Interesting information. Thank you Mr. B.
I remember buying a used copy of this, a long time ago, only because of the association with DS. Hardly played it a couple of times. Glass was easier to find, at the nice price section, and I picked up a brand new copy of that, thrilled that MK was playing on a couple of tracks. Unfortunately it didn't sound anything like DS.
I think that we can discuss about such projects, vanity, companies and success, from the stand point of the fan, consumer, music aficionado, amateur music critic, sociologist and psychologist. I remember when I was getting one cassette every 3-4 months, that I played it to death, until I knew it inside out. If I kept this pace, 40 years after, I would have merely 160 tapes. From what I gather, the records that become hits, are the ones that people that buy only 3-4 records each year, chose to buy. The rest are either lost in obscurity or are plenty in the dollar bins. I also recall that records like Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Boston - S/T were also in the dollar bin, although they are great records. Yet now, an old nice copy of either one of them is slightly cheaper than a new reissue. I guess this is the law of offer and demand.
Now why do I mention all these.
I would love to know who decides how many records are cut and how he arrives to that decision. And what happens when the decision is wrong. I guess that cutting several thousands of a record brings the cost down and if it is successful you feed the demand, so the record rides the charts due to sales. While small releases, even if they are initially successful, due to the small first run, they sell out quickly, and if demand is not met immediately, they lose momentum and are forgotten. I mean we have examples of good records that sold very little, but the quantity was small to begin with, while there are others that were marketed more aggressively, with many copies placed at record shops and equally many returned, or sold after months in the dollar bin. I remember reading many books, containing these matters, like Rockonomics, or Appetite for self destruction, etc. There was a mention of RSO that after the great success of Saturday Night Fever, started marketing wildly their disco releases, and that demanded great quantities. After the failure of several records, and massive returns, the company folded.
