 1:DANGEROUS ERA

A BRIEF HISTORY FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The original CD single (sometimes mini CD single or 3-inch CD or CD3 in the US) is a music single released on a mini Compact Disc that measures 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter, rather than the standard 12 cm (4.7 in). They are manufactured using the same methods as standard full-size CDs, and can be played in most standard audio CD players and CD-ROM disc drives.

[...] Capable of holding up to 20 minutes of music, most mini CD singles contain at least two tracks, often consisting of a single edit and an instrumental version in the same way as 7-inch vinyl singles.

KING OF POP:

Here they are the only 3inch cd singles released for the Dangerous album. "Black or white" is the most common (although still considered a rare press), while "Remember the time" and "In the closet" (especially the latter, complete with the french tour sticker as you can see it in the pictures) are the rarest. The Showroom is proud to own these 3inch still in their original EPIC blister, with 2 red stripes on both sides of the blister.

Watch out next posts to see some other 3inches releases...

THE RECORD OF THE WEEK & 

TODAY'S WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM:

BAD

AMERICAN FORCES RADIO AND

TELEVISION SERVICE LP EDITION

P-24531 RL 38-7

 

 

As promised...here it is an authentic masterpiece, a newcomer in the Showroom collection. This is an unique edition of the album "BAD", released ONLY for the AFRTS - Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. In a few words, it's a record made for airplay in the U.S.Army radio stations.

These releases are very, very rare to found nowadays. And I'm quite sure an handful of copies of each title excist.

In the past years, I could see only once a "Dangerous" copy, and sometimes certain Motown releases ("The original soul of M.J." for example, and "One day in your life"). Almost all the releases on AFRTS have a different artist on each side - sometimes with a selection of songs taken by an album, or a plain copy of one side of the metioned album. Michael Jackson was one of the few artists (like Elvis Presley, to name one) to have some releases ("Bad" and "Dangerous") with both sides of the vinyl dedicated.

This "BAD" copy, as you can see, contains 8 tracks (!), "Dirty Diana" and "I just can't stop loving you" are missing.

And the Shoiwroom is proud today to own a MINT copy of this jewel.

 

 

If you want some references about these records, here they are some infos.

"AFRTS is the American Forces Radio and Television Service. It is part of the Department of Defense, and is headquartered at Fort George Meade Maryland. The AFRTS mission is to communicate Department of Defense policies, priorities, programs, goals and initiatives. AFRTS provides stateside radio and television programming, "a touch of home," to U.S. service men and women, DoD civilians, and their families serving outside the continental United States. AFRTS includes the Radio and Television Production Office (RTPO), The Pentagon Channel and the AFN Broadcast Center." (Source:Discogs)

Also:

"A US military radio and television service network that was established in 1954 when the Armed Forces Television Services and the Armed Forces Radio Service were combined. It was renamed in 1969 to the American Forces Radio And Television Service, but reverted back to the original "Armed Forces Radio And Television Service" name in 1982." (Source:Discogs)

Some interesting infos can be found also on Wikipedia, by clicking on this link:

Wikipedia - AFRST 

 

 

Today's WELCOME TO THE SHOWROOM:

THRILLER "WEREWOLF" BUST

ITALY INFINITE STATUE

LIMITED NUMBERED EDITION (#1091/1982)

So...at the end, also the Showroom have a Thriller werewolf bust! This was designed and produced in 2010 by an italian company (I guess), "Infinite statue", and the resin bust was totally handpainted and sculpted by Mauro Gandini. As you can see, is an officially licensed product, and it comes in a thick box with Thriller logo, as well as a brief history of the album and video on the back. Under the main block with the Thriller logo, the bust is individually numbered and this is the #1091 out of 1982.

I saw this werewolf head in several fairs, but always failed its purchase. Probably, at the time it wasn't a priority for the Showroom. But now the time has come, and I'm proud to add this wonderful piece of art to this collection! 

HAPPY VALENTINE TO ALL THE LOVERS HERE!!!
"This one is for you..."

 
TODAY'S ON THE AIR:
"REMEMBER THE TIME"
REMEMBER THE TIME CD SINGLES ENSEMBLE

"Do you remember
How we used to talk
(Ya know)
We'd stay on the phone at night till dawn
Do you remember
All the things we said like
I love you so I'll never let you go
Do you remember
Back in the Spring
Every morning birds would sing
Do you remember
Those special times
They'll just go on and on
In the back of my mind
Do you remember the time
When we fell in love
Do you remember the time
When we first met girl
Do you remember the time
When we fell in love
Do you remember the time
Those sweet memories
Will always be dear to me
And girl no matter what was said
I will never forget what we had
Now baby!"

REMEMBER THE TIME (FULL LENGHT VIDEO)

THE RECORDS (?) OF THE WEEK:

WHO IS IT

CASSETTE SINGLE USA

EPIC/SONY 34T74406 S1

CASSETTE MAXI USA

EPIC/SONY 49T74420

 

 

The choice for the record of this week turns into the cassette singles world, and the spotlight belongs to "Who is it". The 6th single from "Dangerous" released in USA (4th in Europe), contains a special version including the "Oprah Winfrey intro", taken from the famous tv special in which Michael sings an excerpt of the song a cappella. This version, available only for the U.S. market, is on both the cassette releases you see in the pictures. 

The "cassette single" version - housed in a cardboard sleeve - contains 2 tracks (7'' edit and Oprah Winfrey Special intro version), while we have a different tracklist with 5 tracks on the "maxi single cassette", housed in a jewel cassette case (The Oprah Winfrey special intro version, Patience edit, the Brothers Patience mix, and Brothers In Rhythm house mix of "Who is it" + a special remix of "Wanna be startin'somethin'" also by Brothers In Rhythm).

Both cassettes are difficult to find, especially with stickers on front sleeve.

 

 

Today's ON THE AIR:

"GIVE IN TO ME"

GIVE IN TO ME (FEAT.SLASH)

UK 7'' LIMITED EDITION POSTER BAG

EPIC/SONY 659096 7

 

 

"She always takes it with a heart of stone

'Cause all she does is throw it back to me

I've spend a lifetime

Looking for someone

Don't try to understand me

Just simply do the

Things I say

Love is a feeling

Give it when I want it

'Cause I'm on fire

Quench my desire

Give it when I want it

Talk to me woman

Give in to me

Give in to me..."

GIVE IN TO ME (VIDEO)

 

 

THE RECORD OF THE WEEK :

THE ONE

INDIA OFFICIAL VIDEO CD

SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

 

 

 

This time, an unusual video cd choice makes the Showroom's "Record of the week".

"The one" was a documentary released worldwide in 2004, in most of the case it was a DVD format only. In Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand, at the time, the best seller format was still the video cd, that's the reason why of this particular format release.

 

 

 

And which is the rarest press? The indian one, certainly. This is a 2009 release (you can see it from the Sony logo on the back), and it's one of several video cd re-release for the country (among the others, 2number ones", "HIStory 1&2" as well as "Dangerous - The short films"). It comes in an unique plastic "clamshell" style case, and not in a regular cd box.