Elsewhere I have talked about my passion for Latin American pressings of Jackson 5 singles, and my goal of acquiring at least one single from every country in Central and South America, and Mexico.
Even though they don't have picture sleeves, I love the labels showing interesting subsidiaries such as Ebrau and Tapecar (Brazil), Banglad (Chile), and Odeon (Peru), and song titles in Spanish, such as “Quiero que Regreses” (“I Want You Back” from Chile) and “Estaré Allí” ("I’ll Be There" from Peru). I even like it when I get a 45 that some kid in South America had written their name on (Vandu from Brazil, I've got your copy of "Ben.")
I also like to collect singles for songs that were only issued as as foreign pressings in the 7" format, and Latin American countries had their fair share of these. My favorites are "El Tamborilero (Little Drummer Boy)" which was released as a single backed with "Rudolph, el Reno de Nariz Roja" from Venezuela in 1970, and a 1977 pressing from Argentina of "Música del Alegre Tragamonedas (Joyful Jukebox Music)," which was backed with "We're Going to Change Our Style."
The most common Latin American pressings come from Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. I have yet to see one from Uruguay or Paraguay, Guatemala or Honduras. So I got a special thrill last week when I got a copy of "Get it Together (Hagámoslo Junto)" in the mail from El Salvador. It is the first Jackson 5 single I have collected from anywhere in Central America, although I do have a few early Jacksons 45s from Costa Rica -- but that's not quite the same.
The condition, as you can see, is terrible. You can barely read the label, it's so banged up, and there are multiple scratches on both sides. But I don't care. I am just so thrilled to have a Jackson 5 single from Central America that condition doesn't matter that much to me. In fact, I kind of like knowing that some kid in El Salvador was playing the hell out of both "Get It Together" and "Touch" at the same time I was playing these songs, over and over, in the United States.
I still have a long way to go toward my goal of acquiring one 45 from each county, but at least I can now cross El Salvador off my list.
Belize
Bolivia
Colombia
Costa Rica
French Guiana
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Suriname
Uruguay
Impressive!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you write, your passion is contagious.
i agree Raisa. i have such admiration for every entry!
ReplyDeletethe whole foreign thing is really interesting in the record biz. Like when they put out Doctor My Eyes in UK but didn't do it here and it became a hit. I wonder if any of the 5 collected all the different picture sleeves and pressings, it's mind blowing to see how they reached all over the world. I wish that 73 live album was released in more than japan. Wish I could see some of the marketing plans they had back then for the J5.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the J5 saw many of the foreign pressings at all. I recently saw a photo of Michael in the Netherlands in 1972, and he's clutching a Dutch pressing of his solo LP in a very possessive way.
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