Entertainment For Lively Minds
VHS CHRONICLES
You know the story - you were watching Whistle Test, The Tube, whatever... and along came something stunning which you can remember to this day...
But you DIDN"T TAPE IT... Or you taped it but don't have the tape anymore...
What did you fail to record, and have not seen since, but can still remember?
Or what DID you tape but have now lost in the mists of time or to the vicious machinery of a knackered VHS recorder / chewer?
INXS on The Tube performing The Time / Original Sin / Listen Like Thieves.
Would be, I guess, Autumn 85 or Summer 86..? Was this INXS's UK debut? It was the first I'd heard of them. As tight, engaging and perfect a short set as I ever saw anyone play on there or on any other television music show. Can't say I'm a big fan of them at all, but there was something extremely vital and confident about their appearance. The Listen Like Thieves album came out after this and a mate and I were the first people in our town to own it - ordered it from our local independent.
By chance I was recording The Tube that night, but have lost the tape to time. Shame. Would love to have a copy of this again.
I also remember HOWARD JONES playing his third single Hide And Seek live at the piano on Top Of The Pops - February 1984? I've never seen it since. A lovely surprise quiet-and-reflective moment amidst all of the in-your-face day-glo Thompson Twins gubbins and the nightclub cock-posturing of the Spands and so on.
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I taped loads of stuff
from the tube, ogwt, oxford road show way back in the early 80s, only to have the tapes erased years later, i was gutted. Luckily the emergence of You Tube has seen all these clips resurface.
I agree... YouTube's great BUT...
... it's a shame that the quality of some of the uploads is crap, and that you don't get to physically own decent copies for yourself.
I had The Smiths live at the
I had The Smiths live at the Assembly Rooms Derby, introduced by by a young Mark Ellen on BBC2. They were big news, hence the filmed concert, but the first album wasn't out yet.
I played the tape over and over, and knew all the songs inside out by the time we went to see them shortly after at Essex University in Colchester on what I think was their first proper headlining tour. Certainly the single out at the time was What Difference Does It Make?, and a I bought a promo poster for it. Red Guitars were support I think.
On the tape Marr was wearing a striped shirt and eyeliner, as I recall, and it was a fantastic show. Genuinely different and exciting at the time, oh how I loved them.
Somewhere over the years the tape became lost, though never forgotten.
I think I have that on DVD!
I've got that on DVD, along with plenty of other Smiths stuff from around that time. Was it in the old Sight And Sound series the BBC used to do? Auntie often wheels out the clip of This Charming Man from that gig, I think - wasn't it used in the Rough Trade night a few months back?
That's the one
Do you mean it's a legit DVD you bought, or acquired by less conventional means?
Less Conventional Means
I have several discs of Smiths stuff that have been transferred over from VHS. Generally the quality is "excellent" - though I think the BBC's Derby gig is merely "good" and, unfortunately, my favourite TOTP appearance (William It Was Really Nothing - the "marry me" scribble on Mozzer's chest) could only be said to be "acceptable", whilst the acoustic version of Moz and Marr doing This Charming Man, with schoolkids singing along (*bites hand in complete embarassment*) is "fairly poor" - in every sense... All-in-all a nice little time-capsule, though.
Now I'm just jealous, I was
Now I'm just jealous, I was all ready to add it to my letter to Santa
INXS
I saw that one, and went out to look for the album in the Virgin Megastore the following Monday and met Michael Hutchence who was looking for the album himself to see if it had been released in the UK yet. He was wearing a long army coat with boots, looking like he'd stepped out of the Teardrop Explodes circa 1981.
Hutchence in the megastore
Classic moment!
Not
the first or last time he was in a virgin I'd wager
Not music, but...
... way before anyone had heard of him over here, sometime in 1986-87, Channel 4 (IIRC) broadcast a brilliant Best Of David Letterman compilation, including great bits with Bill Murray and Steve Martin, and the ever-popular dropping-stuff-off-tall-buildings (melons, Wile E. Coyote dolls etc.) I taped it, but it went the way of all things at least 15 years ago. My ongoing VHS-to-DVD conversion project is ongoing, and I still have vague hopes of coming across it at the bottom of a box somewhere.
I also used to fill up tapes with Top Of The Pops episodes, I wish I still had those, but I know they got taped over at some point...
Yes
Remember this well. They showed a handful of Lettermans around the time Rossy started doing The Last Resort and it was like TV from another planet. I have them on tape somewhere too.
I remember buying a bootleg
I remember buying a bootleg DVD of Smiths TV appearances from a record fair in about 2003 / 2004, for about £25. It'd been copied from someone's private VHS compilation and the quality was absolutely appalling, but I felt it was worth it as it was my only chance to see these rare clips. Fast forward a couple of years and they're all available on youtube for nowt. Bugger.
A funny ten minutes
I never taped it, but some years ago Pet Shop Boys were guests on the Des O'Connor show. They performed their latest single "I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing" and the performance came complete with a choreographed Neil Tennant dance routine. More so than in the video.
I watched, open mouthed, and then it cut to the adverts, where it became even wierder. I was watching in Granadaland and the adverts were taken over by one long advert for...Wigan! Yes, the place. It featured the mayor and local dignitaries extolling the virtues of bringing their business/spending money to Wigan.
I don't think I've ever seen such a bizarre ten minutes of television.
Confession time
I have a box of about 50 Betamax tapes in the loft with a working Betamax player. I've forgotton what's there but I recorded bits of TOTP, The Tube any a few live gigs. I seem to remember a Bunnymen gig from Liverpool. Thanks to this post I will dig them out and give them a play. Anyone know how to convert Betamax to digital?
Simple
There must be a nice long thread about this somewhere on this site but I can't find it. The key thing is that you still have the working VCR. That means that all you need is a decent USB video capture card, lots of disk space and lots and lots of time.
Be aware that not all video capture cards are equal, I've got 3, a Hauppauge that I've had for about 5 years which I'm really pleased with. I got a cheap Roxio one bundled with some software this year and it's quite poor and I've got another non USB PC-Express card that is quite good but still not as good as the Hauppauge but much more convenient cos it sits in the laptop all the time.
Most of them come with all the software that you need to edit the files and author the DVDs. I would recommend the additional purchase of VideoRedoPlus it's not expensive, it's really easy to use and it's fast.
I just
plug my VHS into my DVD / Hard-Drive recorder and record. Then burn the stuff to disc. Then I upload from that disc to my PC and - if needs be - edit / "remaster". Perhaps a bit of a long-winded way, but it works for me.
Sounds fine
That doesn't sound long winded and it's obviously very easy. When I first wanted to grab stuff to put on DVD it was to take things off my Sky box and I wanted the highest quality possible and all the sensibly priced DVD recorders only had composite video inputs which, for VHS or Betamas is probably ample.
Rock In The 1980s, BBC2
I've discussed this in the attached thread:
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/bbc-takes-itunes
Basically I've been desperate to see BBC2's 'Rock In The 1980s', first broadcast on New Years Eve 1989. I imagine we'll be getting something similar - yet nowhere near as good - this New Years.
Actually tracked down a copy on eBay recently, but the disc that was sent to me was corrupted, and the seller reckoned he no longer had the original copy. Gutted!
Nick, check your e-mail
;)
The 80's 1989 New Year Show 3hrs
The 80s New Year Show does indeed exist and I have transfered my copy to 3 DVD discs. Anyone interested at cost can contact me on
Track list has also been created.
:-)
Quality more than very watchable :-)
Track List
The 80s 31st December 1989
Famous for 2 mins 35 seconds
Haysi Fantasee John Wayne Is Big Leggy 1982
King Love and Pride 1985
Haircut 100 Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) 1981
It's Immaterial Driving Away From Home (Jim's Tune) 1986
Proclaimers Letter From America 1987
Depratment S Is Vic There? 1981
Nena 99 Luftballons 1984
Wah! The Story Of The Blues 1983
Orange Juice Rip It Up 1982
Barking Mad
Associates Party Fears Two 1982
Teardrop Explodes Reward 1981
ZZ Top Cheap Sunglasses 1980
Bauhaus Bela Lugosi's Dead 1982
Grace Jones Slave To The Rhythm 1985
Dexy's Midnight Runners Geno 1980
PIL Home 1986
Captain Sensible Happy Talk 1982
Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Want To Have Fun 1984
Tenpole Tudar Swords Of A Thousand Men 1981
Ch Ch Ch Changes
Wham Wham Rap 1983
Bad Boys 1983
Club Tropicana 1983
Freedom 1984
George Michael A Different Corner 1986
Dance Decade
Sister Sledge Lost In Music 1984
Fine Young Cannibals Johnny Come Home 1985
Soul II Soul Back To Life 1989
Odyssey Back To My Roots 1981
Neneh Cherry Buffalo Stance 1989
Bobby Brown On Our Own 1989
Nice At Dinner Parties
Alison Moyet The Ole Devil Called Love 1985
Suzanne Vega Marlene On The Wall 1985
Swing Out Sister Breakout 1986
Simply Red Holding Back The Years 1985
Sade Is It A Crime 1985
Nanci Griffith You Made This Love A Teardrop 1989
Dire Straits Romeo And Juliet 1981
Boys Toys
Depeche Mode New Life 1981
Heaven 17 Temptation 1983
Yazoo Only You 1982
New Order Blue Monday 1983
Tears For Fears Mad World 1982
Human League Sound Of The Crowd 1981
Ultravox Vienna 1981
Pet Shop Boys Opportunities 1986
Ch Ch Ch Changes
Duran Duran Planet Earth 1981
My Own Way 1981
Girls On Film 1982
Anyone Out There 1982
Is The Something I Should Know 1983
A View To A Kill 1985
Most Complaints Recieved
Cameo Word Up 1986
Culture Club Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? 1982
Milli Vanilli Don't Forget My Number 1989
Imagination BodyTalk 1981
Erasure Victim Of Love 1987
Frankie Goes To Hollywod Relax 1984
The Gong Show
Kate Bush Running Up That Hill 1985
The Police Every Breath You Take 1983
Elton John Blue Eyes 1982
Fairground Attraction Perfect 1989
Housemartins Happy Hour 1986
Wet Wet Wet Wishing I Was Lucky 1987
Bon Jovi In And Out Of Love 1985
Madness House Of Fun 1982
Terence Trent D'Arby Sign Your Name 1988
Ghetto Blasters
Eric B & Rakim Paid In Full 1987
Salt 'n Pepa Push It 1988
Public Enemy Don't Believe The Hype 1988
Sly & Robbie Boops (Here To Go) 1987
Run DMC It's Tricky 1987
LL Cool J I Need Love 1987
Scotland The Brave
Altered Images Happy Birthday 1981
Aztec Camera Walk Out To Winter 1983
Danny Wilson Mary's Prayer 1988
Deacon Blue Real Gone Kid 1989
Simple Minds Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) 1982
Big Country In A Big Country 1986
England Swings Part 2
ABC Poison Arrow 1982
Mari Wilson I Can't Stop Myself 1982
Kajagoogoo Too Shy 1983
The Cult She Sells Sanctuary 1987
Adam And The Ants Kings Of The Wild Frontier 1981
Sigue Sigue Sputnik Love Missile 1986
Toyah It's A Mystery 1982
Dead Or Alive You Spin Me Round 1985
Happy New Year 1990
Flock Of Seagulls I Ran 1983
David Bowie Time Will Crawl 1987
Scritti Politti Absolute 1984
Japan / David Sylvian Ghosts 1982
Soft Cell Say Hello Wave Goodbye 1982
Ch Ch Ch Changes
Spandau Ballet Fight For Ourselves 1986
Gold 1983
True 1983
Instinction 1982
Paint Me Down 1982
The Freeze 1981
To Cut A Long Story Short 1980
New Worlds
The Bhundu Boys Jakesa Let's Work Together 1987
Youssou Ndour Immegres 1985
Gipsy Kings Volare 1989
Hugh Masekela Lady 1985
Just Good Friends
Gene Pitney / Marc Almond Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart 1989
Kirsty McColl / The Pogues Fairytale Of New York 1987
Pet Shop Boys / Liza Minelli Losing My Mind 1989
Van Morrison / Cliff Richard WhenGod Shines His Light 1989
Smith / Sandi Shaw Hand In Glove 1984
Really Saying Something
The Specials Too Much Too Young 1980
UB40 I Am The One In Ten 1983
Billy Bragg Days Like These 1985
Sugarcubes Dear Plastic 1989
REM You Are The Everything 1989
Robert Wyatt Shipbuilding 1983
Ch Ch Ch Changes
Eurythmics Tourists So Good To Be Back Home Again 1980
Love Is A Stranger 1983
There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) 1985
You Have Place A Chill In My Heart 1988
Glum Rock
Lloyds Cole And The Commotions Rattlesnakes 1984
Echo And The Bunnymen The Killng Moon 1985
Style Council My Ever Changing Moods 1984
Jesus And Mary Chain In A Hole 1985
Prefab Sprout When Love Breaks Down 1985
Sisters Of Mercy First, Last And Always 1985
Pet Shop Boys West End Girls 1985
De Ja Vu
Phil Collins You Can't Hurry Love 1983
Paul Young Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home) 1983
The Mission Tomorrow Never Knows 1987
Everything But The Girl I Don't Want To Talk About It 1988
Fun Boy 3 / Bananarama It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It 1982
Art Of Noise / Tom Jones Kiss 1988
Age Of Chance Kiss 1987
Best Selling Singles Of The Eighties
The Police Don't Stand So Close To Me 1980
Soft Cell Tainted Love 1981
Dexy's Midnight Runners Come On Eileen 1982
Culture Club Karma Chameleon 1983
Band Aid Do They Know It's Christmas 1984
Jennifer Rush The Power Of Love 1985
Communards Don't Leave Me This Way 1986
Rick Astley Never Gonna Give You Up 1987
Cliff Richard Mistletoe And Wine 1988
Black Box Ride On Time 1989
Best Selling Album Of the Eighties
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms Money For Nothing 1985
Most Over-Rated Artist Of The Decade
5 | Bruce Springteen Born In The USA
4 | Elvis Costello I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
3 | U2 I Will Follow
2 | Bros Too Much?
1 | The Smiths Big Mouth Strikes Again
Artist Of The Decade
5 | U2
4 | Madonna Holiday
3 | The Smiths This Charming Man
2 | Michael Jackson Bad
1 | Prince