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LED ZEPPELIN PHYSICAL GRAFFITI SOUTH AFRICAN ISSUE?


Saintpete

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Hi. Can anyone help in identifying a Physical Graffiti album in my collection? I'm reasonably certain it's a South African pressing as it was acquired while I was living in SA. It's a gatefold cover but not die-cut (the images are printed on the cover). There is also not the usual Artone/Interpak overprint on the back of the cover to help identify a South African issue. It's on the Swan Song label and has the same Catalogue number as the USA pressing (SS2-200). Hand-etched Matrix numbers are: Side 1: SSK-89400A. Side 2: SSK-89400B. Side 3: SSK-89400C. Side 4: SSK-89400D. I can supply some pics (I need to find my camera!). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The pics need to show the fine print to be useful, but if it says mfg. or dist. by WEA Records (Pty) Ltd. you can be assured it's an RSA edition; make sure the Pty. is in parentheses. The flaps on the inner gatefold also indicates it's South African; you may want to thouroughly check all the fine print on the inner gatefold for the Artone or Interpak logo.

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Hi. Many thanks for your input. I know those are the usual tell-tell signs, but I can't see them anywhere on the label or sleeve! The album certainly doesn't match the pics I've seen of the US and UK issues and of course the cover doesn't have the die-cut windows. I am pretty sure it's an SA issue and it has a Johannesburg retailers sticker on the back (but of course it could have been imported). Some wording has also been deleted (overprinted in black) after the words " ©1975 Atlantic Recording Corporation"on the back of the sleeve. Has anyone seen a similar copy to this? Thanks again.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Hi there. Been lurking for a while but signed up in the hope of contributing something useful...
I'm fairly certain that this is an import. I own quite a number of South African vinyl pressings of Zepp's albums but haven't ever come across a local pressing of "Physical Graffiti", assuming that they exist. Without exception, all the copies I've seen here are US imports without the die-cut sleeve (which is what I think you've got here) and the occasional UK pressing.
As per the post by "Pb!", locally-pressed copies should have "Manufactured and distributed by WEA Records (Pty) Ltd. A licensee of WEA International Inc." printed somewhere on the back cover and on the actual record labels. Again, note that the "Pty" is enclosed within parentheses. Also, you could expect to find the Interpak logo somewhere on the packaging.
RE: the retailer sticker: Look & Listen went out of business just a few months ago but had been been around since 1969. They gobbled up a large number of smaller and independent music retailers in the 70s and 80s; some of whom (e.g. Melody Inn and Ragtime Records) were well known for their range of imported records. This could possibly be stock from one of those stores. The vast, vast majority of the LPs in my collection dating back to the 70s are imports...
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It is possible it is from Rhodesia; the few copies I've seen are equally opaque regarding the country of origin. Zimbabwean editions are easier to spot due the shoddiness of the manufacture.

I am curious what countries South Africa would be importing from - I have asked South African sellers about pressings from other African countries and they have consistently told me they occasionally see Zim/Rhod editions but nothing from anywhere else.

So did these imports mostly come from the UK?

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Yes: the overwhelming majority of LPs that you could buy in this country back then (assuming, of course, that there wasn't a local pressing available) were imported either from the UK or the US. In my experience, the UK pressings are by far the most prevalent. Once the cultural sanctions were tightened up in the Eighties, most of our imports came from West Germany and, in some cases, Israel.

As far as I'm aware: apart from Rhodesia, the only other sub-Saharan African country that pressed pop/rock LPs for their local market was South West Africa (now Namibia) but their offerings were produced in very small quantities and apparently only if the South African distributors couldn't provide stock. I'd be very surprised if they had ever produced any Zeppelin LPs though...

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Hi. Thanks to everyone who has given input so far. I've had another closer look at all areas of the vinyl, label and cover and can't give any more clues apart from the wording that has been deleted (overprinted in black) after the words " ©1975 Atlantic Recording Corporation" on the back of the sleeve (see pic in my other post). It looks quite amateurish in its application - although it has not been done by hand. I've seen this black overprint on other SA albums I have. Wondering what was deleted here! I'm also assuming there is no official info available on UK/USA imports/exports by Atlantic or the Swan Song brand either from the UK or USA. I don't have any USA/UK issues of this album in my collection so I can't compare, but the quality of the printing on this cover is not good - which makes me think it was produced in Southern Africa. Any other clues I should look for? Appreciate all your comments.

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I don't have a copy handy, but it's possible the marked-out bit is 'printed in the USA'. You say the printing isn't good - is the cover closer to a heavy construction-paper rather than cardboard? Also, check the disc surface; if there are flaws like dimples in the vinyl then you can be pretty certain it's from Zimbabwe.

Also, there are are several other sub-Saharan countries that pressed vinyl; Mozambique and Angola have Led Zeppelin releases. I'm not sure if any of the other countries pessed anything from Western artists. Nigeria, Senegal, Madagascar, and Ghana all have prolific music industries. Ethiopia and Zambia have put out records, all of which seem to be very collectable.

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Thanks for your response. It's more a heavy-duty paper than board - but it does have a machine varnish (lightish gloss. I have quite a few Zimbabwe albums in my collection and they are usually printed on a rough recycled board without any sheen (machine varnish). Can't detect any dimples on the vinyl. It is a bit puzzling!

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  • 1 year later...

'Custard Pie' must be a double-entendre  that is lost to me, but the key word in your comment is 'radio station'. Maybe the song is too risque to play on the air, but could still be sold at record stores.

 

Th main tell for me is the exposed flaps in the inner gatefold, which I have only noticed in RSA releases.

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