Q8.And Q4 Tapes plus MIXING In QUAD For Future Release (BILLBOARD 1972 - 1976)

[fizzywiggs41]

These are items of interest about quadraphonic I found in Billboard during the Prime Quad release Years.
Some reports are specific to quad tape , Q8 or Q4 .
And some labels mixing in quad had not committed to a format such as Q4 , Q8 , DISCRETE L. P. or Matrix encoded Albums.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

RCA RECORDS first mixed music in 4 channel (quad) at their New York Studio in 1968 . RCA has three Studio complexes .
(August 04th 1973 ; 40)

United Artists (UA) are releasing Q8'S ...10 are coming according to United Artist's Budd Dolinger. He said they issued a few Q8'S as early as Five Years ago. But were deleted after 18 Months in order to give U A a fresh start in the field , with the newly improved 4 Channel Technology .
(July 14th 1973 ; 50)

Ten Q8'S debut from United Artists . (October 27th 1973 ; 67)

Ray Conniff has been supplied with a four channel tape of his recording sessions by the Moscow Engineers from the Melodiya Studio in Russia . The album will come out in Russia but won't be quad.
(February 01st 1975 ; 24)

 

[fizzywiggs41]

According to EMI/CAPITOL , the Soviets are now working in 4 Channel at Melodiya Records.
(November 25th 1972 ; 03)

Dick Schory's first quad mix was in 1965 when he was with RCA .
(March 10th 1973 ; 04)

A number of engineers are mulling over quad mixing . The likes of Jerry Ragovy-RCA records , Townley -CBS , Phil Spector , Jimmy Miller , and Peter Scheiber at Advantage Studios New York.
(June 17th 1972 ; 39 & 42)

Ampex Q8 advertisement with 28 Q8's , and some early Q8'S, Q REELS from Project 3 and Vanguard Records.
(June 17th 1972 ; 31 & 33)

 

[fizzywiggs41]

RCA Q8'S were introduced in 1969 , with 68 titles .
(August 05th 1972 ; 46 ..plus August 04th 1973 ; 54)

Quad Tape Mixes are being Stockpiled by European DGG , Phillips , Angel , and Decca London .
(July 21st 1973 ; 62)

Polydor Records are mixing in Quadraphonic but are not yet committed to any quad album format .
(September 01st 1973 ; 10)

Sony Japan are introducing Quad Reel (Q4) releases available in Tokyo for October 21st .
(October 19th 1974 ; 39)

 

[fizzywiggs41]

The Moody Blues are mixing their albums in Quad for Q8 , at Decca's Threshold Studio.
(June 30th 1973 ; 70)

All future releases on the Threshold label will be in quad . (April 28th 1973 ; 42)

CANADA :
Sounds Interchange , Toronto , goes quad with the instalation of Westlake Audio Design
(November 16 1974 ; 46)

Polygram and Polydor have been making 4 Channel programs for sometime , now. And they are still undecided which quad system to use for releases . They have made test disc recordings on both CD-4 and SQ at Polygram's Soleveld Plant . In the meantime they are storing Quad mixes (Q4) until conditions are right for their eventual
release .
(May 26th 1973 ; 64)

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Orion Classical Records are recording a dozen or more Classical Quad recordings , but for now they are being shelved .
(March 13th 1976 ; 79)

Capitol Records U.S. are releasing 11 Q8'S . From Artists Pink Floyd -, Atom Heart Mother , The Dark Side Of The Moon , Steve Miller -The Joker , Grand Funk Railroad -Shinin On , We're An American Band , Helen Reddy - I Am Woman , Long Hard Climb , Song For Jeffrey , John Lennon - Imagine , and two Angel Q8's Scott Joplin'ss Red BACK book , and Palm Leaf . They are available as the Q8W Series says Chris Comelli manager Capitol's Creative Product.
(August 03rd 1974 ; 64)

Capitol Records Canada are releasing 11 Q8'S (August 10th 1974 ; 67)

MCA Records have been mixing in quad but shelving these albums.
(June 16th 1973 ; 52)

 

[Q-Eight]

I think Jon posted the actual Capitol Records internal memo about the Quad program. I guess I never noticed the date, but Summer of '74 seems to my mind be quite late to the party. No wonder they had a small a splurt of releases and then nothing. Kinda like Arista and Fantasy jumping in sometime in 1975. Like really guys? Where were you, in '72? (Which is kinda poignant because if memory serves, Fantasy WAS considering mixing or had mixed other CCR albums previously in and around 1972, but for whatever reason (probably lack of duplication facilities) these never came to be.

Yup. MCA had attempted several titles, of which I think the only one particularly well-known was The Who's Quadrophenia. MCA was going to use the QS system, the boys in the band heard the playback through a decoder and were not happy with the results.

Interesting you mention RCA releasing Quad in 1969. Perhaps that was their original intent. (Or was it some sort of sneak preview?) I was under the assumption the actual debut date was in November of '70 with over 100 titles. Were there even any Q8 capable players on the market in 1969? None that I'm aware of!

 

[fizzywiggs41]

I think Jon posted the actual Capitol Records internal memo about the Quad program. I guess I never noticed the date, but Summer of '74 seems to my mind be quite late to the party. No wonder they had a small a splurt of releases and then nothing. Kinda like Arista and Fantasy jumping in sometime in 1975. Like really guys? Where were you, in '72? (Which is kinda poignant because if memory serves, Fantasy WAS considering mixing or had mixed other CCR albums previously in and around 1972, but for whatever reason (probably lack of duplication facilities) these never came to be.

Yup. MCA had attempted several titles, of which I think the only one particularly well-known was The Who's Quadrophenia. MCA was going to use the QS system, the boys in the band heard the playback through a decoder and were not happy with the results.

Interesting you mention RCA releasing Quad in 1969. Perhaps that was their original intent. (Or was it some sort of sneak preview?) I was under the assumption the actual debut date was in November of '70 with over 100 titles. Were there even any Q8 capable players on the market in 1969? None that I'm aware of!

Both FPM and Arista released discs in Early 76 as far as those two articles would infer , but likely had them made in Quadradisc late 1975 .
I agree that they were very late to the game . Also considered in another article was a big seller on Arista at the time by a record in quad by the BAY CITY ROLLERS . Not my kind of music fwiw but why Clive Davis didn't select any of his newly signed Mega Artist ..Lou Reed !! will always make me wonder WTF were they thinking.

And as far as MCA is concerned I thought it was reported that they were working to get some Elton John in quad !
Also When it comes to THE WHO'S Quadrophenia , I'm sure it was reported that Townsend and Levinson rejected the SQ quad matrix mix for the album over poor performance decoders using "SQ" matrix and not QS .

As to that report from someone at RCA , it does say Q8'S in 69 .
FWIW : That's not my reporting as you suggest . I took the liberty of adding the Billboard issue and page number for reference.
To me I think it's somewhat early , as believe it or not there were at least 2 matrix systems announced or being developed. Scheiber Matrix first and David Hafler's Dynaquad following.

There is an article in High Fidelity Magazine (October 1970 ; 41) that states the first RCA/Motorola Q8 players appeared in the Spring of 1970 . And Q8'S followed not long afterwords late summer or early fall from RCA , Vanguard , and Project 3 .



-Fizzy

 

[Q-Eight]

Might be a chicken or egg type of deal. What came first? The Q8 or the Q8 Player?

Elton was supposed to have his albums done in Quad! The even state on the webpage for "The Mill" studios' webpage:
"Gus bought the property in 1975 with the purpose of building his own recording studio in order to re-mix Elton John's albums for quadraphonic vinyl album release. "

1975 may have been a bit late considering even by then, MCA had not yet released a legitimate Quad record nor had they made any decision on which format to use.
Couple that with the personal issues Elton was going through about that time, allocating the money for such a project may have been an ordeal especially with a record company that was seemingly ambivalent toward the whole format.

No word on whether any mixes were complete (I'd wager there weren't) but I have gotten my claws into some Elton multitracks and they're a natural for Quad.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Might be a chicken or egg type of deal. What came first? The Q8 or the Q8 Player?

Elton was supposed to have his albums done in Quad! The even state on the webpage for "The Mill" studios' webpage:
"Gus bought the property in 1975 with the purpose of building his own recording studio in order to re-mix Elton John's albums for quadraphonic vinyl album release. "

1975 may have been a bit late considering even by then, MCA had not yet released a legitimate Quad record nor had they made any decision on which format to use.
Couple that with the personal issues Elton was going through about that time, allocating the money for such a project may have been an ordeal especially with a record company that was seemingly ambivalent toward the whole format.

No word on whether any mixes were complete (I'd wager there weren't) but I have gotten my claws into some Elton multitracks and they're a natural for Quad.

The "chicken and egg syndrome" fits quite well with what is said regarding the Q8 releases vs. Q8 Players . quite well indeed , so YES I agree.
BTW I found another article which does mention Q8's were released in 69 ?(Dammed if I can find it now!) But it was not in Billboard . Budd Dolinger the Manager of U.A. made the statement in reference to those Liberty Q8'S release date . And it puts them around 68 ? (post #2) . I find that a bit hard to swallow ! But 69/70 would be more likely.

Gus Dudgeon had the opportunity to mix Elton 's album" Caribou" in quad when they where at Caribou Ranch Studios , Colorado. Which was newly equipped for quad by the aquistion in early 74 with a Westlake Audio Designed System . All of the Chicago quads were being recorded there at the same time Elton John was there (with Gus.).
There is a multiple page featurette on Colorado Studios in Billboard , July 27 1977 . They mention Stonescape in Denver had quad mix capabilty.
Also in use at Caribou around this time , were Artists such as ; Joe Walsh , Robert Lamm , Badfinger , Skinny Boy Williamson , Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer.
Also in Billboard ...Gus Dudgeon acquired MCI Automated Quad Mix Down Equipment for his studio facility in 1975. Most likely for mixing down in quad some of his artists such as Elton John. (November 29th 1975 ; 33)

Early MCA artists in the 70's included groups such as Osibisa , Wishbone Ash , Mark Bolan's T Rex( on UNI ), and others .

 

[fizzywiggs41]

RE above :
Also on the MCA LABEL were groups such as Stackridge , and Budgie .

 

[Larry Geller]

T Rex was never on MCA or UNI.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

T Rex was never on MCA or UNI.

Yes that's correct .
I must have got that mixed up with the Tyrannosauras Rex album Unicorn.

I notice Neil Diamond had a disc or two on UNI/MCA .

 

[Larry Geller]

Yes that's correct .
I must have got that mixed up with the Tyrannosauras Rex album Unicorn.

I notice Neil Diamond had a disc or two on UNI/MCA .

Unicorn was on Blue Thumb.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Unicorn was on Blue Thumb.

 

[Larry Geller]

MCA had Blue Thumb decades after Tyrannosaurus Rex was on them. BT was actually acquired by Capitol in 1970. T Rex never appeared on an MCA related label.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

MCA had Blue Thumb decades after Tyrannosaurus Rex was on them. BT was actually acquired by Capitol in 1970. T Rex never appeared on an MCA related label.

Decades!? So how many decades are we talking about.
I find it ironic that MCA aquired Blue Thumb as well as ABC Dunhill , Bluesway , Impulse and the rest of the ABC family of artists.
FWIW that album on Blue Thumb was reissued in 1980 by MCA , previously issued in 1972 by ABC/Blue Thumb.

According to the History surrounding Blue Thumb Records they started out in 1968 , then signed with Capitol/EMI for one year 1970 , then in 1971 they wee aquired by Paramount's Record label Gulf&Western. ABC Records aquired the label in the lattter 70's .After which MCA got them from ABC along with all affiliated ABC labels such as Impulse , Bluesway, ABC Dunhill in 1979. All told the Blue Thumb label lasted from 68 to 78 (ten years) .

This can be confirmed by reading the information provided on line "Blue Thumb Records History".

 

[Larry Geller]

Decades!? So how many decades are we talking about.
I find it ironic that MCA aquired Blue Thumb as well as ABC Dunhill , Bluesway , Impulse and the rest of the ABC family of artists.
FWIW that album on Blue Thumb was reissued in 1980 by MCA , previously issued in 1972 by ABC/Blue Thumb.

According to the History surrounding Blue Thumb Records they started out in 1968 , then signed with Capitol/EMI for one year 1970 , then in 1971 they wee aquired by Paramount's Record label Gulf&Western. ABC Records aquired the label in the lattter 70's .After which MCA got them from ABC along with all affiliated ABC labels such as Impulse , Bluesway, ABC Dunhill in 1979. All told the Blue Thumb label lasted from 68 to 78 (ten years) .

This can be confirmed by reading the information provided on line "Blue Thumb Records History".

OK, years, not decades. Point still is that TRex only appeared in the US on Blue Thumb (independent), Blue Thumb (Capitol), WB and Rhino. Never anywhere near MCA or Universal. That was only in Europe.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

OK, years, not decades. Point still is that TRex only appeared in the US on Blue Thumb (independent), Blue Thumb (Capitol), WB and Rhino. Never anywhere near MCA or Universal. That was only in Europe.

Sorry Larry , but no where in that history was there even any mention of Warner or Rhino. And Capitol was only one year fwiw.
The label was given the name Blue Thumb , by Captain Beefheart in 68. Remember were only referring to the "one" Tyrannasuarus Rex album , Unicorn on Blue Thumb. That's the important point.

I know in North America Reprise (WB) Records took them on sometime in the early 70's . I believe it was in 1971 after they shortened their name to T REX.

 

[DuncanS]

We had both kinds of T Rex over on this side of the pond back then!

&