Just spotted on GEMM a copy of "The White Room" (JAMSCD6) being advertised as "extremely rare" because it has eight tracks rather than the normal nine. (For a second, I misread ... Does anyone know any different?
I don't think it's "extremely rare" at all. As far as I know, not only did the entire UK run have 8 tracks, but the initial couple of runs in Australia also were exact duplicates of the UK version. (It then changed to be like the US version, that is, 9 tracks with the "Live from the Lost Continent" mix of LTTT, though the cover continued to label it as the "LP Mix".) I have versions of each, so I know this to be true. The only thing I can't be sure of is the numbers involved. It's quite lucky that the early Australian versions were the same, since I think all UK copies were manufactured by PDO, and hence subject to "laser rot". My copy is already showing some symptoms. I bet if you asked for a replacement you'd be given the (inferior) US import these days too. Michael