Update re ripping progress BUGGER!

[Steve Lowman]

Hi Rocker and all. Thanks for the email Rocker.

One or two things to note. Apologies for long post.

Caution re. spelling of artist and track names on the cassette inserts. Although the track lists are very comprehensive, the spellings are all best guesses. I had no idea of the real spellings.

I had a system of 'Side-A' followed by 'Side-A', then 'Side-B' followed by 'Side-B'. The purpose was to minimise the unrecorded airtime gaps, and I always tried to do this immediately at the end of a track to try to catch the beginning of the next one. Segues sometimes messed this up, and it meant I probably lost some classic end-of-track comments. The main disadvantage for ripping and sorting of cassette sides into complete shows is that it will not be so easy to identify the sequence of sides. Also, some sides will include the end of one show and the start of another, too, and this may not always be obvious. I think I tried to indicate with a line between tracks, or some means like that.

There ought to be a complete, uninterrupted year, either 1992 or 1993. I had an ambition to make a mix tape of all the fastest dance tracks in a year, so the inserts have a code system for dance tracks of various speeds. I made the fastest-dance mix tape, and very good it was, too, but then I lost it a few years later. Doh!

Some of the tapes may well be mix tapes. Almost all pre-1990 are incomplete shows. I used to start recording every track and then stop and rewind if I decided not to record it. At some point in the early 90s I decided I could make better mix tapes by recording entire shows and then later choose tracks for mix tapes. Hence the complete shows, culminating in complete coverage for a considerable period. I wrote to apologise to Peelie when I stopped regular recording, telling him I very much hoped other people were recording the complete shows as every single one was such an absolute gem. A friend later told me he had met John at a festival and John had said he had been amused by me apologising for not listening to all his shows - but he also said he kind of liked that!

I have already shared some mix tapes, and I'm not sure whether they are included in the boxes. Rocker, make sure you check for tape-to-tape copies of early-90's mix tapes. I used to make one master and then often recorded some more from that one to give to friends, etc. I think I tried to keep all of those out of these boxes, but I'm not sure whether any will be lurking in there.

Good luck Rippers! Do a good job!

All the best, Steve