by Hanson Meyer
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I first approached Dr. Strange Records on August 8, 2014 and found that Doc, the owner, was very accommodating and genuinely eager to work with me. We worked out all the details and less than two weeks later, a contract was signed and I drove out to their retail store in Rancho Cucamonga, California to meet the staff.
I had originally hoped that we could hit a target release
date of September 18, 2014 which was the 32nd anniversary date of the recording, but Doc
informed me that their record pressing plant, Rainbo Records, was backed up a
little bit and it would be an impossible deadline to make. Then several weeks
later, we received more bad news… Rainbo was backed up more than originally
thought and it was going to be a total of 4 months before the pressing would be
completed.
Usually, depending on a band’s marketability, Dr. Strange
would make a first pressing of 300 or 500 copies… Doc knew our record would
sell but wanted to test the waters first. On October 1, 2014 Rainbo sent 25
copies of the Test Press to Dr. Strange Records of which several came to me for
each of the band members, etc. A number of other copies were distributed to Dr.
Strange staff members who helped with the project. After everything was said
and done, there were eight remaining copies… Doc wanted to see what the initial
response would be to determine how many to produce for the first pressing. He
sent out a small email blast to key individuals, companies and loyal retail
customers stating that the first eight people to contact the store would be
able to purchase one of the eight copies. Within 20 minutes of the email going
out, all of them were gone. Doc told me that the phone continued to ring for
days…
Since the Test Press copies went so quickly, it was decided
that the first pressing would be a total of 600 records… 100 as a limited run
on black vinyl, and 500 on orange vinyl.
Rainbo shipped the records and they were received by Dr.
Strange just before Christmas on December 23rd. The sleeves and
inserts weren’t ready, and with the holidays just kicking in, nothing could be
done until the new year. The original plan was to have an “in-store” event on
Sunday, February 8, 2015 with the original band members present to sign records
and answer questions, etc., and then have the official release of the record on
Tuesday, February 10th… but by the middle of January the sleeves and
inserts were printed and ready to go. While the sleeves were being printed (and
the record not officially being released yet), Dr. Strange had contacted a
number of their primary distributors to start taking orders. About 450 records
were earmarked for the distributors while some of the remaining 150 came to me
and the larger balance was reserved for the Dr. Strange Retail store and
website. The plan was to have enough for Dr. Strange to sell and then still
have enough for the “in-store” event. Heavy orders came in from the
distributors starting on January 14th and all the records allocated
for them were gone in two days. The orders kept coming in, so Dr. Strange
immediately put in an order with Rainbo Records for the next pressing. This
time the pressing would be 1,000 +/- copies on clear blue vinyl but Rainbo informed us that they were still backed up and the records wouldn’t be
available until May, 2015. Within ten days of making the first pressing available for
retail purchase at Dr. Strange, the remaining records were gone… even the ones
slated for the in-store record release event on February 8th.
Without any records to sign, the “in-store” event had to be postponed and wouldn’t
happen until the next pressing became available. After Doc put in a plea to expedite the second pressing, Rainbo came through and Dr. Strange was notified on February 18th that the second pressing on blue wax was completed.
Here are the details of each of the three versions
(including the Test Press) that are currently in circulation:
TEST PRESS
Release: 25 copies released on Oct 1, 2014. About 15 copies
split between Dr. Strange Staff and Band Members. 10 copies made their way to
the general public.
Sleeve: Folded at the bottom of the sleeve and cut straight
across the top with front and back top edges the same height. No glue was used
on the sleeve. 4 Color artwork on semi-gloss paper. Artwork on front includes
nuclear explosion flanked by a tattered American Flag on the left and a Russian
Flag on the right. Emblazoned across the front of cover just under the flags
are the words “TEST PRESS”. Both front and back of the sleeve have a
semi-transparent black border. The front of the sleeve has the lyrics of the
original theme song “Uniform Choice” in a courier font along all the edges of
the sleeve within the border. The reverse of the cover has a photo of the
original Uniform Choice back drop banner that was used for live performances in
1982 and 1983. It has the songs and credits listed. It has a “large” Dr.
Strange logo and a large catalog number and lists the date as “2014” (year that
the test press was released). The logo, catalog # and date are floated up off
the bottom edge of the sleeve by 1 ¼”.
Insert: No insert or digital download.
Label: White generic label from Rainbo Records Manufacturing
Corporation. Label has Cutomer, Matrix #, Side, Date and Comments. Nine of the
original 25 copies have hand written information on the labels.
Vinyl: Black vinyl, small spindle hole, deadwax runout has
DSR134-A, R29725, “We Are Unicorn Hoist” on Side A; and DSR134-B, R29726, “Bye
Leo!” on Side B.
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FIRST PRESSING (Limited Version on Black Vinyl)
Release: 100 Copies released on Jan 15, 2015. This limited
release was reserved for the Dr. Strange Retail store/website and band members.
This version was not released to distributors.
Sleeve: Folded at the bottom of the sleeve and cut straight
across the top with front and back top edges the same height. No glue was used
on the sleeve. 4 Color artwork on semi-gloss paper. Artwork on front includes
nuclear explosion flanked by a tattered American Flag with Ronald Reagan under
it doing a salute on the left and a Russian Flag with Leonid Brezhnev under it
on the right. At the top of the sleeve just below the border is printed “We Are
Your”. This is the only version of the first pressing that has this verbiage on
it. Both front and back of the sleeve have a semi-transparent black border. The
front of the sleeve has the lyrics of the original theme song “Uniform Choice”
in a courier font along all the edges of the sleeve within the border. The
reverse of the cover has a photo of the original Uniform Choice back drop banner
that was used for live performances in 1982 and 1983. It has the songs and
credits listed. It has a “small” Dr. Strange logo and a small catalog number
and lists the date as “2015” (year that the test press was released). The logo,
catalog # and date are floated up just above the bottom edge of the sleeve
(much lower than the test press). In addition, in the upper right corner of the
sleeve reverse there is a small white box with each copy of the record being
hand numbered from 1/100 through 100/100. It’s important to note that the first
nine were all numbered 1/100, then the sequence picks up again at 10/100. This
was done so that all the key individuals involved would receive a “1/100”.
%2BEP%2B-%2BSleeve.jpg)
Insert: Two inserts. 1) Double sided on semi-gloss paper.
Front side has lyrics to each of the four songs with a pencil sketch watermark
of the original Uniform Choice logo. Back side has a short bio, band photos and
the “Special Thanks” section. 2) This insert is a copy of the original
recording Orange Peel Studio track listing from September 18, 1982 that lists
each of the songs with their respective studio tracks.
Also has a "yellow" digital download slip.
Also has a "yellow" digital download slip.
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| Primary Double-Sided Insert |
 |
| Additional "Bonus" Insert for Black Vinyl Version Only |
Label: Color is Black with White ink. Side A is listed as “This
Side” and has UNIFORM CHOICE across the top in a rough stencil type font. Side
B is listed as “That Side” and has “U.C.” across the top as it was hand-written
on set lists in 1982.
Vinyl: Black vinyl, small spindle hole, deadwax runout has
DSR134-A, R29725, “We Are Unicorn Hoist” on Side A; and DSR134-B, R29726, “Bye
Leo!” on Side B.
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Note: There was one copy numbered 1/100 that has a different
“incorrect” cover. It has a front side that is the same as the “Primary Version”
with orange vinyl, and it has a reverse side that looks like the “Test Press”
sleeve reverse and even has a "2014" date, but it has a white box just like the other copies of the “Limited
Version”. This was an anomaly and there are no others like it.
%2BEP%2B-%2BSleeve%2BAnomoly%2B(4%2Bpic).jpg)
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FIRST PRESSING (Primary Version on Orange Vinyl)
Release: 500 Copies released on Jan 15, 2015. This release
was the primary release for distribution and sales in record stores in the
United States and beyond. Some copies were held by Dr. Strange Records for
their Retail store/website and few went to band members.
Sleeve: Folded at the bottom of the sleeve and cut straight
across the top with front and back top edges the same height. No glue was used
on the sleeve. 4 Color artwork on semi-gloss paper. Artwork on front includes
nuclear explosion flanked by a tattered American Flag with Ronald Reagan under
it doing a salute on the left and a Russian Flag with Leonid Brezhnev under it
on the right. Both front and back of the sleeve have a semi-transparent black
border. The front of the sleeve has the lyrics of the original theme song
“Uniform Choice” in a courier font along all the edges of the sleeve within the
border. The reverse of the cover has a photo of the original Uniform Choice
back drop banner that was used for live performances in 1982 and 1983. It has
the songs and credits listed. It has a “small” Dr. Strange logo and a small
catalog number and lists the date as “2015” (year that the test press was
released). The logo, catalog # and date are floated up just above the bottom edge
of the sleeve (much lower than the test press).
%2BEP%2B-%2BSleeve.jpg)
Insert: Double sided on semi-gloss paper. Front side has
lyrics to each of the four songs with a pencil sketch watermark of the original
Uniform Choice logo. Back side has a short bio, band photos and the “Special
Thanks” section.
Also has a "yellow" digital download slip included in packaging.
Also has a "yellow" digital download slip included in packaging.
|
| Double-Sided Insert |
Label: Color is Black with White ink. Side A is listed as “This
Side” and has UNIFORM CHOICE across the top in a rough stencil type font. Side
B is listed as “That Side” and has “U.C.” across the top as it was hand-written
on set lists in 1982.
Vinyl: Orange vinyl, small spindle hole, deadwax runout has
DSR134-A, R29725, “We Are Unicorn Hoist” on Side A; and DSR134-B, R29726, “Bye
Leo!” on Side B.
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Release: 1,061 Copies became available as the 2nd Pressing on Feb 20, 2015. This pressing
was distributed in the
United States and beyond. Some copies were held by Dr. Strange Records for
their Retail store/website and few went to band members.
Sleeve: Folded at the bottom of the sleeve and cut straight
across the top with front and back top edges the same height. No glue was used
on the sleeve. 4 Color artwork on semi-gloss paper. Artwork is similar to the 1st Pressing but differs slightly. On the front it depicts a
nuclear explosion flanked by a tattered American Flag with Ronald Reagan under
it doing a salute on the right and a Russian Flag with Leonid Brezhnev under it
on the left. This differs from the first pressing as on that cover Reagan is on the left and Brezhnev is on the right. Both front and back of the sleeve have a semi-transparent BLUE
border to match the color of vinyl. The front of the sleeve has the lyrics of the original theme song
“Uniform Choice” in a courier font along all the edges of the sleeve within the
border. The reverse of the cover is exactly the same as the 1st Pressing and has a photo of the original Uniform Choice
back drop banner that was used for live performances in 1982 and 1983. It has
the songs and credits listed. It has a “small” Dr. Strange logo and a small
catalog number and lists the date as “2015” (year that the test press was
released). The logo, catalog # and date are floated up just above the bottom edge
of the sleeve.
%2BEP%2B-%2BSleeve.jpg)
Insert: Double sided on semi-gloss paper. Front side has
lyrics to each of the four songs with a pencil sketch watermark of the original
Uniform Choice logo. Back side has a short bio, band photos and the “Special
Thanks” section. There are two versions of this insert. 1,000 copies are missing the last two lines of the Bio. 61 copies have the corrected bio and include the last two lines (see photos below).
Also has a "white" digital download slip included in packaging.
Also has a "white" digital download slip included in packaging.
.jpg) |
| Double-Sided Insert (First 1,000 Copies) missing last two lines of Bio |
%2B(corrected)%2Bfor%2BDiscogs.jpg) |
| "Corrected Version" of Double Sided Insert with last two lines of Bio (Last 61 Copies) |
Label: Color is Black with White ink. Side A is listed as “This
Side” and has UNIFORM CHOICE across the top in a rough stencil type font. Side
B is listed as “That Side” and has “U.C.” across the top as it was hand-written
on set lists in 1982.
Vinyl: Clear Blue vinyl, small spindle hole, deadwax runout has
DSR134-A, R29725, “We Are Unicorn Hoist” on Side A; and DSR134-B, R29726, “Bye
Leo!” on Side B.
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 |
| A Comparison of the Different Versions |
THIRD PRESSING (Clear Red Vinyl) coming soon...
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