All kinds of things....

[Marc/Carolyn Hurwitz <MHurwitz@compuserve.com>]

Catching up on the last ten digests or so.  I try to answer when
I can, but sometimes it takes a while.

Buck, re your message to me in #47:

>According to a piece in the Dec '97 issue of "Record Collector", the new
Odds & Sods will mark the end of the Who reissue program.  Apparently,
Polydor and Trinifold (The Who's management) have lost all interest in
further releases.  They've put the kabosh on a cd of B-sides compiled by
Entwistle and Astley, which is too bad, since this would have been a  nice
way to round-up all the odds and sods which won't be on the new Odds and
Sods.  By the way, it seems that it's Polydor, not MCA, who insisted on
Odds
& Sods being re-issued as a single disc only.  Furthermore, they've
supposedly shown no interest in putting out either the Who's BBC material
or
the long-rumored live boxed set.  Forget the My Generation album or TKAA.<

Oh, shit!  I hope that they're mistaken, but it doesn't seem very likely.
That really sucks big time.  Is it that the reissues aren't selling, or
what?

>>here have a complete track list for ODDS?  I'd like to see "Dr.
>Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" on it, plus maybe "Instant Party" (Talmy's
>version--I know, I know, it won't happen) and the live "Baby
>Don't You Do It".

So would I, but, like you say, it's not happening.<

I also forgot about the long version of MB, which was only on
the vinyl of MEATY, BEATY, etc. as far as I know.  I like it
better than the "short" version that's on the boxed set and
the CD of MEATY.

>>Oh, and I forgot Columbia, which has done fairly well by
>Dylan but not as well as it could have--whatever has happened
>to the promised BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 4 and on?

VOL. 4 was to include Dylan & The Hawks legendary show from Manchester '66,
but some enterprising soul went and stole the master tape from Sony,
supposedly.  This has since turned up on a superb 2cd bootleg entitled
"Guitars Kissing and the Contemporary Fix".  Let's hope the bootleggers
come
through in a similiar fashion with further high quality live Who releases,
such as Live At Leeds Complete.<

Well, I see your point; if the record company won't cooperate, it's
nice when the bootleggers step in.  BUT--I think it was criminal to steal
the Manchester tapes, if indeed that's what happened, and then rip off
the fans by bootlegging them.  I don't want to start a war on boots vs.
legit records, but I know I'd far rather spend $26 or so on a legit release
of the Dylan concert (with superb sound quality) than $50-60 on a boot
with inferior sound quality.  Before you all start shouting that you've
heard lots of boots with better sound quality than the legit releases,
I have to say that that has *never* been my personal experience, at
least with the Fab Four.  Maybe the Who and other groups are different.

ML--

>Didn't you feel the slightest bit cheated by the two CD singles, each of
which had three extra cuts not included on the ANTHOLOGYs (which had
plenty of room for them)? I did.<

Damn straight, *I* did!  And again, there were lots of songs (the "Bad To
Me" demo and Paul's demo of "Goodbye" are the first that spring
to mind) that could & should have been included and weren't.  Plus
George's demos of "Sour Milk Sea" and "Circles" from Esher....but I
think EMI is planning an "acoustic White Album" release of the
Esher demos.  At least, that's the speculation.  God knows when it
will actually arrive, if ever.

BTW, I also have all of the released CDs, as well as several hours of
bootleg material on CD and tape.

>I wasn't particularly pleased with newly
mixed "different" versions, either (like A Day In The Life & Penny Lane;
to my mind they're not legitimate contenders for the format).<

Lots of folks were mad that several different outtakes were combined
into one track, like ADITL.  I thought it was a legit way of showing
the highlights of the sessions, as long as it was credited in the
notes.  As if the Beatles would have released them in that
form; they were always doctoring their tracks!

>They could have put the first three LP
sides of QUAD on one disc, the fourth on the second followed by demos,
unused songs, live versions...but NO...<

That would've been great.  Funny how the record companies
never worry about compromising the "integrity" of records like
THE WHO SELL OUT or A QUICK ONE (thank God!)

>No problem; it's OK to have outside interests. We won't hold it against
you.<

God bless you, then.  When I worked as a sysop in a Beatles
forum, no one seemed to understand this principle. <g>

>[Re ODDS]  I can only
hope they include the cut they dropped, since there's room for it. If it
was me, I'd also drop the songs released elsewhere for material used in
the movie but not included on the disc (Shout And Shimmy, for instance).<

These are such simple ideas, and yet the record execs never seem
to think of them--because they're not fans, I guess.  So we get the
third issue of "I'm The Face" on ODDS instead of something new
& exciting.

>The US version
of Substitute is more interesting; different lyrics.<

Heard of it but never heard it.  I have heard the "clean"
version of "Who Are You". <g>

>I believe I'm going to do what Rich T. suggests, since I'm THAT close (
// ) to getting a CDr (just deciding whether to go with a computer or
rack format), when he says:

>> Hey, you could always press your own CD-ROM and become a bootlegger

Although not a BOOTLEGGER. I will make one for myself, and perhaps some
to trade with. None to sell (please take note any and all law
enforcement persons).<

I'm still waiting for a recordable CD that you can re-record.  The MiniDisc
is
not acceptable to me because a) the sound quality has been compromised,
and b) I get the feeling it'll be dead as a dodo in another 10 years.  I'm
waiting to see what happens with DVD; I think it'll fly, but something
better
might take off in the next few years--who knows?  Meanwhile, I just tape
my vinyl on old-fashioned cassette tape w/Dolby C.  Far as bootlegging
goes, I used to buy 'em but decided they were immoral and a rip-off.
But on the plus side, I do think they've goaded record companies into
releasing the material legitimately, albeit not quite the way I would've
preferred.  BTW, re the Beatles Anthology--altho I'm a devout fan, I 
think EMI could've boiled down the best of those tracks into 3 CD's
rather than six.  There was a *lot* of padding.   A1 is best from a purely
historical point of view,  but A3 is probably my fave musically (tho
A2 has the best material from RUBBER SOUL and REVOLVER).
Sorry; this is turning into a Beatles newsletter. <g>  So back to the
Who....

Re the three tracks on the QUAD soundtrack:  I love 'em all.  After
relistening a few times, I guess that it's not Moon drumming, but
I never noticed for years, so it's not as important to me.  "Get Out..."
and "Four Faces" almost sound like they might be Townshend
solo.  Daltrey's singing on "James" is excellent.  And yeah, I
think they would've fit into the original album, although they're
underproduced compared to the other songs; "James", in fact,
might've been a better choice in some ways than "Bell Boy"
for the Moon side of Jimmy's personality, because "Bell Boy"
was a whole different character.  "Get Out...." is fluff, but it's
well-played and sung fluff, so I like it.  Rather listen to that kind
of thing than something like "Flaming Pie". <g>

Oh, and has anyone else heard "Zoot Suit Riot" by the
Cherry Popping Daddies?  Reminds me of the High
Numbers, not in sound but in subject.  Check it out.
Plus there was a song by Really Big Fish last year
called "Sell Out" that reminded me of our boys....

There's also an ad for cdnow.com that has a Cockney
roadie talking about how he enjoys the classics:
"Tchikovsky, Beethoven, the 'Oo...."  I like that.

OK, enough rambling.  Wish Tuesday would hurry
up and get here.  Any track list yet?

--Carolyn
"You're gonna go to the record store,
You're gonna give them all your money...."--Really Big Fish