Tweets from Andy P. re: Oranges and Lemons

[jdmack]

Andy Partridge of XTC tweeted this today:

"Just heard that the multitrack tapes for ORANGES are in "a very bad way"??!!
What!!,come on,the 1 thing you have to do is look after tapes"

Bummer. "Oranges and Lemons" is one of my top 3 "most want to hear in 5.1" albums.

 

[blue.monk]

Ugh. That doesn't sound promising.

 

[rtbluray]

And just when things were looking up…

I'm still going to try and remain positive that they will find a way to transfer the tapes successfully, cause if they do, I KNOW Steven Wilson will make it sound great in surround.
The first two releases ("Nonsuch" and "Drums & Wires") were just too damn good to have a surround sound series that stops just after those two releases...

 

[jdmack]

Incidentally, I tweeted to Andy "Can you tell us which albums you *do* have good multis for?". His reply was "No,not yet,as searches by them cost us money,we'll see". So no telling yet which albums we'll get in 5.1 in the future.

 

[rtbluray]

An update:

Fingers and eyes crossed,they are going to 'bake' them and see what can be done.Then there's the ones covered in mould {not Moulding}.

Geez… makes me even more grateful for the artists and record companies that have kept good track of their tapes, giving us all of the great surround mixes that we currently enjoy.

 

[Eclectic]

Damn, this is depressing. I was so looking forward to that one

 

[wavelength]

Damn, this is depressing. I was so looking forward to that one

I saw an interview with one of the well-known surround engineers where they had one shot at baking the tapes and getting the thing recorded to digital. "The tape was literally flaking apart." They got it done. Might have been Greg Penny. Anyway miracles can happen.

 

[rtbluray]

http://paulfoxpresents.com/galleries/?gallery=xtc-4

Found this interesting photo gallery from the O&L sessions on Producer Paul Fox's website

 

[blue.monk]

Cool photos! I had the occasion once to speak with Mike Keneally about those sessions (he is pictured playing cards with Colin) and to him it was like witnessing the creation of Sgt Pepper, he was that taken with the experience.

BTW Andy co-wrote most of the songs on Keneally's "Wing Beat Fantastic" CD. It's a terrific collaboration, much of which (as you'd imagine) is decidedly XTC-ish.

 

[neil wilkes]

Andy Partridge of XTC tweeted this today:

"Just heard that the multitrack tapes for ORANGES are in "a very bad way"??!!
What!!,come on,the 1 thing you have to do is look after tapes"

Bummer. "Oranges and Lemons" is one of my top 3 "most want to hear in 5.1" albums.

The guys at FX copyroom are very, very good - don't underestimate their dedication!
We had a project where even after baking the tapes would not play out for transfer - so they hand wound all 5 reels to a different spool, and did it that way.
Cross fingers & toes.........

 

[kap'n krunch]

Neil...you ROCK, man!

 

[MarkN]

A new update from Andy on Twitter:

"Hopefully sorting and mixing my and Colin's demos for ORANGES AND LEMONS 5.1 pack on Friday."

Along with another reply to someone's comment assuming the 5.1 release is happening:

"I'm hopeful,but still don't know definitively"

So it looks like there is still hope for the tapes!

 

[rtbluray]

Love seeing tweets from Andy like these about O&L:

It was toppy,yeah.Partly the mix and made worse by mastering. We will correct all in remix

He also said tapes are currently baking. Hope springs eternal!

 

[keenly]

Incidentally, I tweeted to Andy "Can you tell us which albums you *do* have good multis for?". His reply was "No,not yet,as searches by them cost us money,we'll see". So no telling yet which albums we'll get in 5.1 in the future.

How does looking for tapes cost money? That make no sense.

 

[Circular Vibes]

You have to pay the companies' librarian for the search.

 

[keenly]

You have to pay the companies' librarian for the search.

WTF? Searching where? Through vaults?

 

[DuncanS]

WTF? Searching where? Through vaults?

Yes, the record companies like to charge for everything, and I was once told that often includes paying to keep the tapes in vaults.

 

[keenly]

Yes, the record companies like to charge for everything, and I was once told that often includes paying to keep the tapes in vaults.

No wonder Prince wrote slave across his face!

 

[milt]

Seriously, I'll do the search for free.

 

[MarkN]

Andy just tweeted the following (hopefully this means they had some luck with baking the multi-tracks):

"Old ADAT fixed,good day transferring /mixing my and Colin's demos for 5.1 pack of ORANGES AND LEMONS."