what are you listening to?

Got a '70s AOR mix playing off the computer. Do miss those big 10" reels spinning but don't miss the visual clutter in this little room. There's a PR99 still at the office should I ever change my mind...
 
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When music, nostalgia, reminiscences and film-remakes conspire to evoke a renewed interest in music.

I used to love watching the journalist Brian Walden grill his guests on 'Weekend World' on a Sunday afternoon on ITV back in the 70's. His guests, including Margaret Thatcher, squirmed under his barrage of intimidating, unrestrained and insightful questioning. Thatcher was the expert of the 'non-denial denial', a strategy of squirreling your way out of a corner when questioned, invented by Nixon, then later adopted and finessed by Thatcher. (Westland helicopter scandal involving Mark Thatcher etc)

As a precocious pre-teen it used to baffle my parents why I'd want to watch such heavy programs on a Sunday afternoon rather than being outside playing football or setting things on fire, but it was to act as a pre-cursor to my disjointed and ultimately futile ambitions to become a journalist/writer.

The theme song to this program was the last 40-50 seconds of 'Nantucket Sleighride' by Mountain. It was a TV theme tune like no ther back then and I used to crank up the volume on our TV much to the chagrin of my mother.
Here's one of the few saved editions of Weekend World on youtube, including the theme tune and a synopsis of Thatcher's then policy on Northern Ireland and 'The troubles' which affected us all in NI and the UK at the time. For many reasons I had utter contempt for Thatcher during her tenure as PM but also a degree of admiration for her handling of the Falklands crisis. She didn't deserve a state funeral in my view however.

I was overjoyed therefore when the trailer for 'Brian and Maggie', a Channel 4 dramatisation of Brian Walden's final interview with Thatcher popped up in my suggested feed! What a treat this will be. Steve Coogan is brilliant and has played Tony Wilson and more controversially, Jimi Savile to perfection imo. This will mean little to nothing to my Amurrcun friends here but will be more significant to any Brits here.
Can't wait to watch it....

and the actual interview from back in the day

Nantucket Sleighride
 
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Bob Boyer said:
That's a cool cover - cassette, I assume?
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The source CD's are in an oblong, box set. The mastering, even back then, stands up nicely - even today - and the sound character warmed up even more on Metal Master. Actually, come to think of it - it's a "book" set - not an actual box.
 

Finally... i Now have a full set of Original CD Releases for the Tracklists of two of the most formative Soundtracks of my Boyhood.

Me and My Mom listened to these Cassettes often whenever we went about Town.
the COCOA PUFFS was a Mail-in Premium that she ordered... and the CHRYSLER DEMO was included with the DODGE CARAVAN my folks bought in the late-80's.

I Must've been around 7~8 Years old at the time...









 
Chris Cables said:
You used the description 'Metal Master' I assumed it eas 2 CD's and 2 Sony Metal Master tapes.
I prob assumed it wrong?

What context is 'Metal Master' used for?
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The First-Gen, Sony Metal Master (non-Super) ... just like the one in my avatar. They are the "go-to" staple for my most arduous mixes and comprise the majority of my recorded tape library. I have a Fort Knox cache of them to last a life-time... :cool:
 
BlazeES said:
The First-Gen, Sony Metal Master (non-Super) ... just like the one in my avatar. They are the "go-to" staple for my most arduous mixes and comprise the majority of my recorded tape library. I have a Fort Knox cache of them to last a life-time... :cool:
Click to expand...
So the Police Box set, or 'book-set' also contains Sony MM tapes? That was what I was alluding to - as to whether they had any special printing on them for the box set etc.

btw, as nice as Gen 1 MM's are I favour the '88-era Sony Metal ES. As well as being much more ubiquitous, relatively cheaper and easily obtainable, I also subscribe to the school of thought/opinion that they actually sound and perform better than Gen 1 MM's, which is why I also have a healthy stash of used and NOS examples.
;)

IMG_20241011_142141_2.jpg
 
Chris Cables said:
So the Police Box set, or 'book-set' also contains Sony MM tapes? That was what I was alluding to - as to whether they had any special printing on them for the box set etc.
Click to expand...

The Police anthology set is just CDs. I like the idea of seeing some Metal Masters used to base a commercial release on tho... Cool dream.

No doubt Metal-ES is good stock but they don't compare - from my experience. Doesn't do much to debate it tho - it's somewhat subjective and machine dependent.

What I paid for the MM's was highly fractional, even compared to the going MSRP at the time. 1994-ish time frame...
At one point, I had about 30 of the 5-pack cases. One of those "being at the right place & time" sort of things. The vendor I bought them from didn't really know what they had and obviously didn't have a looking-glass to see where prices were ultimately destined to soar to. It still blows my mind o_O

I have managed to add to the cache in more recent years, because of strategic 'score' opportunities, but only as a way to supplement passing them around and/or doing special projects.
 
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