From: "John Shilcock" <john@keepwerking.co.uk>

So does anyone know if this is normal?..... i.e. if a record gets to acetate stage and then the record company and/or the artist change their mind the acetate is marked as 'reject' - and then, I presume, destroyed... unless the engineer decides to "put it in his pocket" *he he*

yep , it's almost "normal" & there are indeed MANY acetates floatin' around ( no , sadly not that many by kw , afaik !!! *sigh* :-o ) all over the world !!! ;-) usually these records get labelled as so called "dubplates" nowadays , which means that certain deejays get a copy of it to play them @ their club or on the radio ... to "test the waters" , so to say !!! *G+* ;-) if the reaction isn't what the producers of that record wanted , then a new mix will be done & tested as a "dubplate" again ... & so on , until "the final mix" is pressed on some white labels & / or promotional copies & finally get released for the greater public & the buyers on cd !!! ;-) but anyway ... such acetates are usually NOT for sale nor even "on the market" anywhere , which makes them indeed ( sometimes even very ) rare items !!! ;-) however ... many greetinx , oh jay ;-) *~\^/~*