Why I Have Given Up on Finding New VU Material

[MJG196]

I know, the title sounds harsh, but it's true. No news from record labels, Lou and John don't seem very interested in giving their fans what they want, not the slightest hint of things which may be in the works...

As the years go by, anyone who taped live shows is just getting older....many have probably died, leaving it to relatives to sell off the estates and dump the rest into the garbage. I can hear it now, "What are all of these reels of tape grandpa had?! Let's see how far we can unwind them!!"

Will the Matrix Sampler ever make it to the public's ears? I don't know, but I can't listen to the sampler anymore. Give me ONE song in its entirety. It's like your girlfriend jumping off you to answer the phone. Blue-balls of the ears, I suppose. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration...

Not to mention that the average person doesn't have access to a quality reel-2-reel to do the transfer, anyways. Outside of Lou and John's personal collections and the record companies' vaults, there is probably only the slightest chance of something new reaching the surface. Something we haven't heard in one form or another before. So another vinyl bootleg has been transferred...yawn...

I am HOPEFUL that something new will appear, but I am not holding out for it anymore. I am removing the thought of it permanently from my mental wishlist. Perhaps I will be surprised one day, like Quine's tapes. But until then, I am moving on to other hopes and dreams...like pre-1975 video footage of Lou.

[Changeling]

sadly I agree.

...I feel like a beaten dog.
To have a bootleg series vol 1 and then stop?!?!

[simonm]

I agree too, there's the '93 stuff I guess, but I'm not interested in that ...

other hopes and dreams...like pre-1975 video footage of Lou.

or early Television, in my case.

[MJG196]

...or early Television, in my case.

Hey Simon, were you paying attention at Dime over the last 6 months? Some dude was releasing tons of ancient Television stuff. Here is the info file from one of 'em:

Early 1975 Show, Unknown Location, with Richard Hell
Audience Recording

59:59

1. Fire Engine
2. Prove It
3. Venus
4. Friction
5. Blank Generation
6. Marquee Moon
7. Foxhole
8. Poor Circulation
9. Double Exposure
10. Hard On Love (Fast Version. 14 minutes long!)

[squirrelcage]

I feel the same way. And while I would absolutely love to hear more (or better in some cases) live recordings, I've recently been thinking we should be happy with how much we have. Not to sound too hands across america or anything, but I've got so many records, tapes and CDs of Velvets and Nico material I have trouble keeping track of it all sometimes.

[deckarep]

I too have to agree with you mg196.

I have not given up hope, but I don't hold my breath anymore for new VU recordings to show up.


Deck

[iggy]

Essentially true but a touch overly pessimistic. After all we are talking about tapes that are 40 years old and the last few years have seen both the Dolph acetate and the Rosie tapes appear.

There was practically no live early Stooges and then a year or so ago Soldier Field 1970 turned up.

[simonm]

...or early Television, in my case.

Hey Simon, were you paying attention at Dime over the last 6 months? Some dude was releasing tons of ancient Television stuff. Here is the info file from one of 'em:

Early 1975 Show, Unknown Location, with Richard Hell
Audience Recording

I'm still in the non-Dime zone, but I just did a mega CD-R trade which included a lot of this stuff, including the 'unknown location' show and the 3CD Patti Smith + Television at CBGBs set and some more of that stuff. There's a lot of improvisation in the early shows that I like a lot!

[MJG196]

Essentially true but a touch overly pessimistic. After all we are talking about tapes that are 40 years old and the last few years have seen both the Dolph acetate and the Rosie tapes appear.

There was practically no live early Stooges and then a year or so ago Soldier Field 1970 turned up.

You are 100% correct about my pessimistic outlook. I haven't given up ALL hope, just that I ain't waiting for that train to come into the station anymore. Let me be surprised.

The difference between the Rosie/Dolph items and other "audience" recordings, is that Rosie's stuff was from Andy's vault (and then lifted from the museum) and the Dolph was recorded on acetate, which is relatively hardy. Most AUD recordings back then were recorded on TAPE, which is not very hardy at all. If it is stored in someone's attic, just a single day in the summer is enough to roast it. If it is stored in a metal can in the attic...it is even more likely to fall apart. Quine was very meticulous about his stuff, which is why it lasted for so long in such good condition.

PLUS, acetates can be played on a regular turntable. If someone gave me a reel-2-reel tape, I wouldn't have anything to play it on!

Pessimism...realism...I'll let you guys judge!

[iaredatsun]

mg196, I kind of agree with you but the trickle of non official VU material has always been slow. I remember when the Foggy Notion EP came out in the late 70's and was so excited to hear this high quality material that no one seemed to know had existed before. I think the good material has come very slowly over the years since then and all the good stuff came out through those dirty bastard selfish bootlegrs.

No amount of searching is going to make anything new happen unless that means tracking down the owners of tapes negotiating with them. I expect they'd all like heaps of f*cking money these days and there we have the problem. Money. Money, licensing wrangles and f*cking greed.


This stuff can only come out illegally unless and until the wankers involved sort out their legal problems. And when I say wankers I think I must be referring to some or specific band members and their f*cking lawyers... Who else is holding things up?


I'm just glad for the kindness of the people on this forum (yourself included) that has helped to make a few more recordings and information available in the last few years.

Until the Cale tapes come out I wanna hear the new bands and new music! 'Shimmy Rivers And And Canal' anyone? 'DJ Scotch Egg'??