When was Van Halen’s 1984 album released?
January 9, 2022 1:25 PM Subscribe
I saw a post today commemorating the release of Van Halen’s 1984 album which was released on January 9, 1984. But I pretty clearly remember buying it on Christmas Eve 1983 while doing last minute Christmas shopping. Was this possible?
It was not the single Jump, which was released earlier in December, but the full album. I searched out of curiosity and everything seems to indicate it wasn’t available until January and they were still recording parts of the album sometime in December? But I remember my 9 year old brain wondering why they called it 1984 when it was only 1983. This would have been at a major retailer in Canada, so they may have distributed the albums earlier than the official release date and sold them when they can in.
It was not the single Jump, which was released earlier in December, but the full album. I searched out of curiosity and everything seems to indicate it wasn’t available until January and they were still recording parts of the album sometime in December? But I remember my 9 year old brain wondering why they called it 1984 when it was only 1983. This would have been at a major retailer in Canada, so they may have distributed the albums earlier than the official release date and sold them when they can in.
Best answer: The shop has no incentive not to sell them early if they can.
Today this is "unofficially" true. When 1984 came out it absolutely was not true.
The practice is known as "breaking street," as in breaking street date. Though stores receive the albums prior to street date (date of release) they are not supposed to sell them before that date.
In the past, punishments by labels could be holding back of future releases until after street date, black listing shops altogether, paying a higher wholesale price, capping qtys of new releases, lack of promotional material, etc.
I've made my living with records for 18 consecutive years but also worked in the industry in the late 80s/early 90s. Though the labels insist things still run the same, they absolutely do not. Today, larger stores break street with no repercussions whatsoever. My shop stopped carrying new vinyl 8 years ago because I was tired of following the rules when my competitors did not.
This would have been at a major retailer in Canada,
If that major retailer was Sam the Record Man, the situation is further complicated because Sam owned his own distribution company, called Roblan's, which was very powerful as it supplied the entire chain (the largest in the country) with product. Warner (the album's label) could bark all they wanted at Roblan's, but with little affect because to piss of Roblan's would be to shoot themselves in the foot as for many years Sam acted like a monopoly. Though they weren't known for breaking street (I worked for them in 89), if one of their franchises did it, they were rarely punished.
One "trick" a lot of stores did in those days was to keep the inventory behind the counter and sell it to you if you asked for it -- but not have it on the floor so no one would see they had it early.
For the chart listings those early sales will be added to the first week sales making it more likely the album will debut on the charts.
Yes and no. In those days -- pre-computerized cash registers -- sales numbers were based on record shipped not records sold. In those days stores could also return unsold product at a later date (this is not the case today). As a result, stores could order whatever qty they wished (shipped qtys would affect charts) with no real downside as they were guaranteed their money back on unsold product (usually in a credit against future orders). This is why you'd see massive displays of new albums in stores in those days but rarely see that kind of thing today. Today, or at least when I still carried new vinyl 8 years ago, you were stuck with what you ordered. So why would any store in their right mind take a chance on a new album by a new band when they have no idea if it'll sell?
So, yes, the album could have been bought in late 1983, though I doubt stores would have had displays for it -- but the release date was early 1984.
posted by dobbs at 6:45 PM on January 9, 2022 [25 favorites]
Today this is "unofficially" true. When 1984 came out it absolutely was not true.
The practice is known as "breaking street," as in breaking street date. Though stores receive the albums prior to street date (date of release) they are not supposed to sell them before that date.
In the past, punishments by labels could be holding back of future releases until after street date, black listing shops altogether, paying a higher wholesale price, capping qtys of new releases, lack of promotional material, etc.
I've made my living with records for 18 consecutive years but also worked in the industry in the late 80s/early 90s. Though the labels insist things still run the same, they absolutely do not. Today, larger stores break street with no repercussions whatsoever. My shop stopped carrying new vinyl 8 years ago because I was tired of following the rules when my competitors did not.
This would have been at a major retailer in Canada,
If that major retailer was Sam the Record Man, the situation is further complicated because Sam owned his own distribution company, called Roblan's, which was very powerful as it supplied the entire chain (the largest in the country) with product. Warner (the album's label) could bark all they wanted at Roblan's, but with little affect because to piss of Roblan's would be to shoot themselves in the foot as for many years Sam acted like a monopoly. Though they weren't known for breaking street (I worked for them in 89), if one of their franchises did it, they were rarely punished.
One "trick" a lot of stores did in those days was to keep the inventory behind the counter and sell it to you if you asked for it -- but not have it on the floor so no one would see they had it early.
For the chart listings those early sales will be added to the first week sales making it more likely the album will debut on the charts.
Yes and no. In those days -- pre-computerized cash registers -- sales numbers were based on record shipped not records sold. In those days stores could also return unsold product at a later date (this is not the case today). As a result, stores could order whatever qty they wished (shipped qtys would affect charts) with no real downside as they were guaranteed their money back on unsold product (usually in a credit against future orders). This is why you'd see massive displays of new albums in stores in those days but rarely see that kind of thing today. Today, or at least when I still carried new vinyl 8 years ago, you were stuck with what you ordered. So why would any store in their right mind take a chance on a new album by a new band when they have no idea if it'll sell?
So, yes, the album could have been bought in late 1983, though I doubt stores would have had displays for it -- but the release date was early 1984.
posted by dobbs at 6:45 PM on January 9, 2022 [25 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks Lanark and dobbs. This was the first album I ever bought myself, so I thought I had remembered it well, I just wanted to verify it was possible. This was actually at a Canadian Tire store, but they also had a Sam the Record Man on PEI back then. There were not many places to buy music there back then except Sam’s, the department stores, and occasionally another record shop. I believe Sam Sniderman used to spend his summers on PEI and the local shop was kind of his summer headquarters. I knew Sam the Record Man had another store in Toronto, but did not know how big the chain was until after they were mostly closed.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 7:38 PM on January 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 7:38 PM on January 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
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The shop has no incentive not to sell them early if they can. For the chart listings those early sales will be added to the first week sales making it more likely the album will debut on the charts.
posted by Lanark at 2:22 PM on January 9, 2022 [5 favorites]