A Word on Promo Carts (con't).

Shown here are a few promo-only 8-tracks. All of these are quite rare, as they were issued in small quantities to begin with, and most of the copies sent out were ultimately played into oblivion or otherwise discarded. The most widely-known of these is the promotion-only sampler for the Beatles' "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" Promo-only Beatles releases are always in demand, and the 8-track sampler more so than most because the sampler was issued ONLY in the 8-track format. This sampler regularly sells for $50 and up in still sealed condition. Even rarer, and ten times more expensive, is the 8-track 3-pack boxed set that Capitol issued in the '60's: "The Beatles 3 Pack". This set contained standard issue 8-tracks for "Meet the Beatles", "Yesterday and Today" and "Magical Mystery Tour" in a custom boxMost of these are "one-offs", that is, promotional releases sent out by the label for a particular album or set of current albums. For example, London Records sent out the promo 8-track shown that contains then-current tracks from two ex-Moody Blues members (John Lodge and Justin Hayward), as well as from label mate John Miles. Note the appearance of some very collectable artists on these samplers. For example, the Pickwick Christmas reissues sampler (not to be confused with the Pickwick Systems samplers below) contains a couple of licensed Elvis Presley tracks. This sampler is so rare that I have been unable to find it listed in any of the typically obcessive Elvis discographies. The ABC Records sampler shown contains tracks by Jimmy Buffett, Joe Walsh, and others.

click to see song list

Also shown is one member of a large series of promo 8-tracks that were issued by Pickwick Systems. This series ran for a year or two, and comprises numerous samplers (I have about 40 or so). Each sampler came in a rather generic labeled 8-track that indicated its issuer (Pickwick Systems), a promo-only warning, and (on the edge) a rubber stamped show number. The samplers came with a page that listed the tracks on the 8-track. All tracks are fore- and/or back-announced. The Pickwick Systems 8-tracks were produced for use in a few major record chains; Musicland, Discount Records and Aura Sounds. These Pickwick Systems 8-tracks are great as nostalgia, as they feature most of the major artist releases, label priorities and hits the week they were issued. They are also fairly collectable, since the tracks on the 8-tracks were all licensed by the labels who issued them (with, one suspects, a payment to Picwick from the label). The Pickwick sampler shown features, among other artists, The Rolling Stones.

David A. Pearlman email: dap@vpharm.com

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