Borderline
Released: 25.01.86 Highest Chart Position: 2 Weeks on Chart: 9 Total Sales: 310,000
For the background narrative on 'Borderline' please refer to the entry under the original release in 1984
UK Variations and Collectables
'Borderline' was issued in standard 7" and 12" formats, supplemented with a limited edition 7" shaped picture disc.
It was also reissued during its chart run in standard 7" and 12" formats in an alternative picture sleeve with different rear sleeve design.
Sire kicked off the new year by indulging in one last plunder of the back catalogue. While a new year ought to mark a new start, in this case it was justified as 'Borderline', a comparatively gentle, reggae-inspired track, had been woefully overlooked on its original release. With a more appreciative audience, it soared to No.2, only denied the top spot by Billy Ocean 'When The Going Gets Tough'. It would also prove to be the bookend to this particular era of Madonna's career.
'Borderline' was issued as a 7", 12", limited edition 7" shaped picture disc and, like it's predecessor, a reissued picture sleeve. For collectors, this re-release would provide the last great challenge to distinguish originals from reissues not to mention of couple of unusual but highly collectable rarities.
Initially, distinguishing originals from reissues was thought to be straightforward. The reissue came in a picture sleeve with a slight but notable difference in design as the catalogue number on the rear of the original sleeve appeared in a circle with a yellow background while the reissue had a white background. However, it would not prove to be so simple. While there is no doubt that the 'white circle' version is the reissued sleeve, the sheer volume of so-called original 'yellow circle' sleeves in circulation caused confusion. What should have been a very scarce original, turned out to be plentiful, indeed more plentiful than the reissue. An explanation was eventually put forward, as already mentioned in the original listing, that genuine originals were only issued in 'wallet' style sleeves with no cut-out indentation and these particular sleeves are indeed very rare. This theory was deemed to be confirmed when advance copies of this reissued single were distributed in indented sleeves with the yellow, rather than white, circle - see 'Granada TV Record Library' example in the gallery below.
The standard 7" format is therefore still a gloss sleeve with a yellow circle. Labels exist with a small logo 'A' (once again defying the so-called 'promo' aspect due to its sheer numbers) along with the larger logo version. The standard format hardest to find is the indented small logo 'A' label which is surprisingly scarce.
As for the re-issued sleeve, an interesting insight into the decision to reissue with a white circle can be seen via a rare semi-promo sleeve with the catalogue number printed on a white circular sticker placed over the yellow circle on the rear of a wallet sleeve. It appears to be a test sleeve to see how a white circle might look visually. Clearly it met with approval as most plastic label top-ups were issued in what would become the relatively rare 'white circle' paper sleeves. There does not appear to be any white circle gloss sleeves.
The most common plastic top-up, silver, still appeared to be issued, at least initially, in the yellow circle sleeve. However, to avoid unnecessary duplication, it is included below with the 'white circle' sleeve along with the rest of the top ups, which are available as blue, green and teal. It is worth noting that these three additional top-ups are relatively rare which makes sense when the sleeve itself is rare. Of these top-ups, the rarest by far is the very scarce blue label. On the recent occasion it appeared on Ebay, a bidding war ensued and the final price reached £20!
Rounding off the standard 7" singles there is also an Irish pressing with a slightly different label to the original - indented rather than flat. Although, perhaps due to the general rush to get this reissue in the shops, there are also some 7" mis-pressings: firstly with a blank B-side label and secondly the more usual mis-press with both small and large logos.
Sire reverted back to just the one limited edition in the form of another shaped picture disc. This would be last of these shaped discs (at least until the reissue of 'Crazy For You' in 1991) and in retrospect this adds to that 'end of an era' that 'Borderline' represents. The shaped picture disc also resulted in the last of the era's uncut picture discs. It would appear that just when 7" shaped picture discs were to be abandoned, the pressing plants finally got the consistency correct as none of the Borderline picture discs, either shaped or uncut, have been afflicted with tea-staining. This has perhaps assisted in the valuation of the Borderline uncut disc which can fetch up to £750.
The 12" also appears with two different label versions - standard UK and German style top up.
At this point there needs to be an analysis of some very strange but highly collectable 12" pressing which, while they appear to be official, are unlikely to have been sanctioned by Sire. The first of these is a 12" pressed in a very striking 'swirl' mixture of red and black. These swirl pressings are beloved of bootleggers for their striking appearance and are normally used with recordings of concerts. For that reason, suspicion was immediate aroused. However, these items have a proper, official label, not a counterfeit label as can be seen on the so-called 'splatter' vinyls that appeared for the albums. Nor is it a bootleg as it is a high quality pressing of an official track. Therefore it is not official, but nor is it counterfeit or bootleg. It therefore appears to be the artistic result of some bored - or canny - pressing plant technicians at the official pressing plant, who used official labels to create an extremely limited batch of unofficial pressings! The 'black and red' version shown here is actually a mis-pressing as it contains two B-Side labels but has the correct tracks pressed into the vinyl. It also came in a pristine, mint condition 'white circle' sleeve.
There is also a clear vinyl pressing, again with labels. This also aroused suspicion as it does not make sense for such a test pressing for a picture disc to have paper labels. This item, however, came in a generic 12" sleeve.
One dealer believes that these labels - along with labels for 'Holiday' and 'Justify My Love' - were found several years later and these pressings were actually produced circa 1991 or 1990 when 'Justify My Love' was the current single. 'Holiday' was pressed with a mustard swirl while 'Justify My Love' was pressed with pale blue. To see these colour vinyls please refer to the 'Justify My Love' entry as they are included together as a set.
Having said that, both the 'black and red' mispress and the clear vinyl pressings for 'Borderline' are included here for ease of reference. Whatever the providence of these items, they have proved to be extremely rare and highly collectable. In particular, the 'black and red' mispress for which a bidding war broke out with the final price reaching £631! The exact price is given as no other has been seen and given that it is a mis-pressing of an already very limited item it could be unique.
As if there were not enough highly unusual and incredibly rare items for 'Borderline' the final entry on this page is a set of extremely rare original metal pressing plates. These can be said to be the rarest item associated with any commercially released single as it is from these 14" pressing plates that all UK 12" vinyl singles are produced. These come as a set of two discs, one disc to press each side of the single vinyl disc. The pressing plates are larger than the vinyl they produce - for 7" records the plates are generally 10" while for 12" pressings the plates are 14". Normally only two sets are produced - the second being used as backup - as they are very expensive to produce and require the attention of a highly skilled technician.
With such a plethora of exceptionally rare items it is a hard task to chose a centrepiece collectable for this release but due to its authenticity, consistency with previous uncut rarities, and it's beauty in remaining tea-stain free, this honour goes to the uncut picture disc, the final uncut Madonna disc of the '80s.
With this reissue of 'Borderline', the era of the street-wise, ratty-haired, lace-and-crucifix adorned Madonna would come to a close. In what was to be the first of many image changes, Madonna was about to strip down, upscale and go iconic!
It was also reissued during its chart run in standard 7" and 12" formats in an alternative picture sleeve with different rear sleeve design.
Sire kicked off the new year by indulging in one last plunder of the back catalogue. While a new year ought to mark a new start, in this case it was justified as 'Borderline', a comparatively gentle, reggae-inspired track, had been woefully overlooked on its original release. With a more appreciative audience, it soared to No.2, only denied the top spot by Billy Ocean 'When The Going Gets Tough'. It would also prove to be the bookend to this particular era of Madonna's career.
'Borderline' was issued as a 7", 12", limited edition 7" shaped picture disc and, like it's predecessor, a reissued picture sleeve. For collectors, this re-release would provide the last great challenge to distinguish originals from reissues not to mention of couple of unusual but highly collectable rarities.
Initially, distinguishing originals from reissues was thought to be straightforward. The reissue came in a picture sleeve with a slight but notable difference in design as the catalogue number on the rear of the original sleeve appeared in a circle with a yellow background while the reissue had a white background. However, it would not prove to be so simple. While there is no doubt that the 'white circle' version is the reissued sleeve, the sheer volume of so-called original 'yellow circle' sleeves in circulation caused confusion. What should have been a very scarce original, turned out to be plentiful, indeed more plentiful than the reissue. An explanation was eventually put forward, as already mentioned in the original listing, that genuine originals were only issued in 'wallet' style sleeves with no cut-out indentation and these particular sleeves are indeed very rare. This theory was deemed to be confirmed when advance copies of this reissued single were distributed in indented sleeves with the yellow, rather than white, circle - see 'Granada TV Record Library' example in the gallery below.
The standard 7" format is therefore still a gloss sleeve with a yellow circle. Labels exist with a small logo 'A' (once again defying the so-called 'promo' aspect due to its sheer numbers) along with the larger logo version. The standard format hardest to find is the indented small logo 'A' label which is surprisingly scarce.
As for the re-issued sleeve, an interesting insight into the decision to reissue with a white circle can be seen via a rare semi-promo sleeve with the catalogue number printed on a white circular sticker placed over the yellow circle on the rear of a wallet sleeve. It appears to be a test sleeve to see how a white circle might look visually. Clearly it met with approval as most plastic label top-ups were issued in what would become the relatively rare 'white circle' paper sleeves. There does not appear to be any white circle gloss sleeves.
The most common plastic top-up, silver, still appeared to be issued, at least initially, in the yellow circle sleeve. However, to avoid unnecessary duplication, it is included below with the 'white circle' sleeve along with the rest of the top ups, which are available as blue, green and teal. It is worth noting that these three additional top-ups are relatively rare which makes sense when the sleeve itself is rare. Of these top-ups, the rarest by far is the very scarce blue label. On the recent occasion it appeared on Ebay, a bidding war ensued and the final price reached £20!
Rounding off the standard 7" singles there is also an Irish pressing with a slightly different label to the original - indented rather than flat. Although, perhaps due to the general rush to get this reissue in the shops, there are also some 7" mis-pressings: firstly with a blank B-side label and secondly the more usual mis-press with both small and large logos.
Sire reverted back to just the one limited edition in the form of another shaped picture disc. This would be last of these shaped discs (at least until the reissue of 'Crazy For You' in 1991) and in retrospect this adds to that 'end of an era' that 'Borderline' represents. The shaped picture disc also resulted in the last of the era's uncut picture discs. It would appear that just when 7" shaped picture discs were to be abandoned, the pressing plants finally got the consistency correct as none of the Borderline picture discs, either shaped or uncut, have been afflicted with tea-staining. This has perhaps assisted in the valuation of the Borderline uncut disc which can fetch up to £750.
The 12" also appears with two different label versions - standard UK and German style top up.
At this point there needs to be an analysis of some very strange but highly collectable 12" pressing which, while they appear to be official, are unlikely to have been sanctioned by Sire. The first of these is a 12" pressed in a very striking 'swirl' mixture of red and black. These swirl pressings are beloved of bootleggers for their striking appearance and are normally used with recordings of concerts. For that reason, suspicion was immediate aroused. However, these items have a proper, official label, not a counterfeit label as can be seen on the so-called 'splatter' vinyls that appeared for the albums. Nor is it a bootleg as it is a high quality pressing of an official track. Therefore it is not official, but nor is it counterfeit or bootleg. It therefore appears to be the artistic result of some bored - or canny - pressing plant technicians at the official pressing plant, who used official labels to create an extremely limited batch of unofficial pressings! The 'black and red' version shown here is actually a mis-pressing as it contains two B-Side labels but has the correct tracks pressed into the vinyl. It also came in a pristine, mint condition 'white circle' sleeve.
There is also a clear vinyl pressing, again with labels. This also aroused suspicion as it does not make sense for such a test pressing for a picture disc to have paper labels. This item, however, came in a generic 12" sleeve.
One dealer believes that these labels - along with labels for 'Holiday' and 'Justify My Love' - were found several years later and these pressings were actually produced circa 1991 or 1990 when 'Justify My Love' was the current single. 'Holiday' was pressed with a mustard swirl while 'Justify My Love' was pressed with pale blue. To see these colour vinyls please refer to the 'Justify My Love' entry as they are included together as a set.
Having said that, both the 'black and red' mispress and the clear vinyl pressings for 'Borderline' are included here for ease of reference. Whatever the providence of these items, they have proved to be extremely rare and highly collectable. In particular, the 'black and red' mispress for which a bidding war broke out with the final price reaching £631! The exact price is given as no other has been seen and given that it is a mis-pressing of an already very limited item it could be unique.
As if there were not enough highly unusual and incredibly rare items for 'Borderline' the final entry on this page is a set of extremely rare original metal pressing plates. These can be said to be the rarest item associated with any commercially released single as it is from these 14" pressing plates that all UK 12" vinyl singles are produced. These come as a set of two discs, one disc to press each side of the single vinyl disc. The pressing plates are larger than the vinyl they produce - for 7" records the plates are generally 10" while for 12" pressings the plates are 14". Normally only two sets are produced - the second being used as backup - as they are very expensive to produce and require the attention of a highly skilled technician.
With such a plethora of exceptionally rare items it is a hard task to chose a centrepiece collectable for this release but due to its authenticity, consistency with previous uncut rarities, and it's beauty in remaining tea-stain free, this honour goes to the uncut picture disc, the final uncut Madonna disc of the '80s.
With this reissue of 'Borderline', the era of the street-wise, ratty-haired, lace-and-crucifix adorned Madonna would come to a close. In what was to be the first of many image changes, Madonna was about to strip down, upscale and go iconic!
Promotional Items
'Borderline' has a 12" white label promo although unlike previous and subsequent white labels this one has a strange streak of reddish colour running through the black vinyl. Given what is said above about the black and red swirl, it is possible that this is not an official promo actually a sign that something different was brewing at the pressing plant...! It may well be a test pressing for the unofficial but highly collectable 'red and black swirl' coloured vinyl pressing. However, as it has a white label, it is included in the Promo section.
See also the original release of 'Borderline' as there is also a white label 7" single.
ALL PROMOTIONAL ITEMS CAN BE VIEWED IN THE PROMO SECTION - FOR ITEMS RELATING TO THIS RELEASE CLICK HERE
See also the original release of 'Borderline' as there is also a white label 7" single.
ALL PROMOTIONAL ITEMS CAN BE VIEWED IN THE PROMO SECTION - FOR ITEMS RELATING TO THIS RELEASE CLICK HERE
7" Single - Standard issue in cut-out sleeve with yellow circle
7" Single - Indented label in cut-out sleeve with yellow circle
7" Single - Alternative large 'Sire' logo label in cut-out sleeve with yellow circle
7" Single - Mispressed with large 'Sire' logo on 'Side A' and small 'Sire' logo on 'Side 2'
7" Single - Mispressed with blank 'Side B' label
Reissue with 'White Circle' on rear of sleeve
7" Singles - Coloured plastic top-up labels: silver / blue / teal / green
7" Single - Irish pressing with 'flat' label (see 1984 release for indented label)
7" Single - Limited edition picture disc in stickered sleeve
7" Single - Uncut picture disc test pressing
12" Single - Limited reissued sleeve with white circle on rear (full rim copyright)
12" Single - Limited reissued sleeve with white circle on rear (half rim copyright)
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© madonna-decade 2013
© madonna-decade 2013
