Folder 108
Europe
Holland-printed European copy. Boxed GEMA beside STEMRA, and THERE'S ONLY ONE cut by hand into the run-out.
What the record says
Every line below was read off a native-resolution crop of the photograph named beside it.
Run-out photographed, both sides, across eight frames. The number on one side resolves cleanly to 2402001-B-01, with STERLING further round. Its characters are regular, upright and evenly spaced, unlike the two messages below, which are visibly hand-scratched; how each mark was applied is not something this dossier asserts from a photograph, and Discogs' own note on this release says only that “Runouts are etched except for ‘STERLING’ and the stamper numbers which are stamped”, without saying which part of 2402001-B-01 is the stamper number. Nothing turns on it: the discriminator is the punctuation of the string, not the tool that made it. Both sides also carry a message: one reads THERE'S ONLY with the next word running out of frame, the other THATS Fuck um. - the pair Discogs records for every European copy of this catalogue number as THERES ONLY ONE um. and THATS Fuck um.. The ONE is read from no frame here: THERE'S ONLY is what is legible, and the final word is quoted from Discogs, not off this record.
Barcode and Other Identifiers: Matrix / Runout
As Discogs records them for release 24943942. Green: in my collection (0 of 2). Red: missing.
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Side A) | 2402001-A-02 THERES ONLY ONE Um. STERLING 1 |
| ✗ | Matrix / Runout (Side B) | 2402001-B-01 THATS FUCK Um. STERLING 1 |
Every line of small print, and the photograph it came from — 14 of them
Rear sleeve: Marketed, manufactured and distributed by EMI.
IMG_1979
Rear sleeve, in blue lettering: Printed in Holland by EMI Services Benelux B.V., Uden.
IMG_1979
Rear sleeve: PLAYING TIME: 51.20
IMG_1979
Rear sleeve: ℗ 1984 Original Sound Recordings made by EMI Records Ltd. · © 1984 Iron Maiden (Holdings) Ltd. · LC 0542
IMG_1979
Rear sleeve catalogue block: ● 1C 064 / ⊞ 1C 264 against 24 0200, with barcode 5 099924 020015
IMG_1978
Label, side one: 1C 064-24 0200 1A with EJ 24 0200 1 A beneath it
IMG_1983
Label, side one: GEMA in a box beside STEMRA - not the black rectangle a fourth candidate carries
IMG_1983
Label, side one: LC 0542 in a rounded box, 33⅓ R.P.M. Stereo, THIS SIDE / OTHER SIDE with running times
IMG_1983
Label rim: ALLE URHEBER- UND LEISTUNGSSCHUTZRECHTE VORBEHALTEN. KEIN VERLEIH! KEINE UNERLAUBTE VERVIELFÄLTIGUNG… and MADE IN EEC
IMG_1983
Label, side two: the eye-in-sand artwork
IMG_1985
Run-out: 2402001-B-01 - regular, evenly spaced characters
IMG_1986
Run-out: STERLING - Discogs records this word as stamped on this release
IMG_1988, IMG_1993
Run-out, etched: THERE'S ONLY (the following word runs out of frame)
IMG_1990, IMG_1991
Run-out, etched: THATS Fuck um.
IMG_1987
The photographs
IMG_1976.jpg1 of 18READ FROM
The object, and what marks it out
Sleeve, labels and inserts
- Outer sleeve - single, standard artwork, laminated, with the EMI logo embossed at the bottom right of the rear cover.
- Inner sleeve - printed both sides: lyrics and credits on one face, a band photograph on the other.
- Labels - the international sand design, side one text and side two the eye image, blue print on the sand ground.
- Vinyl - black.
What distinguishes this pressing
Printed in Holland by EMI Services Benelux B.V., Uden., in blue lettering. This is what separates the copy from the two otherwise identical European entries printed in Germany by 4P Nicolaus GmbH, Köln, whose equivalent line is in white.- Boxed
GEMAwithSTEMRAon the side-one label, rather than theBIEM/GEMAstamped on a black rectangle that a fourth European entry is defined by. - The
1Con the label.1C 064-24 0200 1A, withEJ 24 0200 1 Abeneath it.1Cis EMI Electrola's prefix, and it is what separates this copy from the three entries whose labels print the bare064-24 0200-1- including the Irish pressing, which is otherwise a close match. - The punctuation of the run-out number.
2402001-B-01- hyphenated, no064-prefix, a two-digit suffix. The near-twin Holland-printed entry records every one of its variants as064-2402001 Bor064-2402001 B2: different prefix, different separator, no suffix. This is not on its own the discriminator it first looks like - the Irish pressing records exactly2402001-B-01too - but it is what removes that near twin, which nothing else here does. STERLINGin the run-out - George Marino's mastering house, and absent from the fourth candidate's recorded matrices.- The etched messages.
THERE'S ONLY [ONE]on one side andTHATS Fuck um.on the other: cutting-room graffiti that every European pressing of this catalogue number carries, so they corroborate the family and discriminate nothing. MADE IN EECon the label rim, alongside a German-language rights notice - an EMI pan-European issue rather than a national one, which is why Discogs files it underEuropeand not under a country.
Eight tracks, two sides, and the recording credits
Side A
- A1Aces High
- A22 Minutes To Midnight
- A3Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)
- A4Flash Of The Blade
- A5The Duellists
Side B
- B1Back In The Village
- B2Powerslave
- B3Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Bruce Dickinson - vocals · Dave Murray - lead and rhythm guitar · Adrian Smith - lead and rhythm guitar · Steve Harris - bass · Nicko McBrain - drums.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Martin Birch, assisted by Bruce Buchhalter and Frank Gibson. Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound. Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau; mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York. Sleeve illustration by Derek Riggs; sleeve and design concept by Derek Riggs, Iron Maiden and Rod Smallwood. Photography by Moshe Brakha. Published by Zomba Music Publishers Ltd.
Personnel and studio credits are sourced from Discogs release 1846534, the UK original, and apply to the recording rather than to this pressing. The producer, publisher and copyright lines are independently corroborated by this copy's own label, quoted above.
Condition, from the photographs
A photograph cannot grade a record - this is a description of what is visible, not a grade.
- Sleeve: general handling wear with some edge and corner softening; no splits or seam separation visible in these shots.
- Vinyl: light surface marks and handling sheen catch the light. No visible deep scratches, warping or edge damage in these photographs. The labels are clean and unmarked.
Nothing on this page comes from playing the record. No Goldmine grade is claimed for it, or any other. I have no record of where this copy came from.
What is settled, and what is not
Confirmed. 1C 064-24 0200 1 and the barcode 5099924020015 place this in the EMI pan-European family, which is the most crowded field on this shelf. Eight vinyl entries in the fetched version list carry this number in some form - seven filed under Europe and one under Ireland, which shares the catalogue number, the barcode and the run-out shape and so has to be compared on the same terms. The evidence eliminates seven.
How the other candidates were ruled out
| Candidate | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 24943942 | Matches on all four. “Printed in Holland by EMI Services Benelux B.V., Uden. (Printed in Blue Lettering)”; GEMA boxed on label side A with STEMRA; catalogue numbers 1C 064 24 0200 1 and 1C 064-24-0200 1; run-out 2402001-A-02 THERES ONLY ONE Um. STERLING 1 / 2402001-B-01 THATS FUCK Um. STERLING 1. |
| 959121 | Ruled out by the sleeve: “Printed in Germany by 4P Nicolaus GmbH, Köln. (Printed in white lettering)”. This sleeve names Uden, in blue. Its run-out strings are otherwise the same shape as this copy's. |
| 8177039 | Ruled out twice: the same German printer, and it is the misprint issue, “with misprinted ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Powerslave’ fonds (golden print is not centered in the white print)”. This cover's gold and white register normally. |
| 387782 | The near twin - same Dutch printer, same blue lettering, same boxed GEMA/STEMRA, same four catalogue numbers. Ruled out on the run-out alone: all four of its recorded variants read 064-2402001 A / 064-2402001 B2, with a 064- prefix, a space before the side letter and no numeric suffix. This copy reads 2402001-B-01. |
| 10329858 | Ruled out on the label: “Rights Society BIEM/GEMA on the label on side A is stamped on a black rectangle unlike on other releases”, and its catalogue number is the bare 064-24 0200-1. This label carries a boxed GEMA beside STEMRA and prints 1C 064-24 0200 1A. Its matrices also record no STERLING; this run-out carries it. |
| 29682988 | Ruled out on the label's rights society: SACEM, boxed on side A. Discogs describes it as “France vinyl with SACEM logo” in a “German cover”, probably a French repress. This label carries GEMA and STEMRA and no SACEM, and its sleeve is Dutch-printed, not German. |
| 6949743 | Ruled out on the labels themselves: a White Label promo, so it has no printed label to carry 1C 064-24 0200 1A at all. Its side-B matrix is also 2402001-B-02, against -B-01 here. |
| 37032741 | Ruled out on being a commercial copy: a Test Pressing, catalogued as EJ 24 02001, with no commercial sleeve, no barcode and no printed labels. Worth naming rather than skipping, because its side-B matrix 2402001-B-01 THAT'S FUCK Um. STERLING is the closest string in the whole field to what this run-out reads. |
| 7038915 - Ireland | The candidate the run-out cannot exclude: it records 2402001-A-02 THERESONLYONEum. / 2402001-B-01 THATSFuckum. - the same punctuation as this copy - and the same barcode. Ruled out on the label instead: its catalogue number is the bare 064-24 0200-1, where this label prints 1C 064-24 0200 1A. Its own stated tells are physical and untested here - “Vinyl is translucent against a strong light and labels are double dipped” - and it was pressed by Carlton Productions rather than carrying a Dutch print block. |
Three families sharing part of this number are outside that comparison, and here is why. The six UK entries print POWER 1 on the label, which this one does not. Two German 2001 picture discs and six European 2022-2023 entries are all filed by Discogs as Unofficial Release, and all eight carry the catalogue number as 1C 064-24-0200 or PLP 9 64-24 02001, without the trailing 1 this label prints - and none of them would carry Sterling Sound's stamp in the run-out, which this record does.
Standing caveat: this method cannot exclude a pressing absent from Discogs.
Worth doing rather than settling, and it is a two-minute job: hold the record up to a strong light. The Irish entry is the only candidate this copy's run-out cannot separate itself from, and Discogs records its vinyl as “translucent against a strong light” with “double dipped” labels. An opaque disc removes it on a second, physical ground rather than on the label alone. The side-A run-out is worth a frame too - 24943942 records it as 2402001-A-02, and only the -B-01 side was caught square on here.