[ As for Rock Artifacts, the main forces behind that were Bob Irwin (production), Vic Anesini (engineering), and me (liner notes). It was a fun project, but I can tell you it cost me months of work doing the research, and I'm sure it cost Bob and Vic at least as much time. When you have to make that kind of commitment to excellence, you need to be able to find that kind of time in your schedule. Currently, none of us have it, so the series got put on the shelf, even though we had started the outlines of the next two volumes back in 1991. It also doesn't help that various artists compilations are notoriously bad sellers, so it would take some "selling" at the corporate level to get the project back on the board. As for the Nipper series, it died when Ron Furmanek stopped working for RCA. This is the kind of commitment it takes to do a project "right." Any fool can throw together a collection of 45s on a bootleg CD, and buying bootleg CDs without listening first is just a "tax on stupid," regardless of what your ethics are. MC

[ On the other hand, back when those artists were being paid a flat fee for their performances, it was a business decision. The record companies bet that the songs would sell, and the artists didn't. The artists made the deal they wanted. Nobody forced them to record. In retrospect, we look at the good business deals the record companies made for the relatively few big sellers and claim the artists were ripped off. Now, what about all those flat fees paid to the hundreds of times as many artists who stuffed? Using the same logic on their good business deals, do we now request those failed artists to come up with the fees back, plus all the interest accumulated over the years? Get real. "Intellectual property?" Come on. If I sold something in 1962 that turned out to be worth millions today, do I now have the right to sue for being ripped off? I sold it, and I have to take the responsibility that I sold it. It was a risk that I had to assume at the time. Quit trying to SELECTIVELY rewrite history. Yes, some artists did get ripped off, but when I hear people whining that every artist got ripped off by every label, especially the majors, I just want to throw up. MC]

[ -- It was recorded on 3-track, but has never, to my knowledge, been issued in true stereo. Original Sound now owns the tapes, and when I last heard, has no intention of doing a stereo mix. -- MC]

[ -- The single was from an acetate dub. Bob Hyde found the "original master tape" in the Roulette vaults some years ago, and it was a dub from acetate, so there is no actual session tape still in existence. -- MC]

[ If they're the same, they're both the Columbia remakes. MC]

[ -- Well, it is a "public" chat board in the sense that collectors are invited to express their opinions and report finds, etc. In actual fact, however, it is part of the Both Sides Now webpage, not a newsgroup, so I do retain the right to edit or delete certain messages that don't meet the minimum standards for remaining on the website.... Also for the record, as the owner of the webpage, I get A LOT more info about who posts these messages than appears on the board publically, so although "anonymous" messages may be posted, they are rarely anonymous to me.... I have posted my views on "private" messages some time ago, that is, sending me an e-mail directly is faster and avoids my having to edit and delete all the complaints that people post when somebody uses the "private" feature on the posting software (that I cannot disable, by the way). :-) -- Mike Callahan]

[ "The majors" are such an easy target for griping. Like "the government." Anyone can gripe and come up with theories about dark conspiracies, but few know anything approaching the facts. Why are "majors" any different from any other labels? Because they still exist? Because it's currently popular to bash corporations? "Better than anything Capitol will ever release?" Get a life. MC]

[ -- Unfortunately, if I answered and commented on every letter and e-mail we get, it would be a 24-hour-a-day undertaking. The letters portion of the Newsletter is often the most time-consuming for us to assemble, because it often requires a lot of research to come up with comments or answers. For a 2-page letter section, it will often take 10 hours of preparation, research, and retyping and editing. Many times, I believe that letters are well stated and speak for themselves, so I don't clutter things by adding superfluous comments. This chat board was meant to be a vehicle for folks to let others know about finds without my having to do the kind of research I have to do to prepare BSN. Please feel free to post such finds on the board here. If I have something to add, I'll try to do so.... For those who send in things for the Newsletter, it is very helpful if they are typed in the format I use for the Newsletter, in large enough type so that my scanner can easily scan the letters. Typing the song titles in all caps, for example, means that I have to scan the letter, then go back and correct everything for publication purposes. Since I don't have a typing staff, just my wife and I, long letters that we have to completely reformat will often go to the bottom of the pile if we're in a rush. -- MC]

[ -- There is NO stereo on the Sammy Turner CD. It will be reviewed in BSN Issue #48. Sound quality is okay if you don't listen too closely (maybe a "C" of some sort), but there's noise there if you bother to hear it. -- MC]

[ -- "Along Came Linda" was by Tommy Boyce, without Hart. It was issued on RCA in 1962 and appeared on a Camden LP. -- MC]

[ -- Well, on the Standells CD, you don't have to listen to the stereo version. The mono's all there just for you. -- MC]