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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 5 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Mark Wirtz's White Bicycle
From: Mark Wirtz
2. Eve Of Destruction
From: Joe Nelson
3. Re: Eddie Hodges
From: Gary Myers
4. Re: The Mark IV
From: Gary Myers
5. Re: Blossoms
From: Charles Sheen
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 15:43:44 -0000
From: Mark Wirtz
Subject: Re: Mark Wirtz's White Bicycle
Barry Margolis wrote:
> One question: why is My White Bicycle and Revolution in such annoying
> pseudo stereo? The rest of the Tomorrow recordings are such well
> mixed stereo.
Oh, don't even get me going on that one!
I had nothing to do with any of those fake stereo mixes. I think they
suck, some more so than others. Somebody, without my knowledge, or
input, took out a minute, or two, sometime between breakfast and lunch,
and remixed the original 4-track masters, pretending to be "hip" by
slinging some random phasing-fazing, varying eq. and left-right
position shifts at the contrived mess to pose as extra "psychedelic"
(worst of all on "Revolution"). Not to mention the missing signals and
performances that were added during the original (and authentic) mono
mixes. (Similar omissions, by the way, happened on the Beatles' phoney
"Sgt. Pepper" stereo mixes).
It's really unfortunate, because EMI did a wonderful job in their
stereo re-issue track selections (including really cool bonus tracks,
like the Aquarian Age stuff), packaging design and liner material...
To those of you that have an opportunity to do so, I strongly recommend
checking out the album's original mono-version. You will hear a
difference much like one between a person before and after a sex-change.
While I understand and appreciate the attraction of "fake stereo" mixes
to collectors, as the phoney separation and isolated placement of
certain performance signals reveal a certain nudity and nuance of
individual instruments and vocals that might be concealed in the
official and genetically correct mono mix, I am not a friend of fake
stereo (though a huge fan of "real" and well recorded stereo).
Nevertheless, when a contrived stereo mix needs to be performed in order
to conform to industry standards and market demands, they should at
least be executed by someone who is not only skilful, but sensitive to
the material and their creators' original intent.
Now, back to happy things.
Cheers,
Mark W. :)
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 11:29:06 -0500
From: Joe Nelson
Subject: Eve Of Destruction
Hopefully someone on the list knows P.F. Sloan or Steve Barri and can
get an answer on this:
The "Eve of Destruction" stereo mix is very peculiar: no center
channel and Barry McGuire's voice on the left. The idea seemed to be
to create the picture of Barry standing at the mic with a harp in his
hand, blowing into it when a gap came up in the vocal. Listen
carefully and it becomes apparent that's not how it was recorded:
Barry can be heard audibly grumbling just in mic range during the harp
parts, which he'd have been unable to do if he were playing the
instrument. The harp was burried with other instruments, designated
for hard-pan status. You couldn't pull the harp over to Barry without
dragging the rest of the track with it, so rather than take the
mountain to Moses whoever mixed this took Moses to the mountain and
pulled Barry into the backing track.
My question was: did anyone notice the grumbling? Supposedly the final
single was a rough mix done pefore Barry had a chance to polish his
vocal, but I'm not so sure of this: First of all, there's an audible
drop in on the word "me" in the final chorus, which suggests more was
involved in taping Barry's vocal than just a quick one take guide
track. Second, that rough mix was undoubtedly mono, which means that
whomever did the stereo had a chance to mix out the grumbling which
would stand out in stereo in a way the mono never did.
You've always come through before, buys. Any takers?
Joe Nelson
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 23:06:52 -0800
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: Eddie Hodges
Mark Wirtz:
> Eddie Hodges' "Gonna Knock On Your Door".
We used to do that in the band with Dickie Betts (Swingin' Saints).
The rhythm guitar player, Alton Gill, sang it, but could never get
the ending right and we always laughed about it.
Margaret G. Still:
> Columbia 4-42811 (orange label). Halfway (arr & cond Jack Nitzsche
> & pr Terry Melcher)
That's the one that I consider the best E.H. record I've heard. It's
a Pitney type song/production.
gem
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 23:29:49 -0800
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: The Mark IV
Al Kooper:
> I believe there was a Mark IV that had a late 50's single called
> "(Make With) The Shake".
That's correct - 0n Cosmic. They are shown in Whitburn as the same
group that did "I Got A Wife", but I don't know how accurate that is.
gem
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Message: 5
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:14:42 -0000
From: Charles Sheen
Subject: Re: Blossoms
Previously:
> Does anyone know how to reach Brenda Holloway and/or the Blossoms?
Hi, I just talked to Fanita James a few weeks ago. I can send a message
to her if you would like. Her nephew is doing a book on the Blossoms,
and his father, who was apart of the Cadillacs. Gloria jones is also
reachable too. Hope i can help.
Charlie Sheen
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
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