Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days on CD-R?

Hi everyone,

I think I just got ripped off. I ordered an import edition of Mary Hopkin's greatest hits collection on Apple "Those Were The Days" from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Those-Were-Days-Mary-Hopkin/dp/B00000I251

It's listed as an Import - but from Apple Records. The dates line up correctly - March 1995 - art looks appropriate, etc.

However - it is definitely a reproduction. The case is cheap, the disc is a CD-R, the book is a photocopy, etc.

Before I unleash the hounds, I thought I'd ask here: Is this something Apple/Amazon is doing with their back catalog issues? I know that Amazon burns CD-Rs on demand for some titles - but this seems like a bootleg to me...

Cheers,
Paul

 

Oh dear. This happened to me a few years ago at Tesco. I was trying to buy a Wish You Were Here DVD documentary. When I took the case to the desk there was something of a delay and I asked what was happening and they said that they were burning a disc. I pointed out that I could have burned a copy myself if that is what I wanted so declined the purchase. They had special machines to do this and I believe print the covers too. I don't think that they lasted too long. I would be very worried if Amazon started burning CDRs and sending them out as original CDs.

 

Yeah - that's my worry too. I mean - this listing looked pretty legit. $26 is about what I'd expect to pay new for a Holland/European import.

I can already tell there are some errors on this disc - the guitar intro on Goodbye is glitched - missing a fraction of a second in the middle.

Funny thing is - the disc even lists Holland on the printed label. I'm now about 90% convinced it's a boot.

Cheers,
Paul

 

$30.00 Canadian for this on amazon.ca. For a CD-R!

Unreal. What a dreadful business.

 

Wow!
I would think if Amazon was going to sell CD-Rs, they have to advertise it first, they just can't sell copies !!!
You have every right to return this for full refund and complain.

 

I'm guessing they based it off of this:

Mary Hopkin – Those Were The Days (1995, CD)

Cheers,
Paul

 

Not right at all! Return that sucker.

 

Sure they can if they are licensed to do so by the rights holders - and I expect they were unless you were dealing with a sketchy third party seller using Amazon to market products and conduct transactions.

If you have a gripe about it, most likely your gripe is with the record company that licensed this manufacturing procedure.

But it may be the only commercially viable way to keep products with limited market appeal in print at all as physical CDs. There may not be enough people buying Mary Hopkin CDs to warrant pressing CDs.

While.you could have made a copy yourself - that would have been illegal.

 

There is a fundamental difference between a CD and a CDR. As far as I am aware Amazon usually state they the item is an Audio CD. If you receive a CDR it would not be as advertised. If it makes it transparently clear in the description that the item is a CDR then fine but they are not interchangeable terms.

 

According to the listing:

Ships from Amazon.com
Sold by Amazon.com

Which is why I felt pretty confident ordering it. I'm still sending it back - the glitch on Goodbye is a deal breaker.

In the meantime, I ordered a used copy in good condition from a local Goodwill. They're shipping it soon. I'm hoping that's a pressed CD.

Cheers,
Paul

 

Return it.

Amazon does (at times) state that it is a CD-R. You have to look at the fine print of the listing (if any).

 

I posted the listing up above - there's no mention of CD-R there.

Just for reference: https://www.amazon.com/Those-Were-Days-Mary-Hopkin/dp/B00000I251

Cheers,
Paul

 

Looking at the photo of the cd on Amazon Canada, the one difference on the back tray card photo to my original cd purchased in 1995 is there is no EMI Music Canada label printed in the left top. The one on Amazon Canada is blank. Only difference I can make out.

 

Definitely return it. $26 for CDR is ridiculous.

I wonder if Apple has contracted out for CDR duplication, or if it's a fake that made it into the distribution channel?

 

This seller is known to sell what appear to be counterfeited in quantity (i.e. titles that are long out of print that suddenly appear from this seller in quantity).

He seems to have a bunch of the Mary Hopkins title. That's a bad omen:

MARY HOPKIN-THOSE WERE THE DAYS/BESTOF-APPLE CD OUT OF PRINT NEW SEALED | eBay

 

Yes, definitely not legit. The upper left corner of the back tray card is blank. Mine has EMI Music Canada in that spot.

 

There are several threads on the forum about this no-longer-recent phenomenon. These CDRs are, unfortunately, legit. It's due to various labels making titles available on CDR because they don't deem it to be worth the cost to do regular manufactured pressings anymore. They're not boots (or to use the correct terminology: counterfeits). When originating as a "made on demand" basis, Amazon has gotten the license to do so. And in some cases, it's the labels themselves which are making them available this way. Amazon used to identify which titles are CDRs but they're not doing that any longer, for who knows what reason. If you've bought such a CDR from a third party seller, chances are that's how they got it when they acquired it themselves.

So, yes, it sucks. And yes, it's deceptive. But unfortunately, it seems to be getting more and more common. At least, Amazon seems to be good about refunding customers who complain about it. But it still sucks.

 

Okay - the used CD I ordered from Goodwill arrived today. It is literally the "real" version of the reproduction I have - it's the Holland press.

Interestingly enough - the bootleg color corrected the Apple label. The Holland Apple is slightly yellow - the bootleg is nice and green.

Both of mine - Holland and Reproduction? - are also blank in that spot.

In fact - that one looks a lot like the reproduction I have. Careful inspection shows the Holland logo in the upper right of the rear card.

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. All griping about the weird edition aside, this is a great release. I'm not sure why Apple has let it go out of print. Mary herself had input into creating it - unlike the original 1972 vinyl album - this has all of the a-sides and b-sides. Not only does it have Que Sera Sera - which is still unavailable on Spotify, etc. - it also has the "quiet" version of The Fields Of St. Etienne. The version that's on the streaming services has an additional string arrangement by (apparently) Richard Hewson that's not present on this version. This quiet version is apparently exclusive to this release as well.

 

Thanks for initially posting this thread-- I found it after ordering the same CD from the amazon link, so I went back and was able to cancel it. I promptly went to Discogs and got a used EMI Swindon copy. I did look at the data at the bottom of the amazon listing and saw the country of origin was listed as Hong Kong. Immediate cancellation! It's a shame we have to research stuff like this when we buy from what we think of as a legitimate retailer....

 

People are allowed to sell CD-R music?