Retitle - Bootlegs and Tour News

[Star Rats]

Hi,
>One thing that I thought of doing (but haven't done yet, as the number of
boots that I own can be counted on one hand, with a finger or two left
over) was mailing five bucks or so to the band that I own the bootleg of.

That's a very noble gesture but unnecessary. I was not implying that anyone
should send money to Hawkwind for owning tapes of some shows. I myself
maintain that owning a couple of tapes from some shows will not prevent
someone going out and buying a live LP of that same show - the level of
sound quality will be poorer for one thing and you won't get a decent
sleeve. The bootlegs that do the most damage are the ones that are put out
including tracks that either are or have been already put out by the band
on an official lable. Some new fans may go into a shop, see this dodgy
release and buy it not knowing that it contains material that could be of
inferior quality (off the same tape) and does not support the band themselves.


(My boots are of Camel and Tangerine Dream and if I was going to send money
to one of the two, Mr. Latimers' band would get it before Herr Froese
would...) I realize that this would require that the owners of the boots
have sympathy for the band that they own a bootleg of and I think that the
HW/BOC mailing list would tend to support the band this way other than,
say, a mailing list for Pink Floyd, whose band members are
multi-millionaires to begin with.

>>One thing about the Pink Floyd thing, and this is a pretty valid point,
is that they actually developed 'Dark Side Of The Moon' on stage as they
went along well before the LP saw the light of day. The new material was
performed, developed, re-arranged and matured in a live environment which
could not be done today because of bootleggers.


Maybe this is just my way of trying to salve a guilty conscience, but I
think that the bands that we love and support should not be the losers in
the bootleg game. I do support the bands by buying most all of the
legitimate product I can (and in several cases, multiple copies in multiple
formats. Exception, I will never buy another copy of "Bring Me The Head of
Y.G." in any format; the crappy vinyl is enough...

>>Totally agree, it's just defining what is harmful bootlegging and what is
not.


>Anyways, the only time that I have ever made copies of material that I own
for distribution was to help spread the word about the band (i.e. Ozric
Tentacles). No profit was made by me and a whole release was never copied.
I like to think that I helped the band instead of hurting it.


I'm sure you are like most fans that genuinely collect old live tapes out
of pure interest, fanticism and devotion to the band. For some, it's the
only way they can hear/could hear how the band sounded 15 or 20 years ago.

Yours
        Star Rats