Run-Off Groove Messages

This appeared in the inbox the other day:

Alan,

I was about to listen to my vinyl copy of Joy Division’s Closer tonight and noticed ‘OLD BLUE’ etched in the run out area. Google searching has indicated that this means it is a UK copy, and may reference Frank Sinatra? I know you are a big fan of theirs, and wondered if you had any information about this.

Cheers,

Kyle

Ah, the mysterious run-off groove message.  If you’re not acquainted with this artifact of vinyl culture, let me explain.

There is an area known as “dead wax” between where the music ends on a side of record and the label at the center. In most cases, this section of the record is smooth and devoid of anything.  Others may have the matrix number of the record (an alphanumeric code assigned by the label to the recording) either stamped or hand-etched into the vinyl. But then we have the records with mysterious messages.

Some are cryptic references to something.  Some are just the result of the artist being goofy.  Whatever the case, run-off groove messages are a source of fascination for some vinyl aficionados.

Joy Division (or perhaps their goofy label people, Factory Records) were quite fond of messages like these.  Along with Kyle’s OLD BLUE inscription on his copy of Unknown Pleasures, other pressings of the record were marked with STEP on side A and THIS IS THE WAY on side B.  I’ve heard of another inscribed with I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR A GUIDE.

What does it mean?  Who knows?  And OLD BLUE?  Not a clue.  Still, it’s kinda fun to speculate, isn’t it?

Here are some further examples:

• One of the ways to tell if you have an original copy of Nirvana’s “Love Buzz” single on Sub Pop is to look for the message “Why Don’t You Trade Those Guitars For Shovels?” in the dead wax.  
• The original double vinyl edition of the Clash’s London Calling had a one-word inscription on each side: TEAR/DOWN/THE/WALLS.
• The Smiths (HUGE fans of this) had this for people who bought certain versions of “William, It Was Really Nothing” saw THE IMPOTENCE OF ERNEST on side A and WE HATES BAD GRAMMER on side B.

Other examples of run-off messages can be found here and here.