how were copies of vinyl made in "third-party" countries

well, I love ELO, to me they are in the top 5 influential bands ever (and that's generous, since it was all written by Lynne. He wrote and produced top hits for  George Harrison, Tom Petty, Brian Wilson and more.

I also love the Birmingham sound, besides ELO: the Spencer Davis group, the Moody Blues, how this bleak little town created so much in the 60s and 70s  

Yeah, Lynne sure has a "signature" sound. Every album he produces ends up sounding like an ELO record! The one album he did that I love is the little known Something Peculiar by Julianna Raye. 

@bdp24 Has mentioned "cooldown time" which is VERY important. The shorter the time, as in most "pop" records back then, the worse the lasting power of the record. Longer times meant better quality, but when an album was popular, it had to be out "right away" to sell the million copies. Remember, they were $4.98 back then...or sometimes less!

Cheers!

@richopp: Yeah, in the 50’s/60’s/70’s/80’s LP’s weren’t being made for audiophiles with high end audio systems, they were being made for record changers, TV/hi-fi consoles, cheap Japanese turntables, etc. Labels like Analogue Productions/QRP, Speakers Corner, MoFi, VMP, Intervention, Sheffield, Reference Recordings, etc. are making LP’s to be played on high quality turntables/arm/cartridges, by people who are willing and able to pay $40-$150 per LP.

When I started buying LP’s (1963), stereo LP’s retailed for $3.99, mono $2.99. I bought mostly mono. A dollar was a lot of money to a kid back then! 7" 45 RPM singles sold for 49 cents.

In Hungary, an LP was around 500 forints ($10) in the early 80s. A month’s salary was about 5000 forints. (same for a doctor as for a bus driver). Our collection grew by about 3 LPs a year around Christmas. (a gallon of milk was about 10 cents, same for a loaf of bread)