Strange Carpenters 45. Any know about this?

[45 Spinner]

Hi Carpenters fans. This is my first post here.
I'm a long time vinyl 45 collector and recently found a strange 45 in a junk shop.

This 45 has the same label on both sides. It seems to be a hand-out given at a bank conference. It says Bank-One Retail Conference, Cleveland, OH, February 1992. The title is shown as: Great Performances, Rockin 'n Rollin for Retention.

So, you don't know the songs on the 45 until you play it. It turns out to be a different Carpenters song on each side.

One side is We've Only Just Begun (fans know this is a bank related song) and the other side is For All We Know. The matrix indicates A&M.

Doing my research, these songs were on an 80s A&M re-issue 45.

The best I can figure, this re-issue was used and given a new label for this bank promotion.

I'm guessing it's pretty rare, but I can't find it anywhere on the Internet including Discogs, Popsike, Ebay, etc.

Does any fan know about this?

Since it has a generic artist on the label, I also wonder if other pressings used other re-issued 45s.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Harry]

Is it possible that the label is pasted over top of the real label. I'm thinking that conference organizers gathered up a bunch of unsold 45s from a local store or distributor and pasted their own conference logos and labels on top, giving them away as freebies in a goodie bag, as often happens at conventions.

I'm not aware of any conscious effort on the part of A&M or Richard Carpenter to do such a thing.

 

[45 Spinner]

Is it possible that the label is pasted over top of the real label. I'm thinking that conference organizers gathered up a bunch of unsold 45s from a local store or distributor and pasted their own conference logos and labels on top, giving them away as freebies in a goodie bag, as often happens at conventions.

I'm not aware of any conscious effort on the part of A&M or Richard Carpenter to do such a thing.

I can tell you it's not a paste over another label, but they could have removed the original label, which usually is not easy to do.

It's really hard to say if it was someone's cutty/pasty project to remove the label, create a professional looking label, and paste it back on in 1992 (before computer programs made it easier to create record labels), but anything is possible.

Thanks for you thoughts, I'd have to agree that it doesn't appear to be an official issue by A&M, but for the "completest" Carpenters collector, it's somewhat interesting to say the least.

Anyone else ever seen this type of label on a different 45?

 

[Chris May]

Any pics??

 

[45 Spinner]

Any pics??

Any pics??

Any pics?? I'd like to post a pic, but I can't seem to make it happen. I can't attach a .jpg. How do I do that? I don't see that option.

 

[Mark-T]

Hi Carpenters fans. This is my first post here.
I'm a long time vinyl 45 collector and recently found a strange 45 in a junk shop.

This 45 has the same label on both sides. It seems to be a hand-out given at a bank conference. It says Bank-One Retail Conference, Cleveland, OH, February 1992. The title is shown as: Great Performances, Rockin 'n Rollin for Retention.

So, you don't know the songs on the 45 until you play it. It turns out to be a different Carpenters song on each side.

One side is We've Only Just Begun (fans know this is a bank related song) and the other side is For All We Know. The matrix indicates A&M.

Doing my research, these songs were on an 80s A&M re-issue 45.

The best I can figure, this re-issue was used and given a new label for this bank promotion.

I'm guessing it's pretty rare, but I can't find it anywhere on the Internet including Discogs, Popsike, Ebay, etc.

Does any fan know about this?

Since it has a generic artist on the label, I also wonder if other pressings used other re-issued 45s.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Welcome to the Boards, @45 Spinner!

 

[Chris May]

I'd like to post a pic, but I can't seem to make it happen. I can't attach a .jpg. How do I do that? I don't see that option.

Just beneath the reply box, you'll see the "Attach files" tab. The rest is pretty self-explanatory...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Or -- just drag a photo into your post, it should work fine if you're using one of the standard photo file formats.

 

[Harry]

New posters will have to load the .jpg onto a third party site, then copy and paste the URL here, either with IMG tags in square brackets, or just the URL will give us the link to click on.

 

[Harry]

My thought was that the convention organizers paid some outfit to do the labels; they in turn located and supplied the 45s, then either soaked off the labels en masse or otherwise got them off, and then pasted on the newly printed labels.

 

[45 Spinner]

2020-07-03-14-08-49

Let's see if the link above to a picture works.

I could believe some third party "created" it, but I doubt many are around anymore and who knows how many were made, and if all of them are Carpenter's songs. Would be nice to know the story behind it.

 

[Harry]

That looks pasted on to me.

 

[tomswift2002]

Pasted on or it was a UK pressing that they some how got a hold of and dinked it after changing the label.

 

[Harry]

^Now that seems a bit far-fetched. Why would anyone go through that trouble when US 45s were a dime a dozen back then.

 

[45 Spinner]

Thanks for the input. I'm pretty sure this was "made" using an existing 45, but it's definitely a curiosity. If anyone hears about another 45 with the same label, I'd be interested in knowing it's actually a Carpenters 45, or a different song. Anyhow, it seems to be something unseen before in this group. Happy 4th of July!

 

[Harry]

Carpenters records have been around for 50 years, and people have found all sorts of things to do with them, assuming they're not going to play them.

There are plaques, ashtrays, purses, all sorts of craft-y type stuff. Records are used as decorations in restaurants, diners with an oldies theme, etc.

We had a community dance in my neighborhood and I was asked if I had any 45s for decorations and table displays, and I did provide some duplicates. It was quite an interesting display.

 

[Another Son]

Carpenters records have been around for 50 years, and people have found all sorts of things to do with them, assuming they're not going to play them.

There are plaques, ashtrays, purses, all sorts of craft-y type stuff. Records are used as decorations in restaurants, diners with an oldies theme, etc.

We had a community dance in my neighborhood and I was asked if I had any 45s for decorations and table displays, and I did provide some duplicates. It was quite an interesting display.

Bette Midler wore one as a hat, as Karen herself saw at very close quarters - a record, I mean - not necessarily a Carpenters record.

 

[tomswift2002]

^Now that seems a bit far-fetched. Why would anyone go through that trouble when US 45s were a dime a dozen back then.

It was 1992. Maybe the 45s were bought by a liquidation company from the manufacturer in the UK and sold in the US at extremely low prices.

 

[Harry]

Yeah, right. I'm holding a conference in Cleveland, Ohio and I wanted a bunch of 45 RPM records with custom labels to be given away. So I hirec a company to do that - and THEY in turn send all the way to the UK for the a bunch of 45s, knowing full well that every last one of them had to be "dinked", a process you just showed is difficult and time-consuming.

Why would ANYONE do that when there were plenty of US 45s right there in Cleveland? They probably only needed a thousand or so depending on the number of attendees. I don't even know why I - or you, Tom - would bother arguing over such silliness. This is my last word on that subject.

 

[NowhereMan]

It sounds like it may have been this release:

Carpenters ‎– We've Only Just Begun / For All We Know

 

[Harry]

It sounds like it may have been this release:

Carpenters ‎– We've Only Just Begun / For All We Know

Right. Record stores were loaded with old 45s that they were getting rid of in 1992. CDs were taking over and no-one wanted vinyl anymore. I recall racks and racks of 45s in the stores back then with all sorts of retro oldies like the Memories series, Starline singles of Beatles, etc. Nearly overnight, those racks disappeared.

 

[tomswift2002]

Yeah, right. I'm holding a conference in Cleveland, Ohio and I wanted a bunch of 45 RPM records with custom labels to be given away. So I hirec a company to do that - and THEY in turn send all the way to the UK for the a bunch of 45s, knowing full well that every last one of them had to be "dinked", a process you just showed is difficult and time-consuming.

Why would ANYONE do that when there were plenty of US 45s right there in Cleveland? They probably only needed a thousand or so depending on the number of attendees. I don't even know why I - or you, Tom - would bother arguing over such silliness. This is my last word on that subject.

By 1992 a number of record companies would’ve been remaindering (or cutting-out) their vinyl stock, since they would see no reason to keep large amounts of vinyl in stock. So they could’ve sold a large inventory to a remainder or liquidation company for like 4 cents or something per disc, and it was that company that imported them to North America and then the organizers of the event would’ve bought them cheap from the liquidation/remainder company.

Also with the right drill bit, any tradesman with a drill press could do them a lot faster.

Also, since the 90’s, a lot of 45’s sold in North America had the normal 33/78 hole. So UK singles would’ve blended in.

 

[Harry]

Oy.