Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] Early demo?

mwoods@customfleet.com.au mwoods@customfleet.com.au
Fri, 22 Feb 2002 10:23:23 +1000


Dear fellow fans
So, we must now cease all trading.  Some find it offensive. There are
respectable and non-respectable bootlegs, and I'm afraid that trading
doesn't work that way.  None of it's respectable!! There's no 'degrees' of
illegitimacy when it comes to bootlegging.  Anyone that has a bootleg is
stealing.  It was stolen off the desk, stolen off the airwaves, stolen with
a hidden mic, the 6 disc tree going around was stolen by some enterprising
individual at a gig seeking to enjoy the event later on and allow others a
glimpse.  None of it was made by the band with public distribution in mind
or, like the Grateful Dead, the band would have a 'tapers' section at gigs.
We get into this knowing that nothing comes close to the real thing live
and the boot is but a messy letter written about the hot and steamy event
you missed. It's too late folks, the gate is open and the horse has bolted!
There is a fair amount of trading going on involving this band and if the
band had the popularity now that they had in 1990, these demos would be
available at Camden Markets and on cheap Asian imports.  How did this stuff
come to light?  It found its way to fans of the band who traded it along
with other recordings of illegitimate origin, seeing no distinction.  And
now these same traders want to stop it here, 'before it gets out of hand?'
Are these same traders of noble extraction standing by while others
download MP3s and pass them off as audio boots?  Yep, that's helping the
band. There are some demos of the first album kicking around too.  Are
these taboo as well?  I think this reeks of 'I have something precious and
you can't have it...'  A lot of people have been enjoying the full show
Capitol Theatre I brought into circulation in 2000.  It was taped by a
friend of mine off 2JJ for personal enjoyment and it was used in this
fashion for many years until I coaxed it out of him.  He asked me to take
it easy as the show has a lot of strong personal memories.  I traded it
with a few and then it pops up on websites, ftp sites and the like.  Thats
the nature of the beast.  However, as a result, and to more than offset the
pain, we both have a pile of good stuff to enjoy and some fine connections
with other like minded folks.

BTW I have the demos and they make for fascinating listening.  Show me a
major band that doesn't have a boot of demos kicking around that fans are
able to enjoy and wonder at how this unit of amazing musicians works the
magic of taking a seed and spawning a flower of rare beauty.  Did they want
it to happen?  Has it damaged their reputation or earning potential? This
voyeuristic appreciation and admiration is where my interest begins and
ends and if there would be those who would deny me that pleasure, I now
question you in this public forum.

Michael







"Justin H" <justinh@jeack.com.au>@cs.colorado.edu on 23/02/2002 04:29:41

Please respond to justinh@jeack.com.au

Sent by:  powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu


To:   "Maurice R. Kelly" <mkelly@deadheart.org.uk>,
      "'powderworks@cs.colorado.edu'" <powderworks@cs.colorado.edu>
cc:
Subject:  RE: [Powderworks] Early demo?


Sorry for the late reply, but, TAKE IT OFF!!! This was not made for public
distribution
and as Travis has already said, its only out there because someone stole
it.
If you cant get it off I will personally take it up with the band.
Justin.

I expect a reply ASAP with good news.


>I'm not sure what to do about this. I put it up there to share with fans,
>in the same way that we've been putting up copies of bootlegs and rare
>b-sides, etc. I've got other "early versions" on CDs distributed by
>Powderworkers in the past - okay these were early live versions, but they
>were still raw, and under-developed.
>
>I didn't put the song on the FTP site to humiliate the band. I put it
>there because I thought people would appreciate the evolution of a song. I

>know I do.
>
>I'm not going to remove it. If anyone is strongly against it, they can
>bombard me, or take it into their own hands and remove it. I don't even
>know if I'm able to delete it.
>
>Cheers,
>
>--
>Maurice R. Kelly
>mkelly@deadheart.org.uk
>
>
>On Feb 21, mwoods@customfleet.com.au wrote:
>
>> They wouldn't be in circulation if people weren't trading them to begin
>> with.  Unauthorised live recordings are somehow more respectable than
>> unauthorised studio snatch n grabs?
>> Michael
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Travis Zanoni <TravisZ@actf.com.au>@cs.colorado.edu on 21/02/2002
10:23:54

>>
>> Sent by:  powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
>>
>>
>> To:   "'powderworks@cs.colorado.edu'" <powderworks@cs.colorado.edu>
>> cc:
>> Subject:  RE: [Powderworks] Early demo?
>>
>>
>> Maurice I really think that loading it onto the web is a bad idea and a
tad

>> disrespectful to the band.  The Red Sails demos only got out because
>> someone, somewhere...maybe at the studio they were recorded, stole a
copy.

>> The band don't want them out there....if they wanted you to hear
>> it...they'd
>> release it.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Maurice R. Kelly [mailto:mkelly@deadheart.org.uk]
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 10:03 PM
>> To: powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
>> Subject: [Powderworks] Early demo?
>>
>>
>> An Oils collector just mailed me an MP3 of what he says is an early
>> demo (1983) - it certainly sounds like the Oils - very raw though. The
>>
>> wderworks mailing list
>> Powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
>> http://www.cs.colorado.edu/mailman/listinfo/powderworks
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
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http://www.jeack.com.au
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