Yes, I believe it was 560 TREES and 400 KRISMA that went to the grave. However, TREES was pressed at the time when UMG was requiring a 1500 minimum, so there's nearly 1000 copies out there. KRISMA was only a pressing of 1000 so there's less than 600 of those in circulation, and there's been 2 copies languishing with my distributor for a good while. They also still have 3 TREES in stock. Regarding MISSING PERSONS Rhyme & Reason, just today I succumbed to the pressure and put in a new order, but it will be only 500 units so the price will go up at least $1 since smaller pressings cost more. Plus, I still have a handful of the boxes from the limited box set yet, so I'm going to set aside some of the remaining Color In Your Life CD's, which are just about gone, and offer a few of the box sets again when the new stock comes in. I'm also likely going to be repressing the Boingo CD's of Lad and DMP, and at another 1000 units. When I was doing my accounting for UMG's 6 month sales report and royalty payout, I saw that between direct and distribution sales, I was moving around 100 +/- of both each month, and with two years still left on my contracts I might as well exploit it a little further, I'm just not sure exactly when. One thing about this period's accounting is I have to send a painfully large check to UMG for sales that surpassed the advances, by far the largest yet. Success is not without its pain points. The MISSING PERSONS Spring LP stock was FINALLY recalled last week so hopefully the new stock will be ready in the next week or two, though I can't say how long they will take to ship it out to me. SPLIT ENZ LP is still listed as having a completion date of tomorrow, but that is tentative and it will likely be pushed out but hopefully I'll have it in the next month or so. I've paid my deposit for the BOINGO Lad LP third press and this one is definitely going up in price since the situation between the old manufacturer and getting set up and materials to the new manufacturer is definitely a costly endeavor. But it looks like I will have it in October or November. They are going to attempt to see if the existing stampers fit their presses and if not then I will have to fork out for a new lacquer to be created.
I did send a message to UMG production last week asking if there's still time to have any represses of Berlin 'Love Life' and Visage 'Special Dance Mix' CD's done. I didn't get a reply, so I'll take that as a no. Those are some of my last 'finished goods' deals with UMG so the manufacturing would have been handled by them. Maybe they just prefer to be done with it at this time. My distributor just informed me they are sending me another batch of returns that couldn't be refurbished, so I'll be curious to see if any of the in-demand titles are included. Last time, it had two of the first Visage CD with only the need for new jewel cases. I'll post when I get the package and review the contents.
Just to make sure I have this correct, "donating" for a "free gift" is basically just purchasing the CD which you have no legal right to be selling?
Save the drama and finger wagging, it was more for a chuckle. And since you've never contributed to this thread before, feel free to move along...
If you think two full pressings of LP's having to be rejected due to defects, changing LP manufacturers during a repressing, and losing thousands of dollars because of a licensing error can be classed as a 'tiny snag', you must live a pretty advantaged existence. If 'drama' and 'hand wringing' is what you seek, or try to incite, there are plenty of other threads to get your fix.
The CD repressing of Missing Persons Rhyme or Reason...How can we place an order asap since it's a limited pressing and I wish to complete the set of 3? I ordered the other two when you had a sale, but ROR was sold out at the point. I'd really like to get it without having to buy a box of the two CDs I bought already last time.
No worries, I'll announce when I have it in stock and there will be plenty available. I'll likely only be offering 5 copies of the box set so there will be no problem for those who just want the single CD.
I got the big box of returns from my distributor today. It included two copies of Berlin 'Love Life' and one copy of Ric Ocasek 'Beatitude', each I've posted on eBay. The box also included several copies of the two currently out of print Boingo CD's and I have those available at the online store, along with all of the other sale OPEN or SCRATCH & DENT CD's: https://www.rubellanremasters.com/online-store
Looks like there's some good bidding action on your Ric Ocasek "Beatitude" CD Scott - 5 days 9 hours remaining, 6 bids, and at $21.50. It should be interesting to see what it finally sells for.
I’m excited for the Split Enz History Never Repeats lp. I’ll definitely order a copy as soon as it’s available.
The Split Enz LP was in fact completed last week. But with the recent QC issues, I'm having them pull a couple of copies and check for the usual issues, i.e. heavy or repetitive noises or excessive centering issues. This being my last planned new title on any format at this point, I'm hoping for less headaches. I also still don't know how fast it will ship out but hopefully in the next couple of weeks. I'm also expecting to hear about the Missing Persons repress completion this week, and I'm curious if their claim of having the head of QC involved really happened or if it was just a pacifying claim. And I'm STILL waiting for them to ship the completed and paid for materials of the Boingo 'Lad' LP repress to the new manufacturer. It should be this week and I'll have email inquiries ready to go.
Missing Persons LP repress update: I'm absolutely horrified to have checked in today, considering the lateness of the originally quoted 4-week turn time, only to be informed that one of the vinyl colors is currently out of stock and isn't expected for another couple of weeks (though they claim they will try to get it in sooner). Why the hell this color wasn't stocked well in advance in anticipation of this long scheduled repress is beyond me, but it continues to confirm that the end of the working relationship with this manufacturer is the best thing possible regarding any potential future vinyl releases. While buyers who pre-ordered this LP back in July may feel justified frustration, amplify that by 1000% and that's where I'm at. What I'm going to do because of all of this BS is those who have pending (domestic) orders that include items other than the Missing Persons LP, I am going to process and ship the other items. I will change the order status to 'Shipped' so you receive the tracking number. Then I will change the order status back to 'Processing' to keep it open until the Missing Persons LP comes in stock. At that time, I will process and ship the LP(s) and will change the status to 'Shipped' again so you get the second and final tracking number. My apologies for all of these issues and delays, but hopefully it will wrap up fairly soon.
With the recent announcement of Danny Elfman doing an extended career-spanning weekend of shows for Halloween, I've gone ahead this morning and put in new orders for the out of print Only A Lad and Dead Man's Party CD's. I should hopefully have stock in about a month. The latest LP reissue of Nothing To Fear is pretty much sold out. All I have left on the website are 1 new but unsealed copy and 3 sealed copies with corner bends. I'm sure prices will start going up on the flipper's market. The Tan & Yellow variant of Good For Your Soul was sent into distribution and all 350 copies were pretty much gone before the street date. I'm down to around 30 copies left of that variant and may soon send some of the Green & Blue into distribution. I had the LP manufacturer double check the Split Enz LP for previous issues. They sent me a few videos showing me playback of both color variations. Things look pretty good so I'm hoping they ship it out next week. My plan is to open pre-orders for that one after the corrected Missing Persons stock is done and in hand so I can release them both together. As mentioned above, anyone who had a pending Missing Persons LP order with other items should have now received a Shipped notice for the other items. Assuming no further delays on this then I hope to have all MP orders shipped out in September.
A few updates. The Split Enz LP will be here on Tuesday and the Missing Persons LP repress in happening as I type. Reminder that I will immediately address the MP open orders before re-opening the preorder and will then also open the Split Enz preorder at that time. I should be getting a shipping notice about the MP Rhyme & Reason CD repress any day now as well. I checked in with Universal on my other Boingo/Elfman requests and was told the bonus tracks on the CD's are holding things up, so it sounds like they are in fact in the final clearance queue. I was told they will check with the final clearance person after they get back from vacation next week, and at the very least may get some of the vinyl clearances fairly soon, though I will keep on them about the CD's as well. After two months of constant inquiries with no real reason or excuse given, the materials (minus the LP labels, which they apparently lost) for the third pressing of the Oingo Boingo 'Only A Lad' LP have finally left my previous vinyl manufacturer and are on the way to my new manufacturer. Still hoping for an October or November completion on this one. The amount of inquiries on the repress (of this and the CD's) has been increasing, and with Elfman's upcoming Halloween shows, the time is ripe!
That’s unfortunate. If it’s any consolation, you can take pride in having assembled a catalog that’s gained a lot of appreciation. My music collection is certainly a beneficiary of your efforts!
Well, at this point it's really dependent if any new clearances come through. Not counting the botched TPE releases (still unresolved), I haven't had a clearance in about 6 months but still have over 40 pending. I have recently started inquiring again, as indicated by the Boingo comments in my last post. The thing for a good while is I generally have to go to the upper levels to try to get clearances happening again, which I've done. I have a bit of a challenging relationship with the final clearance person, so it often takes going up the ladder to get things moving. There is no understanding of how the final clearance queue is structured but it has nothing to do with chronology of requests sent in. The general routine is I go to the upper level and then he inquires to the final clearance person, and then things might start moving again, but no guarantees.
Thanks for the response Scott. Here’s hoping that those requests all get honored. Heck, even if you can’t get the bonus tracks you generously include in the releases, I’d be happy just with some remasters with your deft and subtle mastering work. It’s a pity about TPE as they deserve better than what they will be getting from a reissue label that can botch their releases and cares less about quality. I would have loved to see you do their essential albums (the one you did aside). I’m keeping my fingers. Tossed. Know that you have folks that love your work here and the effort is much appreciated!
Would there be any way possible for fans of Rubellan Remasters, and actual paying customers, to encourage “final clearance person” ?
I appreciate the sentiment but I expect it would only enflame the situation. Thankfully, I have my primary contact who can occasionally get things moving. I'm sure I mentioned at some point my thinking was that increasing the amount of requests I had in that it would encourage more frequent clearances, but generally it's not been the case. So, if it's been 6 months since I have received a clearance and I have 40+ left in the queue, expect that I will be long dead before half of them are addressed. That said, it's better than the situation with Warner. I have one that moved in the final stage nearly a year ago, just waiting for a contract and it's not happened. Another label has had a similar experience. I inquired about another that they said they would check on but I never heard anything back. And I had two others clear the main steps but the price jumped and the last I heard was they would see about getting it back to the original price, and it's been crickets since. I will keep my focus with Universal because despite the sluggish pace, which they have admitted they understand it can be painful, I may still occasionally get a new title to reissue here and there. My list of pending requests is exciting (to me), but it's just a matter of waiting to hear what gets approved or denied, but no one here is getting any younger so of course I feel that sense of semi-urgency. No one knows what the market will be, or how many of my buyers will still be around, in 5 years so I would like to keep something happening while there's a bit of an upward momentum.
Have a sneak peek at the upcoming Split Enz colored vinyl editions, available to pre-order later in September. Stay tuned for more details...
