Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Cat Stevens Available Now
UPDATE 2020
This commentary was written many years ago, circa 2005 I would guess.
Way back then, doing Hot Stamper shootouts was much more difficult than it is now. We didn’t have the right cleaning machine, and we hadn’t discovered the Prelude Record Cleaning System.
Is the Pink Label Island original pressing THE way to go? That’s what Harry Pearson — not to mention most audiophile record dealers — would have you believe.
But it’s just not true. And that’s good news for you, Dear (Record Loving Audiophile) Reader.
Hot Stamper Commentary for John Barleycorn
Since Barleycorn is a Lee Hulko cutting just like Tea here, the same insights, if you can call them that, apply.
Here’s what we wrote:
Lee Hulko, who cut all the Sterling originals, of which this is one, cut this record many times and most of them are wrong in some way. A very similar situation occurred with the early Cat Stevens stuff that he cut, like Tea & Teaser, where most copies don’t sound right but every once in a while you get a magical one.
Lee Hulko cut all the original versions of this album, on the same cutter, from the same tape, at the same time.