[ -- Thanks for the info. For release dates of CDs or box sets, I'd suggest ICE, a monthly newsletter devoted to those sorts of things. They probably have a web site. -- MC]

[ -- EMI closed it's doors? Unlikely, and if they did, a lot more than 150 people would be out of work. Anything more on this "closing?" -- MC]

[ -- The Stones song is not on CD or LP in stereo, at least not legitimately. -- MC]

[ -- It's on a single-disc Tommy James collection from Rhino from 1992 called The Best of Tommy James & The Shondells [Rhino Special Editions R2 71026]. Most probable place to find it at this date is either from Rhino (see link elsewhere in the BSN webpage) or at your local K-Mart or similar store's low-price CD bins. -- MC]

I'm a subscriber to BSN and saw your comments in #44 about clone CD's. In January, I bought a CD-R drive for my computer (that's a CD-Recorder, for those of you who are not into computers). It's the greatest accessory I've ever purchased. I'm converting all of my vinyl to CD's, both 45 and albums, using a sound card and CD-R, and the results are superb (limited by the quality of the vinyl, obviously, but the output is as good as the input). This is for my own use only, and I'm only doing it on stuff that is not available on CD. It's VERY time consuming, especially if I take the time to remove clicks, pops, etc., it takes from ten minutes to one hour per song. I get typically 25 songs on a blank CD-R, which costs about $5.00. The other thing that I am doing is making "compilation" CD's for my car, since I can't carry more than a few CD's in the car. With the setup I've got, I can do a pure digital copy of a CD track with zero quality degradation when I make a compilation whose component material is already on CD.

What are your thoughts on the legalities of this? My opinion is that it is legal as long as I bought the original source material and am making the CD copy only for my own use. I take the Supreme Court decision on home video taping off of the air as a likely basis for this, also the "fair use" doctrine of copyright law (which is a bit fuzzy). If I was borrowing the source material (be it CD or vinyl), or if I was giving the resulting CD to someone else, then I think it would probably be illegal. But as long as I bought and own the source material, I don't have an ethical problem with transferring it from one medium to another only for my own personal use, and I don't think that there is a legal problem either.

I bought a Sony 200 disc CD changer and plan to put my entire collection on-line. I have just over 200 CD's, so to do this I may have to "consolidate" multiple CD's down to a smaller number of CD's. I have calculated that my 220 or so pressed commercial CD's will fit onto about 110 to 130 CD-R's if they are full (a CD holds up to 70-80 minutes of music but most only have 35 minutes or so actually recorded). This is also an opportunity to eliminate duplicate tracks from various artist CDs.

This is not for the technophobic. The hardware and software are not easy to get installed and configured, and ease-of-use is only fair. But the cost is reasonable if you've already got a suitable computer [Pentium, large hard drive (2.5 gigs or more) and 32 megs or more of memory]. A CD-R drive is about $500. I think the ready availability of this technology is going to change the way a lot of people approach music collecting. -- Barry Watzman

[ -- This "Chat Room" is a commercial add-on package, and I have no control over wordwrap and things like that. You can obviously change the typeface and things like that with your own web browser.... I think you're on safe ground converting your collection of vinyl to CD and making CDs for your car, but I believe you may encounter some nasty problems putting your entire CD collection "on-line," assuming that by that phrase you mean on the internet and not just on your multi-CD player at home. Record companies have taken a dim view of their product being broadcast about the internet without their permission/without payment, so if you meant "on-line" as in "on the internet," expect to get some heavy traffic on "cease and desist" legal messages from them. They CAN apparently shut that sort of thing down. Just a thought... -- MC]

[ -- And unfortunately, it's mono. Im working on the new book, but it may be early 1998... -- MC]

I sent an email note to Rhino Customer Service regarding mono vs. stereo, and got a reply that people should see. My original email note to them:

"Subject: NO MORE MONO!
From: "James Church" (jimchurch@msn.com) at Internet
Date: 7/8/97 12:54 PM

I used to love to see the Rhino name on a CD re-issue. I used to assume that the absolute best quality masters had been sought out and used. I assumed that if a track was in mono it was because there was no true stereo master available. That was before I became aware that a lot of the stuff that was being issued by Rhino in flat horrible sounding mono was actually available on stereo masters, or could be re-mixed from the original multi-tracks. I now hate it when I see the Rhino name.

The British Invasion series is a perfect example; a large number of the tracks on this series are in mono but are available elsewhere (usually from the major company releases) in true stereo. The same with my Rascals Anthology and Wilson Pickett CDs as well as numerous annoying other Rhino CDs that I own.

This is 1997 and nobody puts out new mono music anymore, nobody has mono only hi fi equipment and MONO sucks. 1997 equipment does not sound like 60's mono equipment or car radios, so logic that you are trying to be faithful to the original listening experience does not wash. Until Rhino begins to use stereo when it's available, you are on my DO NOT BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE list."

"Well, make sure you don't get Rhino's Beg Scream & Shout soul box, because it's almost 99 percent mono, and boy does it sound hot! When we do mono releases, we are being faithful to the original sound of the record we're reissuing. Sure, you're right, nobody today makes music in mono, but we aren't putting out today's artists, we're putting out older music. And we do NOT remix older music to sound like today's radio formats (which I think is what you're asking us to do). We happen to like mono as much as we like stereo, and sometimes we think mono sounds better. Obviously, you disagree. That's life. Thanks for your comments, but we promise you, if it sounds better in mono, that's how we'll put it out. [signed] Bennett, for Dr. Rhino Customer Service"

Please tell me why Rhino continues this annoying practice. -- Jim Church

[ -- Whoever shouts the loudest gets their way. Apparently, there are a few people at Rhino (and at Atlantic, Abkco, etc.) who honestly think that mono is better most of the time. They've convinced the people with the power (who usually could care less about mono/stereo), that their way is the best way. Nothing more sinister than that. My only other comment on the above email exchange is that sarcasm in answering a customer's letter is not usually a good way to do business. It has a tendency to cause little ripples beyond the person addressed. The fact that it's posted on the internet is case in point. -- MC]

DISC ONE: Lazy Day - Spanky and Our Gang (S)/The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) - Harpers Bizarre (S)/Master Jack - Four Jacks and A Jill (S)/Western Union - Five Americans (M)/Morning Girl - Neon Philharmonic (S)/Brand New Me - Dusty Springfield (S)/Turn Down Day - Cyrkle (S)/Shame Shame - Magic Lanterns (S)/Baby, I'm Yours - Barbara Lewis (S)/I Got Rhythm - Happenings (S)/Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield (S)/Bowling Green - Everly Brothers (S)/Don't Just Stand There - Patty Duke (S)/Sweet Inspiration - Sweet Inspirations (M)/Goodbye Columbus - Association (S)/Pied Piper - Crispian St. Peters (M)/Best of Both Worlds - Lulu (M)/Will You Be Staying After Sunday - Peppermint Rainbow (S)/Next Plane to London - Rose Garden (M)/Bottle of Wine - Fireballs (M)//

DISC TWO: Games People Play - Joe South (S)/Baby the Rain Must Fall - Glenn Yarbrough (S)/I'm a Fool - Dino, Desi and Billy (S)/Apricot Brandy - Rhinoceros (S)/The Crying Game - Brenda Lee (S)/And Suddenly - Cherry People (S)/Malibu U - Harpers Bizarre (M)/Alice's Rock & Roll Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie (S)/D.W. Washburn - Monkees (S)/Classical Gas - Mason Williams (S)/Indian Lake - Cowsills (S)/Action - Freddie Cannon (S)/Mr. Bojangles - Jerry Jeff Walker (S)/Nashville Cats - Lovin' Spoonful (S)/Come On Down to My Boat - Every Mother's Son (S)/I Love You - People (S, with intro)/Little Arrows - Leapy Lee (S)/Mr. Dieingly Sad - Critters (S)/Long Lonesome Highway - Michael Parks (S)/Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) - Hombres (M).

[ -- It sounds like the stereo alternate take from the stereo version of the Runaway album. -- MC]

[ -- The three songs were in a quad mix on the quad album, which played in stereo on a regular stereo setup. As for the 1991 versions, these were all mixed specifically by Bob Irwin and Vic Anesini for a planned Sly anthology which has yet to materialize. The 1991 mixes were the first mixes done specifically for stereo. "Thank You" appeared on the Legacy sampler promo in 1991 in a stereo version which was about a minute longer than the 45/LP version. "Everyone's A Star" has not yet been out on CD in the 1991 stereo mix, to my knowledge. -- MC]

[ -- "Asia Minor" appears in stereo on the new Collector's Choice Music CD More Instrumental Gems of the '60s, [CCM0035/PolyGram Special Markets DPSM 5190], rel. 1997. To order, see the "Catalogs" button on this web page under Finding the CDs. -- MC]

[ Probably taken from the quad master. MC]

[ -- There is no stereo for the 45 version of "Runaway." The versions on both the Runaway and Little Town Flirt albums are the same, and they're both an alternate take. The Eric single was mastered from one of the albums. This was apparently an error that was made when the original Runaway album was mixed in stereo. The Little Town Flirt album just used the same mistaken stereo mix. The multitrack session tapes for the 45 version were lost years ago, at least as far back as the 1970s. Recent stereo versions of the Del Shannon albums have been mastered either from a master tape of the albums or from the albums themselves. -- MC]

[ -- The song appears on the recent Harpers Bizarre anthology called Feelin' Groovy on Warner Brothers [see review in issue #44 of the Both Sides Now Stereo Newsletter. The album Anything Goes has been issued in Germany and Japan on Warner Brothers. The German CD was issued in 1992 and deleted in 1995. The Japanese CD [Warner WPCP 4702] was released in 1992 and is still in print. -- MC]

[ -- The following are stereo on the AVI CD Lonely Weekends: The Best of the Sun Years [AVI CD 5016]: "Lonely Weekends," "Midnite Blues," "Finally Found Out," "School Days," "Easy Money," "Sittin' and Thinkin'," "Caught In The Middle," "Who Will The next Fool Be," "There's Another Place I Can't Go," "My Heart Cries For You," "Juanita" (undubbed), "It's Too Late" (undubbed), "CC Rider (undubbed), and "Break Up." The CD is reviewed in Both Sides Now Stereo Newsletter issue #40. -- MC]

On a separate note, are we people from the 60's going to be left behind by the record companies, including the majors and the next liners? I subscribe to ICE and this has been the worst year I have ever seen for reissue releases of the 50's, 60's & early 70's. There is hardly anything on the release schedule anymore. The biggies..RCA, MCA, Sony (Columbia), Atlantic have virtually nothing for us. EMI America is dead for now so...? The 2nd liners have not been too much better...Varese is starting to drop off in output, Rhino doesn't seem to care anymore, Sundazed is going in a different direction. The only two who seem to be keeping up to are Taragon Records and Collectables (I know a lot of people curse them, including me sometimes, but where else can you get some of this stuff?). Collector's Choice is another one who seems to fill some of the gap, including some 40's stuff. Why is it that the overseas labels.....See for Miles, Ace & Sequel can release this stuff to the hilt and American does little or nothing? You have interviewed several companies in your newsletter where they alluded to upcoming releases....but nothing happens. Era (K-tel) quit releasing their Era label stuff; Bob Hyde was talking about the Capitol catalog, but I don't see anything...Even Music Club...they released Frankie & Fabian & that seems to be it. Dave Clark was supposed to release some more CD's in the states of stuff that wasn't on the 2 CD set; that was 2 or 3 years ago...nothing. Then look at at all the series that were started and never completed....Legendary Masters Series, Capitol Collectors Series, Polygram Chronicles of 40's 50 & 60's, Rhino with the Roulette catalog; I could go on and on. Care to comment? Anyone else out there care to comment? Thanks for the ear.

[ -- First issue: As I've said many times, it all comes down to economics. If oldies CDs were selling well in the US, record companies would be falling over themselves to put out product. They just don't miss too many chances to make a buck. As to the European labels, apparently the oldies sell relatively better over there, at least well enough so that it makes them attractive to record labels to put out product. When I talk to the people at the US labels, I get the same story over and over. Oldies reissues are a relatively small market here. We may not like to hear that, but that's the way most labels see it.

Second issue: People who know the oldies songs "cold" are very rare in record companies today. Oldies don't show up on their radar screen. It's easy to say that all record company employees these days are 20-year old "oldies-ignoramuses," but if we were at a record company, would we be thinking in terms of reissuing early '90s rap and metal CDs? I think not, but that's where the current crop of record company employees' expertise and experience lies. There ARE labels (like the ones you cite, plus Sony/Legacy) that DO have the expertise. But in cases such as Vee-Jay, AVI, and others, if you can't make the economics work, you can't stay in business no matter how good a few people think your products are. Sorry for the gloomy answer, but that appears to be the way it is these days. -- MC]

[ -- The Association CD is a reissue of a 1990 CD which has been reviewed in Oldies on CD: Greatest Hits: from the Original Masters (Warner Bros. WPCP-3536) Japan [AAD] 1990 [Rating = B] Time = 59:27. Excellent sound; slight hiss on many tracks. One Too Many Mornings (M)/Along Comes Mary (S)/Cherish (S)/Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies (S)/No Fair At All (S)/Windy (S)/Never My Love (S)/Requiem For The Masses (S)/Everything That Touches You (S)/We Love Us (S)/Time For Livin' (S)/Six Man Band (S)/Enter The Young (S)/The Time It Is Today (S)/Message Of Our Love (S)/Birthday Morning (S)/Rose Petals Incense And Kitten (S)/Goodbye Columbus (S)/P.F. Sloan (M)/Dreamer (S) -- MC]