King Biscuit Needle Drops?

This isn't a question about a boots - not explicitly. I just got three radio shows I won on ebay. One's a "Superstars in Concert" and the other two are KBFHs. The Elton John one from 1990 is fine, but a Tom Petty that apparently aired earlier this year clearly comes from a needle drop. It's an older performance - early 80s, I think - that I suppose was resuscitated for airing.

Or was it? The seller claims it's a legit CD and not a homemade reproduction, but the art on the disc looks slightly suspect, and as I mentioned, it clearly comes from a needle drop - I can hear the record noise.

So here's the question: did the folks behind King Biscuit ever send out CDs with needle drops for airing? It sounds weird that they'd not use the original tapes, but who knows? I just want to know if I got a legit CD or a homemade copy...

 

King Biscuit issued full vinyl transcriptions of their shows w/ cue sheets (also including the national commercial spots) to many of their affiliates up until the mid-late 80's for airing in that format. My guess -- and it's just a guess -- is that your "CD" is made from one of those pressings.

After that, they began to send their shows to the stations on silver-pressed CD's. Before that, in the 70's, many syndicated radio shows were sent out on reel-to-reel tape as well.