(... of new
releases, new-found rarities, discovery of oddities from the
past...)
April 1, 2002
Vol.1, Issue 1
Welcome to the opening edition of the news
window at "A Genesis Discography"!!!
What prompted me to start this page is the recent flood of
pirated copies of the UK "Happy The Man" 7" PS
release. There have been a number of these items sold on eBay
already (by two different sellers, one of whom has used at least
two different usernames.) There are two different ones, I have
purchased both, received one, and am awaiting the second. The
first may be a botched initial print of the second, which is
being sold by a different user.
How to tell the original HTM from the fakes:
Sleeve:
Lets start with the sleeves. The first fake, the one I have is very
easy. The rear cover has the top and bottom edge of the front
cover folded under the back cover, while the
original had the front cover top and bottom flaps folding over
the back cover. The chuckle here is that on those little fold
over edges is where the "CB 181" was printed (on the
top right of the back cover on the front's fold-over)... the fake
sleeve obscured the "CB 181" with the mistaken
fold-over of the back cover. Looking closer, the fake also had
the "CB 181" at the left top of the
back cover (albeit obscured) while it is on the right
top on the original.
Original Issue | Fake Issue |
Similarly, the original had "Printed and made by the E. J.
Day Group, London and Bedford" at the bottom right of the
back cover, the fake has it under the "fold over", and
at the bottom left.
Original Issue | Fake Issue |
Other details of the sleeve differences include the lack of
"cut out" on the back side of the opening edge: the
original had it, the fake does not.
Original Issue | Fake Issue |
Looking even closer, now at the front cover, the original was
printed in a screen pattern. As such, the fake had to
be "de-screened" to avoid the "moiree" effect
of screening a screened image. If you look closely at PG's
forehead on the original, you can see this screening, or dot
pattern. The fake, on the other hand, while screened, is at a
much higher resolution, so the dots are so small they are almost
invisible, and the original dot pattern is gone, having been
descreened.
If all else fails, if the sleeve is immaculate,
too perfect for any original picture sleeve from 1972, then its
the fake ;-).
The second fake issue I don't yet have so I can't get into the
details of discerning it from the original. I suspect that the
one I have (which was advertised as "re-print") is a
botched first printing of the second fake. Once I have both, I'll
report on that if I can. The clue will be the mis-placed "CB
181" or else the screen pattern.
Disc:
The disc is much easier to discern between fake and original. The
original Charisma vinyl singles all were printed on vinyl discs
with ribs along the edge of the label, like little teeth running
the full circumference between the label and the vinyl dead wax.
This is extremely hard to reproduce in any
cost-effective manner today, and as such any pirated disc of the
old Charisma issues will not have those teeth.
Failng this, the fake has "CB 181" hand etched into the
dead wax, whereas the original had it machine stamped.
Original Issue | Fake Issue |
To many a collector, a pirate is
an interesting collectable (although typically worth far less
than the official release,) and a few have been clearly sold as
"re-print." But some of these are being sold in such a
way as to gloss over or otherwise distract from the fact that
they are not the original item. For now, I'm going to refrain
from publishing usernames here to avoid any issues, but just keep
in mind: if you are planning to purchase on eBay, and its not
clear in the item description, always ask the seller what you
need to know. Keep the e-mails until you receive your item and
are satisfied. Ebay is very good regarding its "safe
harbor" policy and you stand a good chance of getting at
least some of your losses mitigated if you have some basis for
your claim. If you know what you are buying, and the user is
clear about it, the sale should be a smooth one. Ask first!
Well, that's enough news for one issue! When I receive the second
item, I'll try to get an update posted here. If by then more of
these surface, I'll certainly report on it, but so far, there
have been few new listings on eBay, and I suspect we'll not see
them re-surface again for a little while..