ELVIS COSTELLO ‘BIG OPPORTUNITY’ 79-116/7M W10

Two different stamps, as seems to be the norm for this label:

 

or no stamp:

USA: 1979

Matrix / Runout (Side 1 [Etched]): 79-116M W10 SIDE 1 / 79-116M W10 SIDE 2

Source: Audience recording from Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on 6 February 1979.

Side 1: Big Opportunity / Moods For Moderns / Green Shirt / Party Girl / Girls Talk (Listed As Girlschool) / Accidents Will Happen
Side 2: Big Boys / Goon Squad / Oliver’s Army / (Whats So Funny About) Peace Love And Understanding / Radio Radio

Quality comments:

“Decent audio quality considering when it was made. Apparently lifted straight from the master, judging by the lack of any tape flaws or hiss. Vinyl is surprisingly high quality, with one exception; an apparently mono recording seems to wobble along the stereo channels. (Not noticeable if you listen in mono.) Also, no banding, so don’t expect to be able to tell where the songs are. A bit “distant”, as if the recording was made a bit far back and there’s some house reverb. Still, instrument definition is pretty good and there’s no distortion. The only real crowd noise issue is between songs and one guy clapping along through a few songs. Considering when and how this was made, it’s pretty nice.

“Poor quality audience recording, dominated by crowd noise”; HOTWACKS seemed to agree, only awarding this album a “Gm” rating.

***

You do have to wonder if it was “big opportunity” or real love for Costello to become the only artist this label ever revisited – and for an audience recording that was not exactly a stellar capture to boot (OK, I’ll stop now with the puns).

Onstage at the Paramount, photographer: Bill Hanse

This was their first US show that year.

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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ‘FIRE’ W9

Below: Stamp variation, “FIRE VINYL”

USA: 1979

Source: FM broadcast from San Francisco’s Winterland on 15 December 1978 but with only half the concert presented here.

“Superb vinyl. No labels (look at the photo to know what I mean). Red/yellow insert as cover. Repressed in normal coloured vinyl with labels (custom). Since the material recorded on the discs is fairly common, the repress is absolutely less attractive.” [source: brucespringsteen.it]

The question at this point is, if this came out before or after Slipped Disc’s LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND box.

If it came out later, this would mark the first time that the 78/79-1XX label had issued something already out on another label. For some reason, their standard matrix markings of 79-1XX M were left off this release.

 

DEVO ‘TIGER WAX’ 79-106M W8

Most stamps found look like this one above, without a gap between the ‘R’ and the ‘W’, however the first example has it. I have not found this on black PVC and since the stamp also serves as the title, what would one call a stamp-less copy?

USA: 1979

Source: Apart from saying that it looks like a 1978 until Japan Tour (May of ’79) set list, I have no idea. If you know more, please leave a comment.

***

Here’s a flyer found in an auctioned copy. The concert advertised here took place in ’78. I would guess that a past owner added it after acquiring this bootleg. This could be an indicator that the releases by this label were mostly sold in the Seattle area.

The TUBES in rock & roll hospital 79-107 M / 108 M / 104 M / 105 M

“BLOODWAX”

Below, the black PVC version sans stamp.

USA: 1979

The Tubes’ second bootleg following TAKRL’s Darted In my Own Armchair a couple of years earlier.

Source: KSAN San Francisco broadcast from the Record Plant in Sausalito, 2 June 1974.

You can listen to it here: http://pastdaily.com/2015/09/14/the-tubes-in-session-at-ksan-1974-nights-at-the-roundtable-session-edition/

JIMI HENDRIX ‘Wink of an Eye’ 79-108/9

I have never seen this pressed in another color but black. There is also a copy with the matrix number HEN 5000 C/D, which looks almost identical to the original:

Finally, a picture disc version was also released.

USA: 1979

Source: Audience recording from Jimi’s last concert at Fehmarn Festival, Germany on 6 September 1970, 12 days before he passed away. Quite the attention-magnet and coup for such a small bootleg label, it must have been their biggest seller.

An alternate and complete source with improved source was acquired by Dagger Records, the home of official Hendrix bootleg recordings and released as The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At The Isle Of Fehmarn in 2005. The label gave the following background information about its source: “Unbeknownst to Hendrix, the promoters captured the group’s entire performance by feeding two overhead stage microphones into a consumer grade Revox reel-to-reel tape machine located off to the side of the stage. The resulting document, rough hewn and unmixed, is clear and not unlike the amateur audience recording featured on the initial Dagger offering Live At The Oakland Coliseum.”

****

It sounded like a great idea at the time, riding the coattails of the Woodstock movie and album, recreate the festival experience in Germany in an almost “weather-proof” location ‘Isle of Wight-style’ on an island. Three young guys with no prior experience got together and started organizing and bills were accumulated totaling 500,000 Marks while at the same time only 10,000 tickets at 28 Marks had been sold (in the end about 25,000 tickets were sold, falling well short of the expected 60,000 patrons).

Friday, September 4th came and it was pouring with rain. The first bands struggled through their sets on stage or had to abandon it (Renaissance, for example), while some did not appear (Cactus never traveled to the festival site). The next day was drier but cold and windy. MC Alexis Korner had the unfortunate task to inform the crowd that Procol Harum and Ten Years After would not appear. At least, Mungo Jerry, Canned Heat and Sly & The Family Stone did. Jimi arrived that day from playing the Berlin Super Concert 70 and it was decided to move his performance to Sunday.

Sunday started sunny and clear if cool and Jimi finally took the stage just before 1PM to some booing from the audience for the delay, to which he replied along the lines of: “I don’t care if you boo, as long as you do it in tune”.

Rain again during “Red House”:

***

signed by bass player Billy Cox

 

 

 

RAMONES ‘BLITZKRIEG BOP’ 79-100 M / 101 M

The reissue on black & label-free – or is this a black paper label? – PVC.

USA: Early ’79? The question is if the first two numbers refer to the year in which the bootleggers released this or when they thought the material was actually recorded?

Source: ? – input needed as I currently have no idea. The fact that this starts with an interview suggests another radio broadcast. The first side could potentially be from the Rock Tavern in Aberdeen, WA, recorded 5 March 1977, as the songs match – but not side two. The Aberdeen recording had first appeared on sides 3 & 4 of the Dragonfly title At Your Birthday Party

TODD RUNDGREN “The Death Of Rock’n Roll” 78-165/166 M

Could “You Tried Love” be “You cried wolf” and other song titles also misheard by the bootleggers? The song selection otherwise does look as if it could come from his 1978 tour.

USA: Ca. late ’78 or early ’79

Source: ? Please leave a comment if you know. This LP was completely unknown to me before I had looked at this label and the real source(s) still is.