Test Presses are a fascinating novelty. The idea of them being an essential part of a record collection is laughable - for most bands these things simply never see the light of day, and even if they do your chances of having a "complete" set of test presses are so slim it's next to pointless. It'd be very frustrating to have a complete vinyl collection for a band, but be missing a few test presses that you may never, ever see or have a chance to buy. It's a level I have no (current) plans of getting involved with.
However, they are interesting things, and whenever record labels are selling them off I always have a look. Usually they're priced for collectors only but every now and again the label is just trying to make space. That is certainly the case for Boss Tuneage, who have had a couple of test press sales now. In the most recent one, I picked up this test pressing of Jon's third album. I'm not entirely sure what made me buy it - I had the album on vinyl already - but here it is in my collection. One factor was that it was only £1 (before postage), which in fact explains two reasons - I can't turn down cheap vinyl, but there was also something sad about seeing it there for so little; a pity purchase, in part. There's also the fact I do like the album, as covered in this last post about the album itself. Finally, I was also buying the test press of the last Bedford Falls album, so I couldn't not add this to the basket as well.
Jon's first album was only released on cd, and his second was on another label, so I've never seen the test pressings for sale; this isn't the beginning of a super-thorough Doublecross collection - it's just an interesting curio to have on the shelves.
Format: 12", test pressing
Tracks: 12
Cost: £3.75 new
Bought: Boss Tuneage
When: 04/01/19
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: none
