Questions for Ron Furmanek

Hey Kwad

Thanks again!,..Jackie,..yes,..another great one!,..Jackie loved it!,..Yes,..too many nice,..but nonthorough titles were out there!,..I wanted to make it the definative & that we did,..Did you know she did a killer session at Abbey Road in 1964 with Mr. Jimmy Page?!,..well,..we got all of those tracks on there,...right off of the 4 track masters,..in first time stereo!

There are some fantastic unreleased tracks & demo's on there also,...the sound is incredible!!

I'm sure it can be easily tracked down on ebay,.(geez!,..if you wait long enough,.everything shows up there!!)

In summing it up,.another one that I am quite proud of!

Ron F

 

Hi Bob

Thankyou!,..yes,..I'm the guilty one!,...a little background for ya--

I met & became friends with the shows producer, Gary Smith back in 1978,.while working on the classic TV special for ABC,."Heroes of Rock & Roll",...I helped find some missing Hullabaloo shows for Gary's archive.

There were 48 shows produced by NBC originally,....all recorded on Color video tape!

Most know the tragic 60's Tonight Show destruction storys!,..sadly,..the same goes for Hullabaloo,...the shows were made on the industry standard from 1956 to 1981,..(bulky 2 inch quad videotape),..yes,..thats the word,..bulky,..they took up tooooo much valuable storage space!

NBC erased/destroyed every color tape sometime in the early to mid 70's!,..they kept one tape for the archive!

all of the other 47 existed now only on reference B&W 16mm film kinescopes!

I produced/restored all 12 video/laser/DVD volumes a few years ago,.....the great news is that I tracked down 2 other color shows hiding in somebodys private colle tion!

So,..thus you now have all 3 surviving color episodes!

The sound on the 16mm films is of a fairly lo-fi optical sound track,..another stroke of luck was finding 7 1/2 ips reference audio reel to reel tapes made off of the 2 inch masters of most of the 2nd season episodes!,.....thus,..I was able to sync them up to the picture to provide perfectly clear sound!

I hope this fills you in a bit!

thankyou

Ron F

 

Thanks for the info... I love 'em.

 

WHAT a genius idea. but . . . I am going one step further, Steve.

Ron, I am on my knees BEGGING YOU to let us hear that remix.

 

OK,my question is,has everyone looked everywhere for the color Hullabaloo's? I mean,was there only ONE copy of every episode? Wouldn't there at least,one for the east coast,one for the west? What about the affilates?? I've always wondered this about this & many other lost/erased TV shows.(I collect video as you may have gussed.)Which brings me to another question,why the hell has so little vintage video been released? Never mind TV stuff(Well,not really...)what about all the vintage promos??? We know what's out there!!!!!

 

Hi Denis

yes,..sadly we found the inventory files &,...the erase memo's,..not only were ther 2 or 3 of every episode at one time,..there were inserts & load reels!,..

Picture this,.the early 70's,..some prime old guy with a white shirt & a cigar walks into the tape vault & sees 200 or so of these old worthless tapes taking up so much valuable stirage space!,..he says,."DUMP THEM"!!

Thats sadly pretty much the way its always been,..we did find a few other color odds & ends,.but,.they are far from being useable anywhere!

If anyone ever does hear of a 2 inch kicking around,..PLEASE let me know!,..its always possible!,..I did find the other 2,..but,.seriously,..here at nearly 40 years later,..what are the real chances!?

Ron F

 

Hi Ron, and welcome to the forum!

I have quite a few of your EMI Legendary Master Series, my favorite (or should I say one of my favorites) is the Manfred Mann that you did. The only thing disappointing to me was there was no stereo "Sha La La" probably my favorite Manfred Mann songs. I'm assuming you could not locate the mulit's on that one. How was your experience, working with the Manfred Mann tapes?

One more quick question, some years ago I saw a Legendary Master Series on Cher, that was the first and only time I saw that title. At the time I passed on it, a couple of day's later I went to purchase the Cher CD, and it was gone. Was this recalled or deleted from the catalog? Like I said, I only saw the CD once and that was it.

Thanks again for coming on Steve's forum, as far as I'm concern this is the best place to be on the Internet!

BTW, I too enjoy the studio chatter on the beginning of some of the songs on your collections! It gives you the *like being there* experience.

 

Koz,

Gotta be honest, I saw quite a few of the Cher discs when they were issued...and shouldn't be hard to find used even now.


ED

 

Its always mystified me about Media Companies erasing and dumping their product "to save valuable storage space".

As if the storage space is more valuable than the legacy of the Network itself.
My friend is a TV commercial producer and his production company rented space in a warehouse in North Dakota. A copy of every video they make gets shipped to this warehouse. Cost in 2004 dollars? 6 dollars a square foot.

I guess it was just easier to dump all those 2 inch Quad reels than it was to send them to cheap storage facility.Makes me nuts.

 

bootlegging, etc.

Ron, you have stated that you are against bootlegging. But this is another matter: In the European market, copyright on sound recordings is only 50 years and as a result, legal, but unlicensed reissues of recordings are being issued. The RIAA has viewed these releases as pirates. Do you view these releases as pirates?

http://www.operaheb.co.il/news/enews/enews010303.html

 

Mikey, the determining factor was, and still is, whether or not the shows can be rerun. Usually, the artists and celebrities have to be paid extra for reruns (big $), or the original program was a one-time-only show or a broadcast with only one or two reruns allowed. After that, why keep them?

As for erasing the tapes, they only do that if they can reuse them. Professional operations keep a log of how many passes each tape has been through the machine. Too many passes - which usually cause dropouts - means it's time for the trash can!

GM

 

Hi Ron, and welcome to the forum. It is a pleasure to have someone like yourself stop in and communicate with us.

I know you have to limit what you can tell us, but since most of us are from the "Beatles" era, or at least Beatles fans, we have grown up with an attachment to the group and to Apple in general.

We are the folks that bought the Apple reissue CDs, and looked forward to the "Apple Rarity" disc (as was mentioned in the James Taylor liner notes), as well as the remaining titles such as the Lon and Van Eaton LP, Badfingers Ass (US release), and the Mary Hopkin Hits release (US). Some of these were released in other parts of the world, others were not released at all.

Is it possible for you to tell us why the last batch of Apple CDs were not created/sold in the US. One would think that a Mary Hopkins Best of and the Badfinger Ass disc would have sold much more than the Doris Troy or the two John Tavener discs.

Also, do you think there will ever be a legit release of the non-Beatles related Apple 45s that never made it to LP, Chris Hodge, Trash, Hot Chocolate Band, etc.

Thanks again, and welcome to "Steve's Place". I hope you find it enjoyable, and not a "chore".

 

I had a difficult time finding this one. I bought most of the Legendary Masters when they were first released. This one, however, I passed on as I was not a big Cher fan. Then, years later, I finally organized all of my EMI Legends titles together and realized just how special they were. I began going back and picking up all the ones I had passed on earlier. (Timi Yuro, Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, Clovers, etc.) I eventually found a sealed copy - still in the striped longbox - of the Cher title on Half.com, but it took awhile. I probably looked for this title in used stores around Nashville for probably 5 years or so. I don't think it is as common as some of the others.

 

Hey Joe!

Thanks also for the kind words!

I'm finally getting to your MM question!,....Another cool one I must say,..On the original Ascot records label to top it off!,..yikes,.U A dropped Ascot in the mid 60's!!,..cool too see on the CD label!

Anyway,...the standard story,..nothing available on CD in the USA,..so,..off to the UK again!,...The famous EMI vaults at Abbey Road!,..beat up jeans,.miners hat,.&,.into the catacombs!,..well,...not much luck this time,..sorry to say,..Manfred recorded everything on twin track two track the first year (1963),& then hopped over to one inch 4 track like everyone else starting in 1964 up until they left EMI. Almost all of the 1/4 inch twin track material survived.

I was REALLY looking forward to finding the 4 track multi's,.(yeah,."Sha La La" for me too!),.....sadly,..& here's a story not really well known,.AR/EMI had a major cleanup & destroy session take place in the early 1970's,...tons of tapes went bye bye,with the exception of only a few key artists,..you see the bulky one inch reels took up way too much space & some genius decided to bring the dumpster in!,...with every single recording session there a number was given to each new reel of tape stock used,....I went through all of the destruct/destroy logs,&,sadly,found the exact day the MM 4 tracks bit the dust,...there is only ONE 4 track reel left,&,its for the late recorded tune "She needs company",...so,..if a stereo mix was never made originally of a song,..sadly,..its gone forever,..I went through every possible file,..only a mono mix down was ever made for "Sha La La",....

Well,..thats the MM casualty,..but,..there are still some nice finds on that CD,.especially the unedited version of "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy",.&,.a very long group interview which I tagged at the end.(the CD is still in print),.I also did a two-fer of the first two Ascot lp's,..almost all in stereo from UK masters!

As far as Cher goes,...I do know that CD was in print for quite a long time,& I know for a fact it was rereleased a few years ago in the UK after Cher had those new hits!,.I also did a two-fer on Cher compiling her first two Imperial lp's,..check amazon or ebay.

hope this helps shed some light on things for you Joe!

Ron F

 

hi Gary

you are right,..besides the 3 Hullabaloo tapes,I've worked with many old Quad tapes going back to around the 1958 era!,..NBC in particular usually had a log sheet inside each tape box indicated what was there before the current program!,..I've seen things written in like "Parr",.."Como",."Tonight",.on & on,..its funny,..even though those shows were the broadcast masters,..they STILL utilized USED stock some of the time!,..I guess because it was only one pass of a given program,.they could & did get away with it!,..this is actually how some unique & rare videotaped clips sometimes get found,..yes,..by accident!,..they didn't bulk erase a tape,&, yup,.something was still at the end of the reel!,..one neat example,.I was going through an old ABC quad tape years ago that was the broadcast master for the old game show "7 Keys" from around 1962,..odd thing,..its a one hour reel of tape,..(7 Keys was only 30 minutes),..well, what was after the show,..aproximately half of an early 60's American Bandstand show!,..but those sheets telling you what was originally there on that reel really can make you sad!,..you know what I mean?

Ron F

 

Hi there!

Yes,..quite unbelievable,..but,.sadly true!,..do you realize that its now starting to be 50 years for Elvis?,....yikes!,..give it another few years & all of the US company's are going to really get hit hard when the Rock era really kicks in!

What do I view these as myself?,..man,..thats a tough question,..for certain the material will flood the US market & sell here for pennies!,.yes,..think about it,.there will be things like 100 pre 1955 Frank Sinatra Capitol & Columbia recordings combined selling for $5.00,...meaning it will probably really hurt the US companys,..&,man,.what bothers me is ,..will any label even CARE about bothering to issue pre-50 years material with any quality anymore?

Think about it folks,...EVERYTHING recorded by ANYONE EVER on a major record company before & including 1954 is now "free" to the rest of the world!!,..I do think it is pirating,..why?,..well,..I'm sure NO artists or song writers will ever see a penny from these, let alone the owners of the masters!

Bottom line,..yes,..it will seriously hurt the future of "good" reissues as we all now have come to love & enjoy,..&,..you all know this stuff will leak into the States BIG time!,.somebody should start a seperate thread here about this,..(I know,..you probably did already!),..but,.I'm new here,.&,.is this not a real serious NOW issue that folks should learn more about?

Ron F

 

Miners hat, really Ron? Wow - really digging!

 

Hey Johnny

a good catch!,..play it loud!

Ron F

 

Hey Todd

thanks!,..its a lot of fun so far!

great place you folks got here!

Ron F

 

Hi Chris

Thanks for the kind words!,..yes indeed,..it is a real classy poster,..I once had about 100 of them,..but,..sadly almost all of them got destroyed in a terrible flood I had in my basement years ago,..if I still had them I would send Steve a bunch to use for contests & give-aways for all you music lovers on board here!,..I still have other stuff,..so,.I may ship a box of goodies to him to do just that with it for you kind folks!

Yes,.with some exceptions,.the art on the covers have usually been pretty good!,..Isn't that purple "Collectors series" logo that Capitol came up really snazzy looking?,..very 50's looking!,...yes,.I don't know why,.but the Collectibles covers do kinda look like bad photocopys!,..they probably did not request film from the art department & probably just copied an actual CD booklet!,even my full color center spreads are in muddy black & white!,..(true collectibles!).I must admit,..sometimes something would slip through!,..for example,..The Five Keys disc of the Aladdin material,..the wrong Keys are shown on the cover!,..oops!!,..same thing with the Manfred Mann two-fer,..they used a photo of the "Fontana years" Manfreds on the cover!,..when the material is all with lead singer Paul Jones

What music makes my day?,..yikes,..a tough question for anyone!!,..anything good!,..how's that?,....yes,..mostly anything from the 40's up to the mid 70's,..most Elvis, Beatles & Motown anytime is ok with me!,...in the car we have a 6 disc CD player,.while Childrens material is always in heavy rotation in the car,(I got two little ones!),..one disc that always stays there that my Wife & I love to pop on all the time is The Cowsills recent CD "Globel",..a classic unknown gem of an album that they did a few years back,...power pop at its happiest best!

thanks again & keep the music playing!!

Ron F

 

Hey Chip

thanks!,..happy to be here!

Ron F

 

Howdy John

thanks for the note,...there may be something brewing soon,..but,..you know how it is,..I cannot discuss it yet!,..but,..when I know,..(I'll be the first),..believe me,..if permission is given,.I will let you all know as soon as I do!,.thats a promise!


Ron F

 

Hi Johnny

thanks so much for the kind words,..it was all a lot of fun for sure,&,I can see that you are one who really knows his stuff!,..its been over 15 years & folks still don't talk about my MMT mix's!

Anyway,..this is a shorty,..I will come back soon with a more detailed posting for you!

thanks

Ron F

 

hey Mike

what can one say?,..those silly record company's!!

Ron F

 

Hey Mikey


Yeah,..but,.25 ain't bad for a budget disc,..hey?,..you know if it was up to me I would have filled it to the brim!

One thing that many probably don't realize,or, would even think about is the fact that I actually had a new "boss" over at both EMI & Capitol every few years!,...you know how record folks tend to come & go,..promotions,..etc,...so,..I had to constantly fight for more tracks!,..just as I get them to agree on 25,..a new person comes on board & has them cut back down to 20,..then,..another year or so,..new people again!,..yikes!,..now I can go up to 25 or more again!,..in the end there was no real rhyme or reason to it at all,..one Cd at a time!

Ron F