Lisa Stansfield: Real Life (1992) [781 236]

If you are a fan of Lisa Stansfield then you will certainly want this title in your collection. Lisa Stansfield: Real Life (1992) [781 236] This laserdisc contains several of her videos to her major hits, as well as a few live performances and some interviews with Lisa herself. This single sided 12" release is approximately 60 minutes long and contains 12 tracks. The cover artwork is the same as used on the American release of the same title. This PAL laserdisc (1992) is one of those very thin releases and is quite flexible like a vinyl LP instead of the stiffness usually found in a standard laserdisc.

The video quality is reference quality, in my opinion! The picture is razor sharp and well detailed with beautifuly saturated colors! Particularly awesome looking is track number 3 featuring the video for "This is the right time"....WOW is the only word that comes to mind!!! Naturally, they all look great but that one really stands out due to the moon and darkened scenes with those superb overly saturated primary colors...it is a shame that all PAL discs do not look like this, but it does show what a properly mastered PAL title can look like! The sound is equally stellar on this release.

One word of caution though: My Philips player kept ejecting this disc during track 6 every time it was played, which is weird because that player never complains about anything and the one I use most! However, my Pioneer player had no problem with it whatsoever and plays it like a champ. I am assuming the problem with the Philips player is the extremely thin disc, which is exactly half that of a standard laserdisc and highly flexible too.

That is odd ejecting all the time can you show a picture or the aforementioned LD to have look? I wasn't aware some LD are thinner than others?

btw just listened on youtube to "All around the world".

It's an LD "single" - much more common in 8", in fact the database has no option for a 12" single! Looks like Sonopress made some 12"s - and since they don't have glue they shouldn't rot, ever

Some players needed spacers for 8" LD singles, maybe your Phillips does as well.

There's a pic of one of these thin 12" polycarbonate LDs in this earlier thread:
Aluminium laserdiscs
Scroll down to the picture of the Jimi Hendrix laserdisc.

It's basically the exact same thickness as a normal CD and made from identical polycarbonate material as opposed to acrylic used for conventional 12" laserdiscs. Like a CD it is also one sided.

That was about the best photo I could do as it had to be a profile shot or you could not tell the difference. Obviously, The Lisa Stansfield disc is on the left and a standard laserdisc on the right to illustrate the difference. Incidently, I just picked this up at the local flea market last week for € 0.50 (slightly more than 50 cents)....you don't think I paid too much do you? Here in France in my locality laserdiscs turn up frequently and I always snatch them up regardless if I am interested in the title or not. When I leave there is nothing left except for a pile of obvious rotters!!! But I almost missed the Lisa Stansfield release since it looked and felt just like an LP....it was only when I turned it over to look at the back cover that I noticed the tiny LD symbol in the lower right hand corner! The only reason I even picked it up was because I did not know that title by her, and it was naturally in with a pile of LP's like is usually the case here...it pays to look through stacks of records!

"The video quality is reference quality, in my opinion! The picture is razor sharp and well detailed with beautifuly saturated colors!"

for good pic Q PAL discs, also have a look at :

Annie Lennox: Diva (1992) [781 245] [also a thin disc from BMG / Sonopress]

Kate Bush: The Line, the Cross & the Curve (1993) [PLMPA 00901]

joey2064

Oh that is interesting I don't think I have an LD in my collection that thin? Are the thin LD restricted to certain LD pressings?

I don't know since there is no option to search the database for these thin pressings. I added this information for this PAL version to the database but it seems to still be pending, like most other information I have added. This is the only thin pressing I have and did not even know they were out there until I came across this one. What I have read by others is that all these thin polycarbonate releases were done by Sonopress in Germany and they only exist in PAL versions....none were ever produced in NTSC-land, which gives us PAL people something special for a change!

I'm curious now you mentioned the thin LD and what's on my mind is how the spindle motor sounds when playing it as it would be a little bit lighter in weight. Have you noticed anything between a normal LD and thin LD?

There were only a few made, all by Sonopress Germany :
Cher: Extravaganza - Live at the Mirage (1992) [781 224]
Lisa Stansfield: Real Life (1992) [781 236]
Annie Lennox: Diva (1992) [781 245]

I noticed nothing unusual regarding the spindle motor other than it seems very smooth and silent like you were playing an audio CD. The only thing unusual is the very thin disc itself that is flexible to some degree like an LP. It is chapter encoded and behaves exactly like a normal CLV laserdisc in every respect. The color of the disc itself is a very light gold both front and back. The jacket to the disc is made from very thin card stock just like a late LP pressing and made in exactly the same way. Stamped into the polycarbonate disc is "CDV 7456 AL SONOPRESS GERMANY".

You need to post more pictures of the disc itself as the cover no idea what it looks like as not been updated (pending cover update I guess) so no idea what this looks like if curiously interested in buying it on ebay?

Hereby cover, disc and inner sleeve [which is a felt version without print, like used for some early CD-singles which were distributed in carton sleeve]



I have seen a repressing done by DADC of this title, which is a regular disc [single sided, but with a dummy 2nd side]