[kj] GEM label pressing history?

[Mark Kolmar]

I have JEM pressings of the 1st several KJ albums, bought near UIUC campus
c. 1985-6. They are clearly official, American pressings - as usual,
typical, inferior manufacturing standards to UK and especially German vinyl
of the time. I have Night Time from Germany c.1985.

Fire Dances on JEM vinyl sounded especially reedy in a bad way - little bass
and harsh treble -- obviously the master mix is whacked, but more
objectionable than anything UK/DE/FR would have likely let out. I re-eq'd
Fire Dances for home use based on the c.'90 CD, with a notch around 2.2KHz,
a lukewarm bass boost (for the times...) and a bit of sensible limiting.

The remaster is a fair-and-balanced presentation. Mid-80s speakers didn't do
bass even as much as a lot of listeners are used to from earbuds today -
which may be gutless but produce some type of low bass. A lot of the mixes
showed the limitations typical of the current gear. And remember: damned
cassette.

--Mark

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 9:37 PM, Cliff Livingston <cliffmonk at gmail.com>wrote:


> hehe i grew up in New Brunswick Nj real close to th eJem factory,and Cheap

> thrills record store had loads of Jem cut out records,for like 1.99 and .99

> cents,loved it,yeah KJ records,i could'nt tell ya if they were worse than

> the UK pressings,sounded ok to me.I even worked at a warehouse filled with

> old cut outs and misc weird stuff,that was a distributor,they reissued

> charles mansions record and stuff like that,haha.

>

>

> 2011/4/11 Rheinhold Squeegee <kjlist at live.com>

>

>>  Knock-offs/Pirated/Bootlegs: No

>> Inferior sound: Yes

>>

>> JEM pressed select import titles for distribution in the US and Canada. I

>> usually ran across their stuff at those skeevy college record fairs where

>> everything was $4

>>

>> ------------------------------

>> Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:55:21 -0700

>> From: drretro at yahoo.com

>>

>> To: gathering at misera.net

>> Subject: Re: [kj] GEM label pressing history?

>>

>>   Thank you. Am I correct in seeing these were actually licensed

>> pressings? When I was buying wax in the late 80s, the record store clerks

>> told me JEM pressings were knock-offs and inferior in sound to the

>> originals.

>> J

>>

>> ------------------------------

>> How cruel...and unimaginative!

>>

>> --- On *Mon, 4/11/11, Rheinhold Squeegee <kjlist at live.com>* wrote:

>>

>>

>> From: Rheinhold Squeegee <kjlist at live.com>

>> Subject: Re: [kj] GEM label pressing history?

>> To: "Gathering Gathering" <gathering at misera.net>

>> Date: Monday, April 11, 2011, 7:39 PM

>>

>>

>> http://rateyourmusic.com/wiki/Jem%20Records

>> Jem Records

>> <http://rateyourmusic.com/images/all?type=w&assoc_id=2006434>

>>

>>

>> Jem Records Profile

>> *Headquarters*: South Plainfield, New Jersey

>> *West Coast Office*: Rosedale, California

>> *European Office*: London, England

>> *Founders*: Sire Records <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/sire_records/> &

>> Marty Scott

>> *Group Type*: Independent

>> *Launch Year*: 1971

>> *Closed Date*: 1988

>>

>> With backing from Sire Records<http://rateyourmusic.com/label/sire_records/>,

>> the New Jersey based Jem Records Company was created in 1971 to manufacture,

>> distribute and import recordings from Great Britain. By the mid 1970s, the

>> distributor launched Passport Records<http://rateyourmusic.com/label/passport_records/>and several sub-labels to form the Passport

>> Records Group<http://rateyourmusic.com/wiki/Passport%20%20Records%20Group>.

>> With offices in the UK & US, the company began bankruptcy proceedings in

>> 1988, leading to the close of the distribution segment and the Passport

>> group. A decade later in January 1988, an identically *Jem Music

>> Corporation* located at 303 Fifth Avenue in New York City had surfaced.

>> With a focus on distribution of "historical classical music", it is not

>> known whether this incarnation was related to the predecessor before it's

>> closing in late 2002.

>>

>>

>>

>> Jem Distributed Labels

>> ● Passport Records Group<http://rateyourmusic.com/wiki/Passport%20Records%20Group>

>>

>>    - Passport <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/passport_records/>

>>    - Passport Jazz <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/passport_jazz/>

>>    - Audion <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/audion_recording/>

>>    - Import Records <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/import_records/>

>>    - Important Records

>>    - PVC <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/pvc_records/>

>>    - Visa Records <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/visa_records/>

>>

>> ● Great American Records<http://rateyourmusic.com/label/great_american_records/>

>>

>>

>>

>> Select British Labeled Titles Distributed by Jem in USA

>> ● Enigma Records <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/enigma_records/>

>> ● E'G Records <http://rateyourmusic.com/label/eg_records/>

>>

>>

>>

>> ------------------------------

>> From: LONESTYLE at aol.com

>> Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:30:42 -0400

>> To: gathering at misera.net

>> Subject: Re: [kj] GEM label pressing history?

>>

>> That is a good question. I only have the "Fire Dances" album that is on

>> Jem.

>>

>> ~ LB

>>

>>  In a message dated 4/11/2011 12:05:58 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,

>> drretro at yahoo.com writes:

>>

>> Hello all,

>> I was digging through the vinyl collection, and came across some Joke

>> 12"ers that were put out by GEM. The 80s rumor mill had it these were pirate

>> re-issues of import pressing. Can anyone fill me in?

>> Jay

>>

>> ------------------------------

>> How cruel...and unimaginative!

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