FREAKS - Issue #21

In this issue :
New cd's : Regatta Mondatta
Police Academy
Zoot Money "It should have been me"
D.O.T.B.T. Limeted Levi's 501 cover
URL for radioshows
Old East European boot CD
Another Bootleggers story

I was lucky this month to receive both cd's as a promo issue before they were released. The Regatta Mondatta cd is out now in Japan but still not available in the rest of the world.

The Police Academy CD will be released in Japan on July 9. By the way what a horrible tittles for both CD's. It seams that Miles is cashing in his period with the Police. Both CD's are designed badfully and those names.........., anyway thanks goes to Miles's money problem, if that never happend the Police Academy CD would have never been released.

Regatta Mondatta
Japan: TOCP 50231

The cover is a the Sting figure from the Ghost in the machine cover with dreadlocks.

1. Every Little thing she does is magic 
   Chaka Demus & Pliers (4.00)

   Not my favourite, sound like somebody is imitating somebody.

2. Roxanne
   Aswad (3.29)

   This is what I call Reggae, good band, excellent sound, song cover
   is oke.

3. Spirits in the material world
   Pato Banton featuring Sting (4.07)

   We know this song although this is another remix of the single
   which was released in 1995.

4. Jamaican in New York
   Shinehead (4.27)

   Again another remix from his earlier release, his video is better
   than the song, and boy this guy can't sing at all.

5. Every breath you take
   Betty Wright (4.54)

   Doesn't sound like reggae but more a mix of soul and a bit reggae,
   could even be Tina Turner under the shower.

6. One World (not three)
   Ziggy Marley and Sting (5.22)

   This is why this CD is so interesting. Excellent song, ofcourse we
   know this from the video clip which was released in 1988. Sting
   used a lot from this session in his later live version during his
   world tours. Sounds very familiar, we want more...

7. Message in a bottle
   Maxi Priest (4.20)

   The song is oke, its difficult for Maxi Priest to cover this song.
   Well done I think.

8. Can't stand losing you
   Steel Pulse (4.17)

   This song is according to me impossible to cover reggae style. Too
   bad for Steel Pulse cause they did some great things in the past.

9. Darkness
   Los Pericos (5.00)

   Interesting ! Remarkable choise to cover thisone, some will hate or
   love this, just like the original.

10 Walking on the moon
   Sly and Robbie featuring Ambilique (4.09)

   This is what I call reggae, done ofcourse by the best. Too bad I do
   not like the voice of Ambilique, next time an instrumental version
   please.

11 The Beds too big without you
   Sheila Hilton (3.00)

   This cover has been released some years ago, its oke, nothing special

12 Wrapped around your finger
   Jazz Jamaica featuring Courtney Pine (4.28)

   Like the Gill Evans boot CD its better to hear an instrumental
   song instead of some of the other cover. Its oke, I like this one.

Strange, but I havent got the feeling that this album will hit the top 10. There are a few great covers on it, Darkness or One World, overall the album has a high elevator quality.

More interesting is ofcourse:

Strontium 90 - Police Academy
Japan - TOCP - 50242

If you want to see the cover then go to:

http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/international/release/970610/cp50242.htm

THIS ONE IS GOOD, THIS ONE IS EXCELLENT.

Do not buy this CD if you like Sting only and not The Police (!!!???). This CD sounds realy like the Police a rough voice by Sting, just great to hear these old tunes, you will love this..

1. Visions of the night

   Early demo version, great loud and rough performed, ough.. wish I
   was there.... what an energy !

2. New World Blues

   This is an excellent song, sounds a bit familiar, Sting on 2nd voice
   after Mike Howllet.
   Something between Peter Frampton 1978 stuff and what ...., just let
   me think for a while, perhaps I can cum up with something.

3. 3 O'clock shot

   Is ofcourse "Visions of the night" with different lyrics.
   Is the same song as on the bootlegs which have the Mont de Marsan 1977 
   concert on it.
   Real early Police Punk stuff.

4. Lady of delight

   This is what I call 70's music, not bad but a bit out dated. Like all
   the other songs very up tempo and bombastic played.

5. Electron Romance

   Nothing special, like "Lady of delight" very 70's stuff.

6. Every little thing she does

   Sting solo on guitar a demo version, just fantatstic !

7. Towers tumbled

   Steve is the singer of all the unkown songs, too bad he did not
   discoverd Sting's talent earlier. This song could be from Pink Floyd's
   "meddle" album.
   Spacy song, a bit of jazz rock her and there.

8. Electron Romance (live)

   From the concert I wrote in one of the earlier Freaks. Live stuff,
   great from a historic point of view. Very funky done, I imagine Sting
   with his bass on stage, fully concentrating on his bass.

9. Lady of delight (live)

   Same as above

As a Police fan it is too difficult to say if this release is the best in years. It is certainly the rarest one of its kind, not even the bootleggers can compete with this material.

Some of the songs on the album are just fantatstic, others are like I said a bit out dated. Certainly it was recorded in 1977 and therefore like stuff from Last Exit very much like jazz rock.

It is an album which belongs there to give fans a view of The Police in a certain period. Standing between the punk scene and the music world were they all came from, this is a mixture of both.

It is funny to hear Sting screaming like a punk (that is what he did during his normal 1977 police concerts) on a funky jazz rock theme.

Buy this CD, you will certainly enjoy it.

Finally its there, the original is very expensive (50 UK pounds), but about 2 months ago the original Zoot Money album "It should've been me" has been re-released on vinyl again.

The cover has a full colour group-shot of the band. Andy is there as a young pall, the cover photo is from 1965.

Tracks are: I'll go crazy/Jump back/Alone came John/Back door blues/It should've been me/Sweet little rock and roller/Uncle Willie/My wife cant cook/Rags and old iron/The cat/Feelin' sad/Bright lights big city/Fina/ Z00t's suite.

Released on Columbia records : 33sx1734

As you all may remember Sting did some ad's for Levi's 501 jeans back in 1985. During the first release of the album there was also a free album if you bought a Levi's 501.

The album was only in England given for free away with a totally unique fold open cover. This comes also with 2 small posters and a laminated tour badge. The cover is ofcourse the well known photo (which can also be found in his 1985 tourbook), sting in his 501 jeans. If you open up the cover there is some advertising of levi's on the left hand side, the other side is for Sting ofcourse.

The backside has all the 1985/1986 UK tourdates

A great list of lots of police/sting/andy/stewart radio shows can be found at : http://www.oocities.org/SunsetStrip/Towers/3996/radio-s.htm

Thanks for that goes to Jon S. Messier ofcourse !

Do check it out !

Sting- All the hits and more RS Records Ltd. 1993 EPCD 3004

They will continue for a long time in Eastern Europe to make these CD's. Not that I hate it but too manny is not good anyway. This is a release from some time ago. The cover is a shot of shit during 1983 photo session of Synchronicity.

Tracks are : Walking on the moon (police)/Every breath you take (police)/If you love somebody/love is the 7th wave/englishman in NY/moon over bourbon street/fragile/all this time/If I ever loose my faith/sister moon/fieldsof gold/well be together/she's too good../its probably me/panis angelicus with Pavarotti.

Hits'n'hits - The Music of Sting 3845CD 17 instrumental hits

Something you alway's dreamed of having (?), no just another artists (?) cashing in on Sting. All are instrumental, cover is a photo of a unknown woman.

Tracks are: All this time/Englishman in NY/When e dance/mad about you/fields of gold/If I ever loose my faith/if you love somebody/fragile/demolition man/they dance alone/its probably me/love is the 7th wave/russians/nothing bout me/seven days/this cowboy song/well be together.

BOOTLEGS: WHY I BREAK THE LAW
by James Mullin

Want to hear every take ever recorded of the Beatles Hey Jude, or what about all the songs that didnt make it onto the newest Dave Mathews Band CD? And what about that killer concert you just went to see? Wouldnt it be great if you could find a copy of the show on tape? Chances are, if you look hard enough youll find them all on bootlegs. What are bootlegs? By definition, and as far as the FBI is concerned, a bootleg is a recording of live or unreleased material by an artist not sanctioned by the artists record company. If you know your history, youve probably guessed that bootleg recordings picked up their blunt, yet very fitting name from the illegal whisky manufacturers during Prohibition in the 1930s. Is bootlegging wrong? In my opinion no, because they offer recordings that might not otherwise be available. Bootleg recordings are a great source of material that a collector and/or die hard fan might not otherwise have access to. Bootlegs dish up a side of an artist that one might not otherwise get to hear and they give us a glimpse into the past, to hear how a song like Hey Jude evolved from a Paul McCartney piano ditty to the song we all know so well. Dispite the opposition from record companies, who claim that bootlegs rip off an artist (not to mention the record company,) and Congress, who want to group bootlegs in with other illegitimate recordings, bootlegs are now becoming more popular than ever.

Bootlegs can be traced all the way back to the turn of the century. In an article called The History Of Bootleg Recordings, Dean J. Meador gives one of the earliest examples:

    Mapelson, the librarian of the Metropolitan Opera at that time, received
    a cylinder recorder        from Thomas Edison.  He took his gift up into
    the fly-loft on several occasions during the Mets 1901-03 sessions and
    recorded bits and pieces of performances.  ....he produced an
    astonishing number of recording documents.

Mapleson provided collectors with recordings that would otherwise not be available. He recorded lesser known artists not on commercial labels, spoken word, and performances by bigger name artists that would not have been released commercially. Since that time, amateur recordings were made of blues and jazz artists and traded heavily among collectors. More recently, there has been some confusion over what is considered a bootleg, which did not help matters in 1972 when Congress decided that these types of recordings were illegal.

The mistake made by Congress was that they decided to lump bootlegs, pirates and counterfeit recordings all into the same category. Bob Walker, editor of the Hot Wacks books (guides to bootleg recordings) makes an excellent, clear distinction between bootlegs and pirate/counterfeit recordings:

    A bootleg consists of unreleased material recorded at concerts, studio
    outtakes, and radio or TV broadcasts.  A pirate album consists of
    released material without attempting to make LP look like the original.
    A counterfeit album is an exact copy of an officially released album.

This definition gives a very good example of what recordings are made for the fan or the collector and which recordings are made strictly for money making purposes. In my opinion, bootlegs should have never been grouped with pirates or counterfeit recordings. Bootlegs are made for a specific audience, and since a run usually consists of not more than a thousand copies, they can hardly be considered a profit making venture. Record companies would disagree, saying that bootlegs hurt record sales and deprive an artist of royalties.

I find the record company claims to be unjustified and think that bootlegs can actually help an artist. In the late 1960s, before the copyright laws took effect in 1972, a double album appeared in record stores in a plain white jacket, with no writing on the cover. The artist was Bob Dylan, and the album was dubbed The Great White Wonder.

The album consisted of recordings made by Dylan and The Band that had not been released by Columbia records. To the dismay of the record company, the album sold quite well and a few years later prompted Columbia records to release the same recordings legitimately as The Basement Tapes. An interest in unreleased recordings has prompted record companies to re-release albums with bonus tracks, consisting of previously unavailable material and, in my opinion, played a large part in the eventual release of the triple-volume Beatles Anthology, which consists entirely of unreleased material.

Some artists and bands have taken a different approach to bootlegs. Bands such as the Grateful Dead, Dave Mathews, Phish, and Blues Traveler actually encourage taping of their concerts. You can purchase tickets for a taper section. A tapers section is a set of seats reserved for persons to bring recording equipment into the venue. These bands and artists do this under the assumption that you will not sell the tapes you make, but add them to your personal collection and trade them for other tapes you dont have. Taping sections seem to work quite well, and if anything have helped record sales of these artists by giving them even more exposure. I know of one instance where an artists collected bootlegs of himself and the band he was in. An article in Goldmine (a record/CD collector magazine) talked about John Lennon and his fascination with bootlegs. He would often trade bootleg recordings with other collectors in the New York area. Some of the Beatles bootlegs that are around today can probably be traced back to John Lennon. Other artists have a different opinion.

Robert Fripp, head of the progressive rock group King Crimson once said, there are two sides to bootlegging, royalties and the moment. He went on to state that he did not mind bootlegs as long as he was paid royalties for his work. That is one aspect of bootlegging that still remains in a gray area. Should bootleggers pay some sort of bootlegging fee? Or does the the small number of copies produced of a bootleg justify a royalty fee? With the increase in tape trading popularity, one person could buy a bootleg CD and copy it dozens of times to trade for other titles to add to their collection.

I have been trading bootleg tapes for a few years, and have managed to gather quite a collection. In that time I have not made one cent. What I have done is added rare and unique titles to my library that I can trade for other like items. I even have a web page for the entire world to see of my ever growing list and since the FBI hasnt come bursting through my door armed with a bulk eraser, I imagine Ill keep trading for some time to come. Am I breaking the law? Probably, but Im sure the FBI has more important issues to worry about than us traders lurking on the internet looking for that one show we dont yet have. As far as the artists are concerned, I have no royalties to pay them, all I can offer is my thanks for all the great music.

Freaks will return the first Sunday in August, I'm going to write some other stuff the next months. Have a fantastic holiday and keep me informed about anything nice you receive by The Police/Sting/Stewart or Andy.

Copyright © 1997 By Erwin Kempen. All Rights Reserved.

| BACK | FORWARD |

You are visitor since this page was designed on September 18, 1998.

Index The Web's Too Big Without You! Items For Sale Who Am I? What's New?

Comments, Suggestions or Problems

Again, thanks for visiting my homepage. I hope you will come back and visit soon.

For questions, comments or information on this home page, please send e-mail to blueturtles01@hotmail.com.

This page hosted by . Get your own Free Home Page.

Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 , 2001 by blueturtles01@hotmail.com. All rights reserved.