Don’t fake it baby, lay the real thing on me…
Had quite a few e-mails over the past few months regarding the above picture discs. They began to surface last year with the release of Aladdin Sane followed by Ziggy Stardust.
At first this seemed like an attempt to replicate the picture discs released by RCA in 1984, which were:
Aladdin Sane RCA BOPIC 1
Hunky Dory RCA BOPIC 2
Ziggy Stardust RCA BOPIC 3
Pin-Ups RCA BOPIC 4
Diamond Dogs RCA BOPIC 5
However, it was obvious upon inspection that these new picture discs were shoddy attempts to cash in with no actual attempt to replicate the RCA versions.
Then followed Low (complete with nasty Bowie postcard as an incentive to buy) and “Heroes”.
So far this year Hunky Dory has been issued, the first of these pirates which has actually made an effort to replicate the RCA version, even though they removed any mention of RCA from the disc. See the reverse of both versions of Hunky Dory (RCA and pirate) above.
I think the thing that has thrown people regarding these releases is that they have been available through reputable online retailers. Obviously this gave them an air of legitimacy, but you shouldn’t be able to find them in these places any longer.
I know we can never dissuade completists not to buy these, (people are still shelling out for that awful red vinyl Low counterfeit, despite are warnings) but for anybody else wondering if these picture discs are worth the money, they’re not.
They are inferior in both sound and presentation (each of the original RCA discs came in a card cut-out sleeve with a numbered certificate) and they can make you go deaf and blind.