• Our Album of the Week features will return next week.

Sweet Memory - Taiwan

Lynda

Lynda

Well-Known Member
I recently came across a Taiwanese edition of "Sweet Memory." I was uncertain as to whether it was legit, however, looking at the details on the slipcase, booklet, inlay, and CD, it definitely looks official. Does anybody have information about this release? I never knew it existed until now. The album watercolour artwork are different from the Japanese editions.






 
I'm not so sure. Look again at the actual CD face. I'll use the last one as an example here:

1711763292713.png

The bottom rim text on these discs say:

All rights of the producer and of the owner reporduced reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting pf this record prohibited.

Bold text mine.

In addition to misspelling "reproduced", they've omitted the words "of the work" after the word "owner".

That alone is a red flag for me, anyway. It could very well be legit, but I would be wary of buying it. The back of the inserts also have a UPC code, which the Japanese SWEET MEMORY discs do not have.
 
It’s definitely misspelled. The cover art is also not correct, Someday has a car in a field with a surfboard on top of the car with clouds and blue sky. The original artist who did all the artwork is Goro Sasaki. I’m not even sure this is his artwork. In addition, on the back of the jewel case for Someday, mine does not have the word Compilation. Also this one says 1996 but mine says 1995.
 
It's possible that it might be a legit release. It could have been released in Taiwan in 1996, a year later than in Japan. Taiwan could have required UPC codes. It's not like there haven't been misspellings on official releases before - how could we ever forget "Carepenters" on the Remastered Classics disk of the tan album, and that was a USA release. As for the different artwork, maybe Goro Sasaki only licensed his watercolours for Japan, and they got a different artist to come up with something similar? Anyway, too many unanswered questions. Unless I knew for sure that it's an official product, I would steer clear.

It's too bad that we don't have a member from Taiwan, who could shine some light on this.
 
Last edited:
I found another typo. I’d you look at the On and Off Cd. Strenth of a Woman?

They actually designed these pretty well if they are bootlegs. I’d more concerned about the music and the discs. Are these CDR’S? Sometimes they are noted with the CDR written on the inner ring. Are these just lifted from other CD’s. Like Murray said so many questions.
 
Rick-An Ordinary Fool said:
I found another typo. I’d you look at the On and Off Cd. Strenth of a Woman?

They actually designed these pretty well if they are bootlegs. I’d more concerned about the music and the discs. Are these CDR’S? Sometimes they are noted with the CDR written on the inner ring. Are these just lifted from other CD’s. Like Murray said so many questions.
Click to expand...
I wondered if they are CDRs yet on Discogs, there is a matrix/runout and mastering SID code. This is what made me wonder if these may indeed be legit.
 
Murray said:
It could have been released in Taiwan in 1996, a year later than in Japan. Taiwan could have required UPC codes.
Click to expand...
Recall that the Japanese SWEET MEMORY was issued as a mail-in "club" sort-of program. They were never issued for retail sale, therefore wouldn't need a UPC.

It appears that if legit, the Chinese (Taiwanese) versions were issued individually and available for retail sale. Spelling and word errors on Asian releases are certainly not uncommon, and as pointed out, even the US releases occasionally have textual problems.

And the photos - well, the Japanese ones were probably only licensed for the Japanese release and the Taiwanese utilized something artistically similar.

I think this could go either way, but would still be suspect. If I were shopping for this set, I'd go with the original set. If those prove too expensive, the Japanese BEST SONGS reissue set is also genuine.

1711810059570.png
 
If you can buy one and see how the audio sounds see how the songs load up and whether gracenote recognizes the songs.

It’s a shame they messed up on some of the titles because they went all out on the artwork and design even the slip covers look nice.
 
Harry said:
It came to our attention in 2017. Nice reissue.
Click to expand...

And here's the artwork in better quality from that earlier thread. Just lovely. I might look this set up. I'd love the original "Sweet Memories" set with the artwork that's reminiscent of the ASFY inner sleeve, but this would be a good alternative. Are the remixes all the same, such as the one Richard did on 'Another Song'?

Eyewire said:
And here is the cover art for the first CD:

cover1.jpg


The rest of the covers are linked here:

http://www.um3.jp/img/usr/item/07049/cover1.jpg
http://www.um3.jp/img/usr/item/07049/cover2.jpg
http://www.um3.jp/img/usr/item/07049/cover3.jpg
http://www.um3.jp/img/usr/item/07049/cover4.jpg
http://www.um3.jp/img/usr/item/07049/cover5.jpg
http://www.um3.jp/img/usr/item/07049/cover6.jpg
Click to expand...
 
All exactly the same mixes.

It may be that even the Japan Universal couldn't get the rights to the old artwork. I never thought of that before as the reason for this set's different artwork.
 
It's possible that the uploader on Discogs is reading our forum and added the image of that credit page due to our skepticism. I say that because that Discogs user has been uploading Carpenters stuff nearly exclusively for the past year.
 
Harry said:
It's possible that the uploader on Discogs is reading our forum and added the image of that credit page due to our skepticism. I say that because that Discogs user has been uploading Carpenters stuff nearly exclusively for the past year.
Click to expand...
Are the credits bogus? I wouldn't have enough knowledge to be able to tell.
 
Again, it seems they are reading this thread. Don't be shy, say something!
 
I have the “Best Songs” with the pastel colored inserts. It is exactly the same as Sweet Memory. Released a couple of years ago in Japan.
 
Harry said:
Recall that the Japanese SWEET MEMORY was issued as a mail-in "club" sort-of program. They were never issued for retail sale, therefore wouldn't need a UPC.

It appears that if legit, the Chinese (Taiwanese) versions were issued individually and available for retail sale. Spelling and word errors on Asian releases are certainly not uncommon, and as pointed out, even the US releases occasionally have textual problems.

And the photos - well, the Japanese ones were probably only licensed for the Japanese release and the Taiwanese utilized something artistically similar.

I think this could go either way, but would still be suspect. If I were shopping for this set, I'd go with the original set. If those prove too expensive, the Japanese BEST SONGS reissue set is also genuine.

1711810059570.png
Click to expand...
If someone enjoys collecting items that may be unique/rare, nothing wrong with getting a set that is not the original from Japan. Obviously, a lot of collectors would like to get both sets if they can do so. I would certainly get the Taiwanese set if it is legit. There are two sealed CDs available on eBay right now, however, they are expensive and I would not invest in them if they are not legit.
 
Song4uman said:
I have the “Best Songs” with the pastel colored inserts. It is exactly the same as Sweet Memory. Released a couple of years ago in Japan.
Click to expand...
I have this set as well and it's great. Does not compare with the originals in terms of packaging, but if someone wants the exact same material, then this one is the alternative.
 
newvillefan said:
How will you know unless you buy and unseal them?
Click to expand...
Also, if you read the thread, we already know there is quite a bit of information on Discogs that leans towards the CDs being legit. However, I have never seen this set on any discography.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar discussions

A
All things Judith Durham A&M!
Replies
8
Views
333
Another Son
A
Rudy
  • Article
📣 News The Songs of Bacharach & Costello
Replies
14
Views
1K
Rudy
Rudy
Cuyler
Tomka Productions
Replies
1
Views
1K
moog
moog
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Olivia Newton-John's Memoir Book Mentions Karen
Replies
3
Views
5K
Carpe diem
Carpe diem
newvillefan
Carpenters: A to Z BBC Radio Documentary
2 3
Replies
72
Views
10K
newvillefan
newvillefan
Back
Top Bottom