WAX FACTS Bruce Springsteen Point Blank Label CBS Colour Black Year 1981
Bruce Springsteen’s album, The River, was a bold affair compared to what came before. Clocking in at over 80 minutes, it featured tracks leftover from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions, as well as new songs that would mark a darker turning point in Springsteen’s writing. One of the sleeper tracks from the album, at least on a commercial level, was Point Blank, which is beloved by the die-hards yet rarely gets a mention alongside the biggest hits of The Boss.
The thing that record collectors know it for, though, is that the Dutch-only 7″ release is one of the rarest records in existence. Not just in Springsteen’s back catalogue, either; it is one of the rarest in record collecting history. It was slated to be the last European single released from The River in June 1981, however it was pulled last minute by CBS for unknown reasons. Physical copies of the single were destroyed, and it is said that only nine known copies survived and made their way into the wild. WiThso few copies in existence, pricing this record is near impossible, however the handful that have made it on to the collectors’ market have all changed hands for around £3,000. Serious collectors would likely pay more for a mint-condition copy.