more dodgy CD's?

[Jon Jarrett]

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005, Doug Pearson wrote:

> On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:01:10 +0100, Michael Crook <m.j.crook at TALK21.COM>
> wrote:
>
> >The live bonus tracks on the dodgy "new" Hawklords
> >CDs on EBay are live versions of "Who's Gonna Win the
> >War" and "Drug Cabinet Key" which is of course "Flying
> >Doctor". There are loads of these on Ebay - very
> >naughty!!
>
> Interesting (good) picks, since "Drug Cabinet Key" has never been released
> on CD, nor has the single edit version of "Who's Gonna Win The War"
> (Hawklords version on Flicknife, not the Hawkwind version on Bronze).
>
> I wonder if one can tell whether those two tracks were mastered from vinyl
> (given the quality of Flicknife vinyl pressings, it would be *very*
> difficult, if not impossible, to clean up such a track enough to make it
> unrecognizably vinyl-sourced) ... or not (which would definitely be
> interesting) ...

        There is, almost predictably, no mention one way or the other on
the "only official source of Hawkwind information", Mission Control, or if
there is it's not anywhere in the still maze-like structure where I could
find it. I wonder if the line-up page still mentions Ron, I forgot to
check.[1] But anyway. I have to say I'm tempted to nab one of these things
if they ever come out somewhere other than Ebay. But by then perhaps the
miracle deal will have come together, the back catalogue will be scheduled
for rerelease and all will be right with the world. Right now I can well
understand why someone who'd otherwise be prowling Ebay *anyway* for a
second-hand original, that passes no money to the band this sale round,
would grab one of these instead. Better quality than the relatively
cheaper vinyl, bonus tracks... and of course most people won't expect this
to be a bootleg anyway any more than the various Friends & Relations
compilations on the ever-changing label which was Emporio when I got mine
and seemed to be licensing the material from Charly somehow. Can we be
sure in fact that these disks aren't at least that legitimate, in as much
as someone may have been able to license the rights from someone who has a
dubious claim to own them that no-one's yet challenged?

        This is why some responses from the band about such things would
sometimes be useful. I'm sure there's lots of people here who would prefer
not to buy these things if they're not actually contributing to the band
and there's a version that will in the works; likewise, if they are
straight bootlegs we would probably all avoid them. But it's possible that
they could be somewhere in the legal mess in the middle in which case I
think it's fair enough that the fans get them and the band recover their
earnings from "Rock Fever" whoever they may be. Or is that too
mercenary? Yours,
                  Jon

ObCD: University of Errors - _Jet-Propelled Photographs_

[1] Hallelujah, my faith is rewarded: go to the oldest of the photo-
galleries, click on the link back to Master Gallery and you don't actually
go to the current Master Gallery page, but the old one, which was of
course for no intuitive reason headed with the "Crew Data" section, and
it's still there: direct link http://www.hawkwind.com/pf.htm

        No wonder the update on hawkwind.com is taking so long. Parts of
it are still in 1998. Anyway.

--
                Jonathan Jarrett, Birkbeck College, London
    jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk/ejarr01 at students.bbk.ac.uk
  "As much as the vision of the blind man improves with the rising sun,
       So too does the intelligence of the fool after good advice."
       (Bishop Theodulf of Orleans, late-eight/early-ninth century)