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Harlem Underground OG Check

Skip DrinkwaterSkip Drinkwater 1,694 Posts
edited May 2010 in Strut Central
I found a copy that has paste-on covers on the front and back of what looks like a blank white 12" sleeve. It's on the Paul Winley label, and the dead wax has an etching of PWLP-127 A. The bottom left corner of the back cover says "Designed, Printed, Fabricated by Lee-Myles Assoc. Inc. N.Y.C.". Is this some sort of bootleg, or did I just buy a used re-issue thinking it was the original?

  Comments

  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    i have an original, bought from original owner. your markings are correct and your matrix is correct. (the side b has the same with the "a" crossed out and "B" added). however, the "FRONT pasteover" may be a problem i think.

    my OG has a tight clean rear pasteover and the cardboard is grey (old school) on the inside. the front is "pasted on" but its "underneath" the rear pasteover, if that makes sense, where it wraps over the spine and top and bottom. the spine has printing on it. "PAUL WINLEY RECORDS HARLEM UNDERGROUND LP127" ('LP127' is "stacked" vertically). the paper is what i would call "semi-gloss", not matte, but not real shiny paper either.

    i have some "super disco brakes" on winley that i know are 90s knock offs or reissues, they have no different markings than originals, but they are just done that way you describe, like dual sloppy pasteovers on a plain white 12" sleeve. I think they are semi-legit, probably done by Winley (or whoever owns the plates today) in the 90s. or they could be total knockoffs, but they have the correct matrix, implying they do have the master plates.

    not sure if this helps...
  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    I think they are semi-legit, probably done by Winley (or whoever owns the plates today) in the 90s. or they could be total knockoffs, but they have the correct matrix, implying they do have the master plates

    I was under the impression that the Winley stuff just never went out of print, hence later issues are extremely similar as none were ever explicitly "reissues"
  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    Did you know there is an official (of the time) German pressing of this album. And it doesn't sound like ass like the US pressing does.
  • Skip DrinkwaterSkip Drinkwater 1,694 Posts
    Hmm... The cover on mine isn't brown cardboard, It's actually white cardboard and looks more new than old. The paste-on front and back cover is what threw me off. I've never seen a re-issue that had such authentic looking paste-ons, so I assumed it was original (still not quite sure). I think I forgot to mention that while the front and back picture was pasted on to a blank 12" sleeve, It's a sleeve that has a hole for the label on both sides that you can actually see on the inside of the cover. Odd choice.

    Not sure if this has anything to do with its authenticity, but the snare on the open drum break of Aint No Sunshine has a fair amount of reverb on it. I've had two different LP's which both had that track on there (the Willis Jackson record, and the George Benson Erotic Moods record), and neither had reverb on the snare.
  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    Hmm... The cover on mine isn't brown cardboard, It's actually white cardboard and looks more new than old. The paste-on front and back cover is what threw me off. I've never seen a re-issue that had such authentic looking paste-ons, so I assumed it was original (still not quite sure). I think I forgot to mention that while the front and back picture was pasted on to a blank 12" sleeve, It's a sleeve that has a hole for the label on both sides that you can actually see on the inside of the cover. Odd choice.

    Not sure if this has anything to do with its authenticity, but the snare on the open drum break of Aint No Sunshine has a fair amount of reverb on it. I've had two different LP's which both had that track on there (the Willis Jackson record, and the George Benson Erotic Moods record), and neither had reverb on the snare.


    hmm....



    but yeah as mentioned above, i guess technically winley stuff never really went out of print.. maybe they got to the point of scavenging in their warehouse and using random 12" sleeves with holes and pasting over them... !!?
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    from all that i have heard about winley, the guy was crooked as a 3 dollar bill.
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