Was MMT released on video in mono?

All the talk about the A Hard Day's Night soundtrack reminded me that I have been wondering if there was ever an official video release of Magical Mystery Tour with the original mono soundtrack. And if so was it hifi?

Whethere it was officially released or not, can anyone tell us if it is as different as I think it is (based on purely circumstantial evidence) from the more recent stereo version (and the records as well)? -- Did anyone have a tape recorder hooked up to their TV way back then?

 

Steve, in the early 80's, a friend of mine shelled out major bucks for VHS copies of Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be. I assume the soundtracks were mono but that is only a guess. The picture quality was a little grainy but I remember thinking that it would probably be the best we would ever see! If I remember correctly, they were distributed by Magnetic Video (at least Let It Be was)
Mike

 

I had those. On Beta! HiFi Beta but still mono I think. But they were crappy transfers, sound and video.

 

MMT was released in the early 80's by a video label called Media Home Entertainment, one of the first companies to release prerecorded videotapes. (LIB was indeed released by Magnetic Video.) All tapes were mono then. As has already been mentioned, the video and sound quality were pretty rough.

 

So do I!

 

Yeah, I've always been one who actually likes MMT. Sure, they got a lot of flak for it when first viewed on the Beeb, but if you go into it with an open mind, it's actually a lot of fun! The video is sharp and clear, and the remixes are pretty good, I would say better sounding than the official CD.

Standout scenes; the stripper, the race, "I Am The Walrus", and my favorite, "Whoops George George George"(with little Nicole and John)"

A lot of ad-libbing going on here, and sure, it's not exactly a professionally made film, but it is the essence of pure 1967 Beatles. And that's all anyone can ask from it.

 

Mr. Steven Spielberg himself has said some very nice things about the Magical Mystery Tour video.

 

Steve, I always thought George Martin supervised the audio remaster of MMT. Hang on...(grabbing video box)...ah, yes. The back of the video says:
"All songs supervised and re-mixed by George Martin. Visual and dialog materials restored and re-mastered by Ron Furmanek."

Here's what the remastered stereo video says on the first screen.

TO THE VIEWER
To enhance your enjoyment of this classic film, the original 35mm negative was transfered to the video master at VTR Studios in London on June 23, 1988. The sound was relayed from the original mag track and digital audio masters at Abbey Road Studios, London, on June 24-25, 1988.

Has anyone seen the DVD? Did they use the same master as the 1988 video? The DVD was released in November, 1997, but I've heard it's now deleted.

I like the MMT remastered video for two reasons.
1. During my university days in the 1970s, we had a lounge next to our college radio station that played 3/4 inch beta tapes that they rented from a service in New York. Sort of a pre-cursor to home video rental. This video service had some interesting titles such as, The Rutles - All You Need Is Cash, Robert Klein in Concert, National Lampoon Lemmings tour, and MMT, which we watched occassionally and it was poor quality. The colours were all washed out and the audio played slightly slow. The colour was much improved on the 1988 version with the audio now playing at the correct speed.

2. I'm glad George Martin used the mono back part of I Am A Walrus rather than the mono-reprocessed for stereo version on the MMT video. I wonder why he didn't do that with the CD version?

One of my fave bits is with Victor Spinetti as the army sargeant, General McCartney, and Ringo in the "army sketch". Can't understand a word Spinetti says,except for one line when he responds to Ringo's question, "Why?", by screaming, "You get your BLOODY hair cut."

You can read about MMT at Internet Movie Database.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0061937

Magician Lennon - "WHERE'S THE BUS?"
Magician McCartney - "It's ten miles north on the Dunesbury road."

Buster Bloodvessel (addressing the passengers on the MMT bus) "I am concerned for you to enjoy yourselves, within the limits of British decency.

 

Shouldn't be. I woulnd't be suprised though.

The same master was used, but it was dome a tad differently. I think I mentioned this on another thread; the LD and DVD are different in when the "Fool On The Hill" portion goes together with the music dubbed in. On the DVD, the music starts almost 2 seconds late. The LD seems to have it right. There are places when Ms. Winters nods her head with Paul, and places where the scenes change, it goes with the music.

On the DVD, it's a tad wrong. Why this is different since both are from MPI, I have NO idea.

 

WEll I quite like the remixes, though missing the backwards bits on Blue Jay Way, but I really wanted to know how different the original version was.

 

No one has ever seen the original version on home video.

The versions were all dubbed from inferior faded 16mm scratched dupes.

There has never been a restored MMT with the original (as broadcast) mono soundtrack.

 

So didn't anyone stick the microphone from their little 3" reel tape recorder in front of their TV speaker (like I did for the moon landing)?

 

Yes we have and no they weren't. Please read my earlier thread.

Tx.

"everybody smoke pot, everbody smoke pot..." That's what they're saying, right?

 

I always heard it as "Everybody smokes pot, everybody's f--ked up"

It's actually "Everybody's got one", over and over, FYI.

 

I did record AHDN and Help! audio off my TV in the 70's on cassettes, so I at least I can enjoy the theatrical mono mixes of those films.

 

Oh, OK. Thanks.

 

This reminds me of the Aphrodite's Child - 666, The Apocalypse of John album. Track one, side one, "The System" has this chanting. It sounds like their saying, "We've got the system to f-ck the system. We've got the system to..." There is a lyric booklet with the album. It contains all the lyrics, except for "The System". I think Vangelis was trying to screw with our heads, or slip one by Vertigo Records.