Gallery: Def Leppard – Pyromania (India import cassette)

Aaron finds the weirdest stuff!  In a recent Box of Goodness that he sent me (including an awesome Thin Lizzy Thunder and Lightning reissue on vinyl) I found this.  It’s Def Leppard’s Pyromania (review here) on cassette, but not just any cassette.

The weird extra-thick and bendy clamshell case was the dead giveaway that this was something unusual.  A quick look at the sleeve reveals it’s an actual Vertigo release, but also an import from India!  Does anyone know if cassettes in India always came in these odd cases?  The cassette actually snaps into the case, and is held by two tabs.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  This version even has an oddly coloured Def Leppard logo, that I’ve never seen on anything else.

Pyromania had a max. retail price of 60 rupees. That’s approximately one US dollar today.

Even though the yellow price tag on the side says $2.99, Aaron got this for the princely sum of one Canadian dollar!  And now here’s the gallery of this strange oddity.

35 comments

        1. Haha, no it takes Canadian.

          But here’s my question: Does the low price reflect 1) that music is/was cheaper in India, or 2) that the rupee has dropped in value since then?

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        4. Haha if I could ask Paul McCartney a question, I somehow doubt that that would be it, man.

          When we’re in Taranna on our imminent trip, we’ll look for others. If we find more examples, we might have our answer!

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        5. Yeah! Fun idea! I didn’t look at cassettes at all, last time.

          On that subject:

          I was recently in a mall, when I saw a store that had a Toronto Blue Jays sweatshirt. The slogan on it was “I Love BJ’s” and that was just too funny NOT to take a picture of.

          As soon as I did, the staff yelled at me. So I wonder if this year will be different at the record stores? I think I can still be inconspicuous.

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        6. Cassettes it is. Also, since we won’t be going downtown to Yonge, I have one more shop I want to try this year. I have a good feeling about it.

          Haha you sent me that BJs picture. The staff got upset? Man, as you’ve seen on the HAAPs, I take pictures everywhere, no one seems to care. That must’ve been just a fluke. I do recommend, though, to try to keep it on the down low when we’re in the city. I’m sure it’ll be fine, anyway.

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        7. No Yonge! Besides, since I’ve started using Discogs I’ve found many Japanese imports. Not to mention PAYDIRT at the record show in April.

          I can always pretend I am texting like the average idiot.

          Yeah! As soon as I took my phone out, I heard the girl say, “Sir! Sir! You can’t take pictures!”

          I responded, “Sorry, but this shirt is hilarious, took the picture, and left.”

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        8. Fair enough. We can still spend an entire afternoon in the other (better) spots.

          You pretend you’re texting, and I’ll tell them the truth: my To Get list is a text file on my phone, so all I’m doing is looking up what I want to buy.

          You should have taken a picture of her, too. Pretended you were a fashin photographer. “OK, baby, now give me… anger!”

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        9. I bet she would have called security on me if I took a picture of her!

          But come on, I can’t be the first guy to take a picture of THAT shirt. Maybe that’s why she was on to me.

          FYI they moved the shirt away from the storefront the following week.

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  2. I’m digging the freaky case. Is it definitely real product and not a really good bootleg? I know that bootlegging was always absolutely endemic in that part of Asia.

    Great find.

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    1. I would say, judging by the quality of the print and the clarity of the logos, serial numbers, and all that stuff, and the quality of the actual cassette, it’s legit. That’s just me saying that as a guy who has never seen Indian cassette mind you.

      It is indeed a great find!

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        1. It’s about equal to any other cassette I have from this song ago. I think the tape itself was manufactured in the late 80’s or early 1980’s because of the clear shell. Not so common in the early 80’s. My original Pyromania tapes were all black.

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        1. Thanks man! I never took the time to serious examine it until now! (There was some cool stuff in this box, including a Foo Fighters EP that I didn’t know existed until I saw it. Price: $1.)

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  5. I took out all of my cassettes from storage (after 20 years at least) and started cleaning them. Then I thought I’d make a discogs account and catalog all my stuff. Mr. Google threw this result for something I was searching. So nice to read about things you’ve grown up with :)

    I have the same Pyromania cassette, with the exact same packing date (and the entire Def Leppard discogrpahy), and hundreds of others like this. And yes, that’s how we got all our cassettes here in India. Hard plastic clamshells. At least for the better of the 90’s that is, for foreign releases (esp Rock/Metal).

    I know this is quite old, but I just wanted to drop in coz reading this made me quite happy :)

    P.S.- To some people who thought this might be a bootleg. I know it’s probably too late to clarify, and you already know this. But no, these are legit India pressings. In fact, India clamshell pressings are arguably the most sought after in the world of cassette culture right now.

    Regards
    Kumar

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    1. Oh, and I forgot to add one thing. The MRP on the back is Inded Rs.60, but on the spine it is Rs.48. We got some batches where they forgot to black out that part. I got that batch, argued well with the shopkeeper, and got it for Rs. 48.

      Regards

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