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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 7, 2020 13:48:05 GMT
Some of my happiest listening experiences came from the 90 min. Maxell XLII high bias cassette. I had custom-made mix tapes for the car, for my boombox to be played outside, for the bedroom, and to give away to family, friends, and co-workers. I used to wonder how many of the tapes that I made for others were circulating around town/anywhere and were actually being played, and how many were discarded and never listened to. I actually have a bunch of Maxell cassettes in my basement still in the shrink wrap. Ebay maybe?
Anyway, remember, back in those days you were recording from a turntable to a cassette player/recorder, so it wasn't an easy process (especially when you were obsessed with making them perfect). It was a time-consuming process to get the song recorded right on the first note and to cut off the recording just before the next song came on. You really appreciated any gaps/seconds between songs.
lonelysummer, regarding those Beatles' Christmas records...the group was smart enough to issue them separately (as a special gift to their fan club) instead of including them or tacking them on a studio album. Yes, the Christmas theme made that an easier decision, but I can't think of any filler on Beatles' albums compared to the extent The Beach Boys had on their early ones.
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Post by kds on Feb 7, 2020 14:00:28 GMT
Some of my happiest listening experiences came from the 90 min. Maxell XLII high bias cassette. I had custom-made mix tapes for the car, for my boombox to be played outside, for the bedroom, and to give away to family, friends, and co-workers. I used to wonder how many of the tapes that I made for others were circulating around town/anywhere and were actually being played, and how many were discarded and never listened to. I actually have a bunch of Maxell cassettes in my basement still in the shrink wrap. Ebay maybe?
Anyway, remember, back in those days you were recording from a turntable to a cassette player/recorder, so it wasn't an easy process (especially when you were obsessed with making them perfect). It was a time-consuming process to get the song recorded right on the first note and to cut off the recording just before the next song came on. You really appreciated any gaps/seconds between songs.
lonesummer, regarding those Beatles' Christmas records...the group was smart enough to issue them separately (as a special gift to their fan club) instead of including them or tacking them on a studio album. Yes, the Christmas theme made that an easier decision, but I can't think of any filler on Beatles' albums compared to the extent The Beach Boys did on their early ones.
I think the only material that might quality as filler on Beatles albums are some songs on The White Album, most notably Wild Honey Pie and Revolution 9. But, really nothing on the early albums.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 7, 2020 23:35:30 GMT
My gosh, cassettes... My sister is nine years older than I am: she's the oldest, I'm the youngest. When she would return from college, she brought me albums dubbed onto cassette. The Doors, Hendrix, Zeppelin, as well as things I never did get into (Corrosion of Conformity rings a bell).
I also taped things off the radio. I recall there was some kind of Beatles show, maybe weekly, on a regional classic rock radio station. That's where I got Eight Days a Week, I know. Presumably others.
My first listen to Guns n Roses Appetite For Destruction was a copy from a friend. I believe it was missing "Rocket Queen." The album is less than an hour, so I'm not sure why.
And of course I also made mix tapes. Oh god, did I make mix tapes... Usually with handwritten "liner notes" pointing out they were produced by me. Pretty cool, I was...
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 8, 2020 3:58:34 GMT
Some of my happiest listening experiences came from the 90 min. Maxell XLII high bias cassette. I had custom-made mix tapes for the car, for my boombox to be played outside, for the bedroom, and to give away to family, friends, and co-workers. I used to wonder how many of the tapes that I made for others were circulating around town/anywhere and were actually being played, and how many were discarded and never listened to. I actually have a bunch of Maxell cassettes in my basement still in the shrink wrap. Ebay maybe?
Anyway, remember, back in those days you were recording from a turntable to a cassette player/recorder, so it wasn't an easy process (especially when you were obsessed with making them perfect). It was a time-consuming process to get the song recorded right on the first note and to cut off the recording just before the next song came on. You really appreciated any gaps/seconds between songs.
lonelysummer, regarding those Beatles' Christmas records...the group was smart enough to issue them separately (as a special gift to their fan club) instead of including them or tacking them on a studio album. Yes, the Christmas theme made that an easier decision, but I can't think of any filler on Beatles' albums compared to the extent The Beach Boys had on their early ones.
i never thought of dubbing music onto a cassette as particularly difficult. Sure, I wanted to have the record levels set properly, I wanted to make a good sounding tape. I, too, have wondered if any of the cassette tapes I passed around to friends are still around. I was in a used record store a couple years ago, saw a bunch of $1 cassettes on a wall, and lo and behold, one of them was a tape some friends of mine made back around 1988. Of course I bought it! I know there are particular tracks Beatles fans love to hate - Mr. Moonlight, anyone? - but no, they did not have a lot of filler tracks on their albums.
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Post by B.E. on Feb 8, 2020 14:20:33 GMT
I know there are particular tracks Beatles fans love to hate - Mr. Moonlight, anyone? The hate for "Mr. Moonlight" makes me sad.
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Post by kds on Feb 8, 2020 15:37:34 GMT
I know there are particular tracks Beatles fans love to hate - Mr. Moonlight, anyone? The hate for "Mr. Moonlight" makes me sad. I never got the hate for Mr. Moonlight either. Or The Beatles For Sale album in general. But, I'm also a big fan of Pink Floyd's See Saw, a song most Floyd fans don't like. Even the band themselves don't think highly of it.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Feb 8, 2020 15:43:18 GMT
People hate Mr. Moonlight? Why? I don't think there's anything about it that stands out as being hate-worthy. It's a nice little song.
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Post by kds on Feb 8, 2020 15:47:00 GMT
People hate Mr. Moonlight? Why? I don't think there's anything about it that stands out as being hate-worthy. It's a nice little song. Its been known to top lists of "Least Favorite Beatles songs." I guess with a catalog that's so consistent, some song gets that distinction.
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Post by B.E. on Feb 8, 2020 15:55:25 GMT
People hate Mr. Moonlight? Why? I don't think there's anything about it that stands out as being hate-worthy. It's a nice little song. Its been known to top lists of "Least Favorite Beatles songs." I guess with a catalog that's so consistent, some song gets that distinction. Yeah, I think this is the main reason. It's just odd why so many fans feel the need to graduate from this to bashing it. I also think that it being a cover hurts it. If it were an original, fans would be more forgiving. In that regard, I think it's fair to say that "Mr. Moonlight" just isn't as memorable a song as "Money (That's What I Want)", "You Really Got A Hold On Me", etc. Edit: bellbottoms, I also think the problem for some fans is that the song sounds too "dated" for them and some have a problem with the organ.
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Post by B.E. on Feb 8, 2020 16:15:56 GMT
Sorry to go further off-topic, but fans in general just seem to be almost offended by cover songs. Like, "how dare you deprive me of another Lennon-McCartney or Wilson-Love original!?" As if they could knockout good songs, effortlessly, at a moments notice. Everyone has their limits.
And in the case of "Mr. Moonlight", that's a favorite of the group's that they performed for years. I love that we get to hear them perform a proper studio version. I wish that were true of every song they performed in the late '50s - early '60s!
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Feb 8, 2020 16:29:48 GMT
Is that more of a recent phenomenon, the hatred of Mr. Moonlight, or was it always considered a lesser song by Beatles fans?
Covers used to be a lot more common and acceptable in the 60s, weren’t they? It wasn’t a big deal to do covers. I mean, once upon a time you would see the same song done by 2 or 3 different bands all hitting the charts in the same year.
The Beatles started out doing quite a few covers, and they did fewer as time went on as they grew their songwriting partnership. I wonder if their natural progression toward fewer covers and more original compositions influenced the industry to start to see covers as inferior. They certainly had the power to cause a shift like that.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 8, 2020 16:37:26 GMT
The hate for "Mr. Moonlight" makes me sad. I never got the hate for Mr. Moonlight either. Or The Beatles For Sale album in general. I don't hate 'em, but I think they are both subpar as Beatles' songs and albums go.
This could probably be moved to The Beatles' thread, but what the heck...I really don't think weaker songs like "Mr. Moonlight" and even the above-mentioned White Album songs are filler. I'm far from a Beatles' expert and don't follow their message boards, so I don't how the songs are universally viewed, but I always viewed all Beatles' songs as legitimate attempts at creating something strong and worthwhile, and some falling into an "art" or "artistic" category. Personally, I can't sit through "Revolution 9" anymore, but at the same time I think of it as John making an artistic statement and not just noodling around in the studio. And I could be completely wrong about that.
With Brian's/The Beach Boys' humor tracks, yes, there is some artistic merit to some of them, but you have to look pretty hard. I think it was both Brian blowing off some creative steam, and at the same time recording something to fill an album.
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Post by B.E. on Feb 8, 2020 16:40:11 GMT
Is that more of a recent phenomenon, the hatred of Mr. Moonlight, or was it always considered a lesser song by Beatles fans? I'm not sure what fans thought in the mid '60s, but I think "Mr. Moonlight" has been looked down on probably going back to the '70s. Covers used to be a lot more common and acceptable in the 60s, weren’t they? It wasn’t a big deal to do covers. I mean, once upon a time you would see the same song done by 2 or 3 different bands all hitting the charts in the same year. The Beatles started out doing quite a few covers, and they did fewer as time went on as they grew their songwriting partnership. I wonder if their natural progression toward fewer covers and more original compositions influenced the industry to start to see covers as inferior. They certainly had the power to cause a shift like that. Them along with others, definitely. I think the singer-songwriters and self contained groups caused a radical shift in what people expected.
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Post by kds on Feb 8, 2020 18:07:21 GMT
Is that more of a recent phenomenon, the hatred of Mr. Moonlight, or was it always considered a lesser song by Beatles fans? Covers used to be a lot more common and acceptable in the 60s, weren’t they? It wasn’t a big deal to do covers. I mean, once upon a time you would see the same song done by 2 or 3 different bands all hitting the charts in the same year. The Beatles started out doing quite a few covers, and they did fewer as time went on as they grew their songwriting partnership. I wonder if their natural progression toward fewer covers and more original compositions influenced the industry to start to see covers as inferior. They certainly had the power to cause a shift like that. Absolutely they did. Before The Beatles, it wasn't very common for artists to write their own material. On the early albums, they were encouraged to include covers.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
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Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Feb 8, 2020 20:47:08 GMT
Pretty sure there are more covers on early Beatles albums than there are on early Beach Boys albums.
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