Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] Early demo?

mwoods@customfleet.com.au mwoods@customfleet.com.au
Fri, 22 Feb 2002 12:17:46 +1000


If you bait me for comments, I'll comment!
1. it will very difficult to enquire of the band in each instance if a
bootleg is 'approved'.  I am, however, happy to head up a de facto approval
committee if everyone would like to forward me their collections.  Do we
assume 'approved' unless otherwise informed?
2. the Capricornia stuff is STILL unreleased in Australia and we are
swimming in boots containing versions of these as they were worked out
live, some in a lessor state of readiness than the red sails demos!! No one
was concerned about those and they were uploaded to the web!!  Will it kill
album sales?   Did the band approve in May 2001? We didn't know then what
was intended for release.

No one has any 'right' to any bootlegged material and I would suggest the
artist would be happier if NONE of it existed.  The reality is that it does
and there's no point trying to police it once it's out and coming over all
heavy, particularly to a small list of dedicated fans, some of whom will
take the line that seeing as it is known the band is upset about this
particular boot, will proceed to throw it in the bin (anyone?).   Others
will continue to trade regardless taking the broader view that it's REALLY
small beer.  Some will elect to enjoy it, but not trade it or do so by
taking an integrity check of the recipient, thus keeping it small beer as
has happened thus far, but it's only a matter of time before someone puts
it up in the public forum.  An error of judgment there, but an inevitable
one. But is the tiny magnitude of it all worth kicking up a stink when a
lot of us trade like the clappers?  If the band was that embarrassed by it,
they'd do like a certain celebrities father and try and buy up every copy
of a certain video.....

Michael







"Justin H" <justinh@jeack.com.au>@jeack.com.au on 23/02/2002 07:31:49

Please respond to justinh@jeack.com.au

Sent by:  justinh@jeack.com.au


To:   mwoods@customfleet.com.au, "'powderworks@cs.colorado.edu'"
      <powderworks@cs.colorado.edu>
cc:
Subject:  RE: [Powderworks] Early demo?


Question away - The blatently obvious distinction between theses demos and
the
standard bootlegging is that 1/ the band disapproves of this demo being out
and 2/ it contains unreleased material.
Anymore comments Michael?
Justin

>
>Dear fellow fans
>So, we must now cease all trading.  Some find it offensive. There are
>respectable and non-respectable bootlegs, and I'm afraid that trading
>doesn't work that way.  None of it's respectable!! There's no 'degrees' of

>illegitimacy when it comes to bootlegging.  Anyone that has a bootleg is
>stealing.  It was stolen off the desk, stolen off the airwaves, stolen
with

>a hidden mic, the 6 disc tree going around was stolen by some enterprising

>individual at a gig seeking to enjoy the event later on and allow others a

>glimpse.  None of it was made by the band with public distribution in mind

>or, like the Grateful Dead, the band would have a 'tapers' section at
gigs.

>We get into this knowing that nothing comes close to the real thing live
>and the boot is but a messy letter written about the hot and steamy event
>you missed. It's too late folks, the gate is open and the horse has
bolted!

>There is a fair amount of trading going on involving this band and if the
>band had the popularity now that they had in 1990, these demos would be
>available at Camden Markets and on cheap Asian imports.  How did this
stuff

>come to light?  It found its way to fans of the band who traded it along
>with other recordings of illegitimate origin, seeing no distinction.  And
>now these same traders want to stop it here, 'before it gets out of hand?'

>Are these same traders of noble extraction standing by while others
>download MP3s and pass them off as audio boots?  Yep, that's helping the
>band. There are some demos of the first album kicking around too.  Are
>these taboo as well?  I think this reeks of 'I have something precious and

>you can't have it...'  A lot of people have been enjoying the full show
>Capitol Theatre I brought into circulation in 2000.  It was taped by a
>friend of mine off 2JJ for personal enjoyment and it was used in this
>fashion for many years until I coaxed it out of him.  He asked me to take
>it easy as the show has a lot of strong personal memories.  I traded it
>with a few and then it pops up on websites, ftp sites and the like.  Thats

>the nature of the beast.  However, as a result, and to more than offset
the

>pain, we both have a pile of good stuff to enjoy and some fine connections

>with other like minded folks.
>
>BTW I have the demos and they make for fascinating listening.  Show me a
>major band that doesn't have a boot of demos kicking around that fans are
>able to enjoy and wonder at how this unit of amazing musicians works the
>magic of taking a seed and spawning a flower of rare beauty.  Did they
want

>it to happen?  Has it damaged their reputation or earning potential? This
>voyeuristic appreciation and admiration is where my interest begins and
>ends and if there would be those who would deny me that pleasure, I now
>question you in this public forum.
>
>Michael
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>"Justin H" <justinh@jeack.com.au>@cs.colorado.edu on 23/02/2002 04:29:41
>
>Please respond to justinh@jeack.com.au
>
>Sent by:  powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
>
>
>To:   "Maurice R. Kelly" <mkelly@deadheart.org.uk>,
>      "'powderworks@cs.colorado.edu'" <powderworks@cs.colorado.edu>
>cc:
>Subject:  RE: [Powderworks] Early demo?
>
>
>Sorry for the late reply, but, TAKE IT OFF!!! This was not made for public

>distribution
>and as Travis has already said, its only out there because someone stole
>it.
>If you cant get it off I will personally take it up with the band.
>Justin.
>
>I expect a reply ASAP with good news.
>
>
>>I'm not sure what to do about this. I put it up there to share with fans,

>>in the same way that we've been putting up copies of bootlegs and rare
>>b-sides, etc. I've got other "early versions" on CDs distributed by
>>Powderworkers in the past - okay these were early live versions, but they

>>were still raw, and under-developed.
>>
>>I didn't put the song on the FTP site to humiliate the band. I put it
>>there because I thought people would appreciate the evolution of a song.
I

>
>>know I do.
>>
>>I'm not going to remove it. If anyone is strongly against it, they can
>>bombard me, or take it into their own hands and remove it. I don't even
>>know if I'm able to delete it.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>--
>>Maurice R. Kelly
>>mkelly@deadheart.org.uk
>>
>>
>>On Feb 21, mwoods@customfleet.com.au wrote:
>>
>>> They wouldn't be in circulation if people weren't trading them to begin

>>> with.  Unauthorised live recordings are somehow more respectable than
>>> unauthorised studio snatch n grabs?
>>> Michael
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Travis Zanoni <TravisZ@actf.com.au>@cs.colorado.edu on 21/02/2002
>10:23:54
>
>>>
>>> Sent by:  powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
>>>
>>>
>>> To:   "'powderworks@cs.colorado.edu'" <powderworks@cs.colorado.edu>
>>> cc:
>>> Subject:  RE: [Powderworks] Early demo?
>>>
>>>
>>> Maurice I really think that loading it onto the web is a bad idea and a

>tad
>
>>> disrespectful to the band.  The Red Sails demos only got out because
>>> someone, somewhere...maybe at the studio they were recorded, stole a
>copy.
>
>>> The band don't want them out there....if they wanted you to hear
>>> it...they'd
>>> release it.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Maurice R. Kelly [mailto:mkelly@deadheart.org.uk]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 10:03 PM
>>> To: powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
>>> Subject: [Powderworks] Early demo?
>>>
>>>
>>> An Oils collector just mailed me an MP3 of what he says is an early
>>> demo (1983) - it certainly sounds like the Oils - very raw though. The
>>>
>>> wderworks mailing list
>>> Powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
>>> http://www.cs.colorado.edu/mailman/listinfo/powderworks
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Powderworks mailing list
>>> Powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
>>> http://www.cs.colorado.edu/mailman/listinfo/powderworks
>>>
>>
>>
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