Japanese OBI MINI REPLICA BOX SET

 WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI/REPLICA-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

Then, there's the sonic quality: Mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

All mini-sleeve releases are tremendously limited editions mainly pressed on future orders only and once released immediately out of print. This fact along with other latter features we've mentioned make these titles rare collectibles that sell in the collectors markets for $100's of dollars

The history of the jazz/R&B combo founded by South African Jewish emigré Manfred Sepse Lubowitz in London in 1962 can be divided into three parts, not counting the prog-rock group that rose to fame in 1977 with a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light," Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The first incarnation began life as the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers, formed by Mike Hugg and Lubowitz, who had changed his surname first to Manne and then to Mann. Paul Jones was the lead vocalist of this outfit, which changed its name to Manfred Mann upon receiving a record contract in 1963. This was the lineup responsible for "5-4-3-2-1"--rather a larger hit in Britain than elsewhere due to its status as the theme tune for Ready Steady Go!--the Bob Dylan covers "With God on Our Side" and "If You Gotta Go, Go Now," and the timeless smash "Do Wah Diddy Diddy." Jack Bruce, later of Cream, joined the band right before Paul Jones's last hit with the group, "Pretty Flamingo." In 1966 Jones left to go solo and was replaced by Mike D'Abo (it is said that among those in the running for the job was one Rod Stewart), and Bruce's spot was filled by Beatles associate Klaus Voormann. This lineup's first single was another Dylan cover, "Just Like a Woman," and by far their best-known song was "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)"--the first commercial recording of the song that had been recorded as part of Dylan's Basement Tapes in 1967. The last, short-lived chapter of the group involved a name change to Manfred Mann Chapter Three and a reduction of the band's core back to Mann and Hugg. Two years after Manfred Mann's final recorded effort, the awkwardly titled Manfred Mann Chapter Three Volume Two, Mann formed Manfred Mann's Earth Band, who are still active. In the 1990s, members of Manfred Mann, including Paul Jones, Tom McGuinness, Mike d'Abo, and Mike Hugg, reunited without their namesake as the Manfreds, and are touring under that name to this day.

CD'S INCLUDED IN THIS BOX SET ARE - EACH TITLE HAS BOTH THE STEREO & MONO VERSIONS OF VARIOUS TRACKS ON THE LP.

MANNERISMS - Japanese reissue of his 1976 album that's unavailable domestically, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve limited to one pressing. Includes two bonus tracks, 'Let It Be Me' & 'All I Wanna Do'. 22 tracks. Fontana. 2003.

Track Listings

WHAT A MANN - Japanese reissue of 1965 album that's unavailable domestically, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve, limited to one pressing. Includes 11 bonus tracks, 'I Wanna Be Rich', 'Let It Be Me', 'Semi-detached Suburban Mr. James', 'Miss JD', 'All I Wanna Do', 'Last Train To Clarksville', 'Sunshine Superman', 'By Request - Edwin Garvey', 'Mighty Quinn', 'My Name Is Jack', & 'Harry The One-Man Band' (Edit Version). 21 tracks. Fontana. 2003

MIGHTY GARVEY - Japanese reissue of 1968 album that's unavailable domestically, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve limited to one pressing. Includes the album's 14 tracks in original mono & stereo (as bonus tracks). Fontana. 2003.

UP THE JUNCTION - Japanese reissue of 1968 album that's unavailable domestically & packaged in a miniature LP sleeve, limited to one pressing. 13 tracks plus 9 bonus tracks, 'Eastern Street', 'Mohair Sam', 'Lovebird', 'Brown & Porters (Meat Exporters)', 'I Love You', 'I Think Its Gonna Rain today', 'Budgie', 'Sitting Alone In The Sunshine' and 'Please Mrs. Henry'. Fontana. 2003

ASIS - Japanese reissue of 1966 album that's unavailable domestically & packaged in a miniature LP sleeve, limited to one pressing. Twelve tracks in mono plus the same twelve in stereo as bonus tracks. Fontana. 2003.