Question: History of My Aim Is True on cd

[Telecaster]

Hello,

I apologize if the answers to these questions are on other threads, but I'm new to this board and really did try to search through some other threads.

Does anyone remember when the first Elvis Costello cds were released in the U.S.?

And is it true that Columbia did such a poor job with the first batch that they agreed to replace Elvis cds for anyone who mailed in old copies? Did fans successfully take them up on the offer? Does anyone remember what year this was, when the improved cds were issued? Were these remasters? And was this agreement for Elvis Costello cds only?

Counting that scenario, how many times has a My Aim Is True "upgrade" (so to speak) been released?

1. Improved Columbia cds circa mail-in offer
2. Ryko
3. Rhino
4. Hip-O

I'm guessing that it's likely that some fans have bought this cd five times. Answers to any of these questiosn would be helpful. Thanks!

[sabreman]

I seem to recall Punch the Clock being the first new Columbia release available on CD but I could be wrong.

[johnfoyle]

Welcome Telecaster!

Does anyone remember when the first Elvis Costello cds were released in the U.S.?

PTC appears to have been on CD as early as Sept.1984

http://www.elviscostello.info/disc/offi ... fo_a01.htm

- the same time as Goodbye Cruel World -


http://www.elviscostello.info/disc/offi ... fo_a01.htm

Though these were Japanese/European in origin , the format was then so exotic - and pricey!- that it would have imported into the U.S. and been, in effect, a domestic release.

A good place to find out more is here -


http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... iscography

And is it true that Columbia did such a poor job with the first batch that they agreed to replace Elvis cds for anyone who mailed in old copies?

I don't have much info. on this.
In a related exchange on Wiki recently , Nunki commented

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... mpilations

The Columbia My Aim Is True CD reportedly had a "secret" remaster at some point in the '80s though, so it's possible the original mix appears on some versions of that CD.

Zarank responded -

"MY AIM IS TRUE". MATRIX number = DIDP 20091 41A6 is original　mixed. MATRIX number = 2A CK35037 11 B is a remix.

- which I can verify , since my Columbia CD copy from the '80s has the CK35037 detail....so it's not the original....damn!

[Telecaster]

Thank you for the welcome and replies.

Years back, probably the late-80s, I definitely read in a cd magazine that Columbia was replacing Costello cds for anyone who mailed in their old copies. But I guess it wasn't publicized. This was the pre-internet era, so I don't know how folks were supposed to find out that Columbia was doing this. I just happened upon the info in a magazine that graded cds (for both their content and quality).

It's something that I always think about when a cd is reissued, but after all these years, now I wonder if the information was ever true.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond and include links.

[thomoz]

I highly doubt that the secret remaster of MAIT is a REMIX.
I'll bet that the mulitrack tapes for that record are long gone.

[And No Coffee Table]

Just to be clear, the "remix" part refers only to "Watching the Detectives." I'm not sure how many people are aware that there are two commercially available mixes of that song. I only became aware of it very recently from that discussion on the Wiki site.