Saturday Deluxe / 5 March 2016
Less than four months after being released, T’Pau‘s Bridge of Spies 2CD+DVD deluxe appears to be out-of-print. This rather suggests caution on Universal’s part when it came to production numbers. It’s now either unavailable or a very high price, so if you get the opportunity to snag one for decent money, go for it. That deal alert in January allowing you to pick one up for £18 now looks like a bargain!
Metallica‘s impressive super deluxe sets for their first two albums are now orderable across Europe, although the prices are both rather high and inconsistent. Amazon France seems to be the best bet at present, but probably worth waiting to see how things pan out. 
Eric Clapton‘s forthcoming The Live Album Collection vinyl box is down to £75 in the UK. That’s decent, although Universal themselves are undercutting that on their store.
Demon Music will issue separately their remaster of The Sound of McAlmont & Butler which previously was only available as part of the deluxe set. This will be released on 1 April 2016
- • UK Pre-order: The Sound of McAlmont & Butler vinyl LP
- • USA Pre-order: The Sound of McAlmont & Butler vinyl LP
ChartWatch
Phil Collins‘ Hello, I Must Be Going 2CD deluxe is new into the physical UK top 100 at 34 and Dance Into The Light is 46. Not bad, and roughly consistent with what Face Value did a few weeks back. I guess if you bought the Face Value and Both Sides with the box set, you’re highly likely to pick up the rest to ‘complete’ your collection.
The chart is still full of David Bowie, although only ‘Best Of’ holds a place inside the top ten (currently at number three). The new vinyl Bowie at the Beeb 4LP set debuts at 47 which is decent for a vinyl box costing £60.
The Michael Jackson Off The Wall reissue sits between both Phil Collins reissues at number 38. It’s pretty hard to understand what the expectations were for this release and with no bonus audio it very much relies on the swish packaging and Spike Lee doc to generate interest. The ‘proper’ top 75 album chart (which factors in downloads and streaming) has Off The Wall at 62, which probably means it’s not going to get high exposure in supermarkets and the like. An SDE review of Off The Wall will be published this weekend.
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News
Deals
I just picked up a brand new and sealed copy of the T’pau box set for £13.50 on ebay from a great seller called tall_howard and they’ve had quite a few on sale of late, might be worth keeping an eye on.
Daaaamnn. I can only say I thought there’d be more time for T’pau, and that I don’t check SDE enough! I spent my life waiting for the “Heart & Soul” mixes and “On A Wing” to be on cd. It’s been a while since I made an unlikely-to-be-filled order on Amazon. Has anyone had recent luck with a “temporarily out of stock” effort? (I did the same thing with shuttered Gold Legion’s Laura Branigan cd). Paul, think Universal wants to hear for more?
Neil is correct, I ordered a copy online from HMV when I originally saw this article and feared I had missed the boat. At that time it said ‘back in stock within one week’. Today I received the ‘item dispatched’ email and they now look back in stock online for £26.99 with free p&p (UK only).
Available for £26.99 from HMV 11.25 09/03/2016
I have just picked up the T’pau box from Fopp for £27 so there are still some copies about.
Paul – in 30 years of retail I can confirm that Universal are playing it tighter with regard to stock control than they ever have – if it’s Universal and it says limited (and actually even if it isn’t limited, but is a deluxe repackage) it generally will be produced on a very short rein.
They’ll repress if there’s enough demand (the Steve Hackett Premonitions box proved that – it sold out Europe-wide pretty much on presale) but mostly, once it’s gone it’s gone.
It’s sensible really I suppose, but frustrating if you don’t have the money at the time . . .
I can’t see there being a massive demand for an out of print T’Pau reissue being sold at vastly inflated prices by secondary sellers – any one with an interest in the band will have bought it already. The highest price it sells for on Discogs will be a good indicator as time progresses.
Thank goodness I managed to purchase it for the special offer price before it went up higher and also now seems to be dissappearing from stores. Surprised it has gone out of print so quickly when other artists and bands albums are still available even though they were released decades ago.
Amazon Canada are out of their stock now.
Or it could be a canny way of increasing sales…. Well done Carol ;)
The TPau box set selling out reminds my of what happened initially with Level 42’s Running In The Family box – that though returned to print after a being unavailable for a a year.
Sadly a more popular release, Tears For Fears “The Hurting” has not returned to print, which is mind boggling. In some ways it would be better off for the labels to promote these releases as limited (state the number or number them) so we are clear on what the potential shelf life will be.
agree. the marc and the mambas ‘three black nights was actually subtitled ‘limited edition cd/dvd set’ … and is still available 4 years later. I really regret not getting the TFF hurting set.
I’m really, really thankful that I grabbed the T’Pau one when I did, as I was dithering about it and then found it at a great price and snapped it up. I waited to long on TFF The Hurting, and almost wasn’t able to find it. Paid a ton of money when I finally did, but very glad to have it. Learned my lesson about waiting too long.
Those TFF boxes are so essential that they should stay in print IMO. And the same goes for other bands’ box sets as well – often there’s stuff that a real fan simply needs. It’s unfair IMO to simply withhold this material from those who get into a group later, or were born too late…
Don’t disagree with you really, although ultimately it becomes a commercial decision for Universal. Maybe when Seeds of Love comes out, or the band’s new album, they’ll consider a re-press of one or both of the other album boxes…
Gob smacked about tpau price. On EBay UK, there is a seller, with 5 copies for £42 with free p&p.
I do know that they did have these sets for sale at some of the tPau gigs recently.
With the box sets the family have, might have to increase the house contents insurance!!!!
Same here, Amazon.ca it was for me. Now six left.
I got this when it was on pre-order.
This is an exceptional collection and worth every penny.
It would be nice if they do a re-print as a 2 disc jewel case version.
A.
I got an Amazon.ca copy ordered last week, I was shocked to see the Amazon.co.uk price so had to act quickly! Hopefully a limited run of Rage will follow as it features arguably their best single, Secret Garden.
The T’Pau set going out of print so fast doesn’t suprise me at all. That was going to attract an extremely small pool of buyers regardless of their popularity in Europe at the height of their success. They were at best a minor one hit wonder in the States. But it reminds me that my general method of getting the best price can be risky. I usually wait for something to come out and after a few weeks I usually pick it up from trusted ‘other sellers’ on Amazon. It works most of the time but sometimes it can backfire.
For example, I recently got the Todd Rundgren Bearsiville albums box set for a screaming deal from an other seller but when the Comsat Angels remasters were released I just bought them immediately knowing they would attract a small crowd and likely go out of print soon. It’s a fine line depending on the artist.
Amazon Canada has it for $35 US…snagged it!!!…thanks for the timely message…Amazon US is up to $85
T’Pau set is still available at amazon.ca for CDN$ 35.05, that’s about £18.50 + shipping!
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B013FIS7JE/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=
Gutted about the T’pau one. I remember seeing it pre-release then it managed to go forgotten. I loved the album back in the day and I listen to an American 80’s station in work so keep hearing the US remix of Heart & Soul. Have to be the one that got away
The chartwatch is great Paul. I used to look on a Sunday and now forget with it now being Friday. Impressed with the PC chart positions.
Elvis Presley!s If I Can Dream album has also sold one million copies too.
Udiscover seem to still have a few in stock of T’Pau for £25, I assume they’ll be some extra p+p to add on as well.
https://store.udiscovermusic.com/*/*/Bridge-Of-Spies-2CD-1DVD/4U3P0000000
It reads “Sorry Sold Out” underneath though!
They went quick, they were definitely available to buy when I found the link earlier
Yeah, last few probably snapped up by SDE readers!