Such a bummer that you couldn't get approval for The Creatures, your touch on their catalog would have been tremendous.
Haung Chung. Wang Chungs first album before the changed there name . I wouldn't mind having that. I think the problem with the Fixx reissue cds is Cy..and universal.. Something wouldn't happened by now..
There is a Wang Chung reissue program in the works. Problem is it’s been in the works for a few years and keeps getting delayed although it’s far enough that it’s been compiled and worked on. The first three are supposedly getting deluxe reissues.
Yeah, I saw the guess but it's not like I could say "You got it! Thanks for ruining my announcement." ;-) All in fun, of course. Interesting that even on Facebook, more people seem to be mentioning Chemicrazy. I came to the band with the Psychosis Blues album, Cellophane being the track that hooked me (I've never really warmed to Groove Check, though). I remember at the time when Chemicrazy came out, I was somewhat underwhelmed. I liked the two main U.S. singles and select album tracks but wasn't in love with it overall. But being 20 at the time of release, I'm sure my attention span was limited. But I'll tell you, the last week of remastering the album has really impressed me. The album's considerably stronger than I recall and I've found some great songs that escaped me the first time around. Blue To Black seems to be the one I've been cranking a lot lately. One thing that always struck me about the main U.S. songs, Hey Venus and Sensitize, is that there was absolutely NO bottom end. The bass drum was pretty much non-existent. But I'm happy to have finally been able to give those two songs (in particular) some bottom end presence, and without overdoing it or making it sound unnatural, as I've heard before. Chemicrazy is already with the manufacturer and I should be getting my Psychosis album master transfers any day now, the bonus tracks having already been completed. This is my first real foray outside of early 80's New Wave (aside from the Occult Moog albums from the 70's), so I will be curious to see how these go over.
I would love to see you lean into more late 80's, perhaps even some 90's remasters. I'm definately in for the TPE albums.
I actually had tickets to see TPE on the "End Of The Millennium Psychosis Blues" tour and my friend and I only went to see Voice Of The Beehive open up! We blew off TPE to spend time talking 'bout pop music with Tracy + Melissa and a few other fans after their set. Shakespeare's Sister was the shiny new thing that was a main topic as I recall. Ironically, it was exposure to "Chemicrazy" the next year that finally pushed the needle on TPE with me into buying their music. That was a pretty successful album so hopefully, it should do well as you transition into "Alternative Music." Personally, my main interest are albums that have never been on CD format. And that's a '78-'85 timeline. Re-doing "definitive" copies of things that may be on CD already can be undoubtedly great [see: Berlin] and even spectacular [see: Visage] but there's nothing quite like your Trees/Passions/Slow Children axis.
Got my final TPE tape transfers this morning, been remastering ever since. Interesting note, the engineer who did the tape transfer included a note that he's a big fan of my label. That was pretty cool. I really like the first Beehive album. I seem to recall reading that the vocalist with TPE was at one point involved with one of the Bee's. What I've learned about the never before on CD albums is they haven't been on CD for a reason. The labels have the original sales numbers and felt there was no benefit to offering on the format, and I've found it likely to have been spot on if sales is the goal. I love my Trees and Passions but both are among my lower tier, sales wise. Same with Krisma and Fingerprintz. Slow Children, like those others, is a passion/vanity project and I have no expectations it will do Missing Persons or Berlin, or even Divinyls, sales numbers. I do have to keep much of the focus on reissues that will (likely) sell with my vanity projects scattered here and there. Even Peter Baumann was a vanity project, despite his notoriety with Tangerine Dream, and both Slow Children have already outsold that reissue by about 50 sales. Baumann has been sent into distribution so I will see how it does but I expect it will be another one-and-done reissue.
That was pretty cool that the transfer engineer gave you kudos! Can't hurt. Steve Mack and Tracy Bryn were the couple at that time. Opening up for your boyfriend's band couldn't have hurt either. Just don't lose the passion that drove you to start RR. It's the vital spark that will see you remain viable over time. Keep a balance. If a pressing sells out in three years instead of three months remember that it [eventually] did sell out. Only releasing sure sellers will be a hot ticket to irrelevance. Keep an eye on the bottom line and your dreams and work them both in concert. Make sure you don't turn into something you disdain.
Well, you have to balance passion with common sense. I could go all renegade and just attack the super niche titles, and then I'd run out of money and have to go back into IT. NO!!! There's always a fear involved like what if the next 5 or 6 clearances I receive are all vanity projects, or what if some of my expectations for some of the larger bands (if approved) don't sell to expectation. I'm honestly surprised I still have about 300 copies of that Ultravox LP, I thought it would be gone by now, especially with colors thrown into the mix. Then there's always unexpected competition. I mentioned upthread there were two LP's I was planning on requesting and I literally just found out they are both coming back on vinyl very soon. Those being That Petrol Emotion 'Babble' and The Damned 'Phantasmagoria'. As it stands, there are some titles that I'm hoping I get before someone else because the non-exclusive licenses mean they will gladly approve for multiple clients and then it's a fight to see whose sells best or who drops their license, because once you pay the 'non-refundable' advance, you're stuck. And you may not even know about a competing release until you're well underway. I do have those devotees who buy anything I put out, even if they don't know it, and that's a great thing, especially when they discover something they now love that they never heard of before. But the majority of my long-standing repeat buyers will only buy what they really want, and that's completely understandable. I appreciate all the support but I also have to appeal to casual fans as well as the diehards. You also have to go by your own sales experience. I've had many people asking about the second Missing Persons CD being out of print already. The first pressing of 1000 flew out the door, the second pressing did well but then slowed considerably at the end. I do still have 1.5 years on my license but I'm not confident I could move another 1000 pressing, and if so it would take a good while. The third album is down to about 70 copies so when that's gone that's it. Even with Boingo, there's a reason the first and fourth album have remained available on CD while the others were unavailable, even before my remasters. Because they are the bigger sellers. The 2nd and 3rd are not miles behind but there's a definite disparity of sorts, and I'm not sure if they will go into a third pressing. I expect 1 and 4 will, they are down to the last 60 copies each at the moment.
Same here. And now I gotta ask: Is there a snowball’s chance that Manic Pop Thrill or Babble might be do-able too?
The lack of exclusive licenses is a real buzz kill if you're trying to run a reissue label. Especially if you're focused on being about the music, and less about being an audiophile label. (Not saying you can't balance both). It's a shame the labels don't offer a window of exclusivity for most of this stuff. The worldwide market for most physical reissues is pretty limited, and one additional reissue of the same title can mean no one makes a penny.
That Petrol Emotion CD track listings revealed, along with a glimpse of the master boxes. These are the absolute original 1/2" analog masters, not copies or old production masters. I found Chemicrazy in the US archive and Psychosis Blues in the UK archive. Each CD clocks in at about 79 1/2 minutes:
Thanks, we'll see how they are received. But not untypical, I've just had someone associated with the band contact me regarding the reissues, stating the band haven't approved them. What many artists may not be aware of is the contracts they sign don't always require their approval for reissues, and so the label who owns the material are able to license at their own discretion. The clearance process is not just a single person saying "Sure, go ahead". I've explained many times that it's a multi-layered process that goes through various departments of the label, including legal and licensing, where contracts are reviewed, etc, before clearances are given. It's great when artists are involved and happy to see the work being given new attention, such as with Slow Children, Fingerprintz and Trees, but going back to my first reissues, I've had people associated with artists thinking I'm some renegade just putting these out without following protocol. I've already found that if you attempt to reach out to an artist to see if they want to be involved, the majority of the time you get no response, so I rarely make the effort anymore. If the owner of the catalog gives permission, I press forward. It's always disheartening when the artists come at you and your good intentions with their neglected catalogs as if you're bad for what you are trying to do, and why you are trying to do it. There's lots of money involved to make each realease a reality, and I'm not sure if these representatives don't realize that you're not just flipping the label a $20 bill and then putting these out. Just another of the many challenges in this niche world of physical media and Alternative music, but certainly nothing new to me.
Well what your doing is nail-biting/frustrating to say the least!!commerce is a messy thing I guess but I appreciate what you are/trying to do scott!the fact that only a small % of what you were want gets approved is a blessing for us.thanks aga8n scott.
Wow, what a great list of releases. I didn't know you were shooting for The Creatures and Xmal Deutschland. I would have jumped on those Fixx CDs in a second! I wonder if you could work with the band directly on those. I just can't imagine another label doing a better job on those than you.
It is, especially when all I have for the Same Halo (full length) is an awful mp3 from decades ago Such a beautiful song.
I counted four different masters that include The Same Halo, so it's definitely in there. For me, the biggest gut-wrencher was an unreleased 12" mix of I Like. I can only imagine...
