The Call Up Poll

[Flex]

I came very close to covering The Cool Out on my last disc, but I couldn't get Fruity Loops to approximate the drums correctly. Even though Topper plays like a robot on S!, you still can't get a real robot to sound as good....

You racist sonofabitch.

[halaldub]

I love this song a lot.

[Kory]

I came very close to covering The Cool Out on my last disc, but I couldn't get Fruity Loops to approximate the drums correctly. Even though Topper plays like a robot on S!, you still can't get a real robot to sound as good....

You racist sonofabitch.

Learn to play drums and we'll talk.

[matedog]

I came very close to covering The Cool Out on my last disc, but I couldn't get Fruity Loops to approximate the drums correctly. Even though Topper plays like a robot on S!, you still can't get a real robot to sound as good....

You racist sonofabitch.

Learn to play drums and we'll talk.

[youtube][/youtube]

I don't know if he's any good because he's muted, but it's funny to watch.

[Kory]

I came very close to covering The Cool Out on my last disc, but I couldn't get Fruity Loops to approximate the drums correctly. Even though Topper plays like a robot on S!, you still can't get a real robot to sound as good....

You racist sonofabitch.

Learn to play drums and we'll talk.

[youtube][/youtube]

I don't know if he's any good because he's muted, but it's funny to watch.

He's ok. He's no Flex.

[IkarisOne]

I remember the whole debate going on about draft registration when this song came out, and it was definitely relevant to me from that viewpoint. I also dug "The Cool-Out," mainly because it came in handy to read and/or rant or shout over during my performance art days.

Yes, the drumming is superlative, but I personally thinked it worked live: my favorite version is the Stanley Theater one (8/27/82): by that point, it acquired a drive that was probably not even remotely envisioned when the tape started rolling.
Later on, of course, I picked up on the "wide-screen" nature of the lyrics..."Who gives you work, and why should you do it?", indeed.

Stanley is 8/18- Penn Rink was 8/27. But point taken- Stanley has my favorite version of pretty much everything. Absolutely mindblowing show.

[Heston]

Stanley has my favorite version of pretty much everything. Absolutely mindblowing show.

This is all the recommendation I need, downloading now.

I find the Terry Tour to be very underrated.

[IkarisOne]

Stanley has my favorite version of pretty much everything. Absolutely mindblowing show.

This is all the recommendation I need, downloading now.

I find the Terry Tour to be very underrated.

I underrated it for several years myself. Not anymore.

[Rat Patrol]

I find the Terry Tour to be very underrated.

Which one?


[youtube][/youtube]

[IkarisOne]

Stanley has my favorite version of pretty much everything. Absolutely mindblowing show.

This is all the recommendation I need, downloading now.
.

Caveat- the Megalist might be the wrong speed, I don't remember. A good 60% of the stuff I've heard off of it are usually a whole step slow or fast.

[Flex]

Caveat- the Megalist might be the wrong speed, I don't remember. A good 60% of the stuff I've heard off of it are usually a whole step slow or fast.

Hmmm, interesting. This doesn't surprise me, given the nature of the beast (although, having no great ear for these things and not much in the way of material to reference it against, it's hard for me to tell a lot of the time) and that we're dealing with old transferred tapes and the whatnot.

As a general request to anyone who notices these kinds of things, if you are willing to post a heads-up about shows which aren't at the correct speed as you come across them (just replying to the Megalist should be fine), this at least leaves some documentation for anyone who may be interested in tinkering around to try to spruce up the recording. And if nothing else, it provides fair warning to potential listeners that the recording isn't at the correct speed.

Addendum: You know what? Let's just start a thread for discussion and see what happens: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5596

[IkarisOne]

Caveat- the Megalist might be the wrong speed, I don't remember. A good 60% of the stuff I've heard off of it are usually a whole step slow or fast.

Hmmm, interesting. This doesn't surprise me, given the nature of the beast (although, having no great ear for these things and not much in the way of material to reference it against, it's hard for me to tell a lot of the time) and that we're dealing with old transferred tapes and the whatnot.

As a general request to anyone who notices these kinds of things, if you are willing to post a heads-up about shows which aren't at the correct speed as you come across them (just replying to the Megalist should be fine), this at least leaves some documentation for anyone who may be interested in tinkering around to try to spruce up the recording. And if nothing else, it provides fair warning to potential listeners that the recording isn't at the correct speed.

Well, that's the stage of the process- speed correction and even repairing some really low-fi shows with multiband EQ. Speed makes a huge difference- it can change a show from night to day as with Akron. That's actually a pretty decent show now- the Arma and STH are really outstanding. With a little work, the Megalist could end up as a really wonderful resource and time capsule of the era, similar to the Grateful Dead libraries.

[Rat Patrol]

General rule of thumb with summer Terry Tour dates: if they played Pressure Drop, it's more often than not a hot show. Late-July UK tour, early-Aug. 2nd-leg US tour were the only time they got on a little bit of a roll. That's when you had Brixton, Bristol, St. Paul, Pittsburgh (I wouldn't rate that pantheon...I think it pales badly compared to St. Paul and Terry is really off-meter that night...but it's well above-average for the tour). Akron...nope, I was never even all that impressed with the audience recording. Pittsburgh and R.P.I. are better, IMHO.

June is turgidly awful. Other than the L.A. residency there's nothing redeeming about that whole month...lifeless shows, generally AWOL Mick. I've tried revisiting the post-Asbury shows on the 1st leg over the years...there's no there there. Sept. is when I think the worst of the bad habits were on display, especially in how they were being mixed (see: farcially loud and out-of-tune Joe guitar bwanging over everything else). Pier 84's good. I just can't buy into Boston...Mick's on, Joe's in great spirits, energy level good, but rhythm section is an utter trainwreck and the pace is too slow. Who tour is of course a general abomination...and, sorry, save for Glyn Johns' heroic airbrush job on the live album Shea is a steaming pile of shit performance typical for the stadium gigs.

However, the one-offs in-between Who dates are pretty refreshingingly nice and had really well-balanced setlists. You still have to deal with with the gutter-level playing on the rhythm section and funhouse mirror stage mix, but the energy level is high and Mick was locked-in big. I've sung Kent State's praises before, as has His Chairman Ralphness. Mick is one-of-a-kind special that night; you really have to hear it to believe it. It's maybe the only Terry Tour show I'd rate par with a Top 15 Topper show without caveats about their bad onstage habits. Everything was good, and, yes, even Hoy has bought into the drums on that all-time great Police & Thieves rendition. Also has a great, great Straight to Hell done in the SNL arrangement with Joe on rhythm...blows the doors off the FHTE version I don't understand why everyone likes, and think even approaches a level with the Clash II version.

And, of course Kingston has that unique one-night-only vibe that makes it interesting even if the SBD mix makes Mick's spare guitar 95% inaudible (the POMB video from the audience shows that's more the SBD mix than anything...he was par-audible to the audience that morning). I wouldn't say a well-played show, but it's got a lot of interesting angles.

[IkarisOne]

I disagree about June- NOLA, Dallas, Atlanta 6/23, 6/18 are hot as hell. Boston 9/7 is heavy as hell. After almost thirty years I figured out the problem with many of the 82 shows, particularly Hollywood shows- that dry, lifeless sound is because the taper was probably too close to the stage. After hearing that POMB video from Jamaica (where the hell did it go?) and comparing it to the soundboard I realized that Mick added a huge layer of distortion in the outboard stage, which makes a lot of sense since it would make it easier for the rest of the band to hear what he was playing. This is the same reason why I thought Hyannis was so much lamer than the people I went with- I was next to the stage and they were in the back. It probably sounded great back there, even if the band were mopey. They could hear the heavy guitar and I just heard the dry stage mix. That's what you hear in Akron as well- the review on BMC said the show was really aggressive. 6/23 was probably done by the same outfit that did Boston, which is why the guitar is so heavy. Johns was working from the stage mix, which is why the guitar mix sounds so different from the better audience tapes from the tour.

[Rat Patrol]

I disagree about June- NOLA, Dallas, Atlanta 6/23, 6/18 are hot as hell. Boston 9/7 is heavy as hell. After almost thirty years I figured out the problem with many of the 82 shows, particularly Hollywood shows- that dry, lifeless sound is because the taper was probably too close to the stage. After hearing that POMB video from Jamaica (where the hell did it go?) and comparing it to the soundboard I realized that Mick added a huge layer of distortion in the outboard stage, which makes a lot of sense since it would make it easier for the rest of the band to hear what he was playing. This is the same reason why I thought Hyannis was so much lamer than the people I went with- I was next to the stage and they were in the back. It probably sounded great back there, even if the band were mopey. They could hear the heavy guitar and I just heard the dry stage mix. That's what you hear in Akron as well- the review on BMC said the show was really aggressive. 6/23 was probably done by the same outfit that did Boston, which is why the guitar is so heavy. Johns was working from the stage mix, which is why the guitar mix sounds so different from the better audience tapes from the tour.

Stage mix pisses me off, but I can't ignore the awful playing on the moribund stretches of tour. I'm sorry, if Topper gets nitpicked for going off-meter on '81-82 shows then Terry doesn't get a free pass either. I'm not a drum tech so I don't get too bent out of shape about technical faux pas (and I like Asbury Park because of the danger element of him trying to think quick and pull it totally out of his ass on the fly), but I don't understand how someone with such a basic beat is so incapable of keeping on-point. The San Fran pair is painful to listen to with how sloppy and wavering he is. Painful. I don't care if you have to put up with Paul farting in your monitor; far more limited drummers are capable of more nightly consistency than that, even on total autopilot. World tour, good money, he wanted to be a touring pro, and he was a sober health nut with no chemical excuses. Well, that means having enough dignity to act like you're personally trying every night regardless of whether you hate your bandmates and find the atmosphere batshit insane. That's what hired guns are there to do. There's a reason why his cash-in from such a high-profile gig was a couple spot dates with Johnny Thunders at his drug casualtiest, the barely-twitching corpse of Hanoi Rocks on their dead-drummer tribute shows, Cherry Bombz, Bay City Rollers half-lineup 10 years past expiration, and Ronnie James Sabbath's 80's nadir. That's one hell of a drop-off for a guy who should've been in high demand for respectable acts following back-to-back Clash and Gen X stints.

He's hardly the only offender, but from a Playing 101 perspective his inconsistency is perplexing.