Here's another newsgroup post by a guy who does care:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Buffe ... edu&rnum=1
Sending an e-mail to MCA/Universal regarding CD issues
Moderator: SMLCHNG
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Parrot Monkey
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Parrot Monkey
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I strongly feel the need to bring this back. It was such a strong discussion that faded away for some reason back there.
The desire for remasters and DVD releases is present on this board, I can sense it. Please, lets aid in telling them we want um’!
And I know many of you probably are thinking something along the lines of “What a tool, he just doesn’t get it”. You just have to understand that we PHs and Buffett fans together hold a strong power that has the possibility to get those old albums remastered and the two video features on DVD. This is a strong effort and a really good cause, so please don’t let this thread (or the idea) sink!
I know when many people approach the issue of those old CDs they just think that “That’s the way they are and there’s nothing we can do about it, just go buy the records, CDs inserts are too small anyway”.
That’s a horrible prospective on the issue and will accomplish absolutely nothing. I’m seeing posts left and right that desire Live By the Bay and Tales from Margaritavison on the modern DVD format, so to take action on that is a no-brainer.
PLEASE!!! I still don’t know if the e-mail address at the head of this thread is appropriate, but stand by, I’m trying to find a venue more suiting.
The desire for remasters and DVD releases is present on this board, I can sense it. Please, lets aid in telling them we want um’!
And I know many of you probably are thinking something along the lines of “What a tool, he just doesn’t get it”. You just have to understand that we PHs and Buffett fans together hold a strong power that has the possibility to get those old albums remastered and the two video features on DVD. This is a strong effort and a really good cause, so please don’t let this thread (or the idea) sink!
I know when many people approach the issue of those old CDs they just think that “That’s the way they are and there’s nothing we can do about it, just go buy the records, CDs inserts are too small anyway”.
That’s a horrible prospective on the issue and will accomplish absolutely nothing. I’m seeing posts left and right that desire Live By the Bay and Tales from Margaritavison on the modern DVD format, so to take action on that is a no-brainer.PLEASE!!! I still don’t know if the e-mail address at the head of this thread is appropriate, but stand by, I’m trying to find a venue more suiting.
First off, License To Chill is Jimmy's 26th studio album - excluding any other kind of live album or compilation. So the 34 LPs in 34 Years can't work. Including all the other albums, I think it's 48. Then if you count how some are doubles, it's...you get the point. Jimmy likes to use those kind of numbers to his advantage.
CDs, records, LPs - all the same thing.
When people think of rereleasing a back catalog, it's usually based on making it sound great - better than the previous releases. A perfect example of this is Virgin's Rolling Stones albums - Sticky Fingers through Steel Wheels. Remastered and packaged with the original artwork (with exception to Steel Wheels - it's slightly different, which I've always found strange since it sold well - they did LESS to it than the original CBS release) and all rereleased in 1993, Virgin picked up the back catalog with the idea that they would make the money back eventually. How did they come up with that idea? Because they were releasing the new Stones album in 1994 - Voodoo Lounge - which was a huge seller.
In typical Stones fashion, a UK hits comp was released with this change in record labels (this was just released in the US with slightly different packaging but no different tunes on it - and this hits comp is basically a shorter version of disc 2 of Forty Licks!), the rereleases came out and none of them made the Billboard Top 200 LP chart.
Was there a logical reason for these rereleases? Mick Jagger wanted the records to sound good. That was it. Sound and packaging. That was the demand. I don't recall any fans ever having any concern over the CBS reissues of the back catalog in the 1980s - which were absolute crap. Over time the Virgin records have sold probably enough - partly because of a slow burning spread of someone telling someone else and so on saying YOU GOTTA HEAR EXILE! IT'S AMAZING! to pay for all the remastering and hype for the rereleases. By the way, it's true - Exile does sound amazing.
So what's my long and drawn out point? I'm not sure. I think that's the key. Virgin basically just went ahead and did it without much demand from fans. Obviously they cared enough to pick up the Stones back catalog. But they put the records out there.
ABKCO finally got around to it two years ago, putting the albums back out with great sound. The last time the 1960s catalog was issued was in 1986. Vinyl masters to CD. That's what CBS did with the 1970s and 80s catalog. No wonder Jagger hated those reissues. That was his whole point to Virgin - remaster them for CD to sound like the original releases. Which is what happened. The same dude who did the Virgin remastering did the ABKCO remastering.
MCA doesn't need Jimmy Buffett. JB doesn't sell enough albums - his back catalog - to warrant the idea of every fan, old and new, buying those records AGAIN (some for a third time). What's cheaper? A new hits package with remastered tracks and some new ones or an entire back catalog remastered with updated packaging? Which one will sell better? MMIM was a double album - a quick and easy way to inflate what actually happened - 500,000 people bought it! IT'S PLATINUM! That's true - but one million people did not buy it.
Look at the box set - the most money spent by MCA was on the damn book that came with the four records. Sure, the tunes were remastered. I still haven't been able to tell if they really were or not. But the packaging was minimal as far as the records go. In fact, the promo for the box set has better packaging with it than any of the 4 from the box set!
I still have all the crappy MCA CD reissues from when they came out in 1986 or whenever it was. I have not replaced one record from overplaying them - I take great care of my CDs. I have all the original vinyl albums with exception to the first two (I do have Before The Salt though). I think the last vinyl record I bought was what was made available - Off To See The Lizard - which looked fantastic.
In fact, I was able to go out and find the ABC Records vinyl albums and laugh at how MCA hacked those even on their vinyl reissues! The only major difference I found was A1A.
So MCA hacking up Jimmy Buffett is nothing new. They started it with the vinyl reissues after they consumed ABC, the econoline 'double album' CDs - usually with one track left off - which I never bought - and the left out for the garbage plain ol' single album CD reissues.
There are two versions of Floridays. What were they doing? One with lyrics, one without. Yet the vinyl record packaging had more to it than the CD record packaging did.
It would take another record label - RCA would do a great job, har har har, to make Jimmy's back catalog shine - bonus tracks or not. They pay a huge amount of money for it - because of A1A, CILCIA and SOASOAS - which means they lose money on Somewhere Over China through, oh, the rest of them until Fruitcakes - and remaster them, repackage them and promote them well and make that money back. And do it right - limit it at first for a while of the first two ABC albums, and then let fly with the motherlode - A1A. Next would be CILCIA, then SOASOAS, and then after that interest has died down, let the rest out.
Email HK Management and tell them flat out with as few words as possible that MCA's Buffett albums STINK and they need to be fixed. MCA should be sued for posing as a distributor and gross misrepresentation of Jimmy Buffett's back catalog.
CDs, records, LPs - all the same thing.
When people think of rereleasing a back catalog, it's usually based on making it sound great - better than the previous releases. A perfect example of this is Virgin's Rolling Stones albums - Sticky Fingers through Steel Wheels. Remastered and packaged with the original artwork (with exception to Steel Wheels - it's slightly different, which I've always found strange since it sold well - they did LESS to it than the original CBS release) and all rereleased in 1993, Virgin picked up the back catalog with the idea that they would make the money back eventually. How did they come up with that idea? Because they were releasing the new Stones album in 1994 - Voodoo Lounge - which was a huge seller.
In typical Stones fashion, a UK hits comp was released with this change in record labels (this was just released in the US with slightly different packaging but no different tunes on it - and this hits comp is basically a shorter version of disc 2 of Forty Licks!), the rereleases came out and none of them made the Billboard Top 200 LP chart.
Was there a logical reason for these rereleases? Mick Jagger wanted the records to sound good. That was it. Sound and packaging. That was the demand. I don't recall any fans ever having any concern over the CBS reissues of the back catalog in the 1980s - which were absolute crap. Over time the Virgin records have sold probably enough - partly because of a slow burning spread of someone telling someone else and so on saying YOU GOTTA HEAR EXILE! IT'S AMAZING! to pay for all the remastering and hype for the rereleases. By the way, it's true - Exile does sound amazing.
So what's my long and drawn out point? I'm not sure. I think that's the key. Virgin basically just went ahead and did it without much demand from fans. Obviously they cared enough to pick up the Stones back catalog. But they put the records out there.
ABKCO finally got around to it two years ago, putting the albums back out with great sound. The last time the 1960s catalog was issued was in 1986. Vinyl masters to CD. That's what CBS did with the 1970s and 80s catalog. No wonder Jagger hated those reissues. That was his whole point to Virgin - remaster them for CD to sound like the original releases. Which is what happened. The same dude who did the Virgin remastering did the ABKCO remastering.
MCA doesn't need Jimmy Buffett. JB doesn't sell enough albums - his back catalog - to warrant the idea of every fan, old and new, buying those records AGAIN (some for a third time). What's cheaper? A new hits package with remastered tracks and some new ones or an entire back catalog remastered with updated packaging? Which one will sell better? MMIM was a double album - a quick and easy way to inflate what actually happened - 500,000 people bought it! IT'S PLATINUM! That's true - but one million people did not buy it.
Look at the box set - the most money spent by MCA was on the damn book that came with the four records. Sure, the tunes were remastered. I still haven't been able to tell if they really were or not. But the packaging was minimal as far as the records go. In fact, the promo for the box set has better packaging with it than any of the 4 from the box set!
I still have all the crappy MCA CD reissues from when they came out in 1986 or whenever it was. I have not replaced one record from overplaying them - I take great care of my CDs. I have all the original vinyl albums with exception to the first two (I do have Before The Salt though). I think the last vinyl record I bought was what was made available - Off To See The Lizard - which looked fantastic.
In fact, I was able to go out and find the ABC Records vinyl albums and laugh at how MCA hacked those even on their vinyl reissues! The only major difference I found was A1A.
So MCA hacking up Jimmy Buffett is nothing new. They started it with the vinyl reissues after they consumed ABC, the econoline 'double album' CDs - usually with one track left off - which I never bought - and the left out for the garbage plain ol' single album CD reissues.
There are two versions of Floridays. What were they doing? One with lyrics, one without. Yet the vinyl record packaging had more to it than the CD record packaging did.
It would take another record label - RCA would do a great job, har har har, to make Jimmy's back catalog shine - bonus tracks or not. They pay a huge amount of money for it - because of A1A, CILCIA and SOASOAS - which means they lose money on Somewhere Over China through, oh, the rest of them until Fruitcakes - and remaster them, repackage them and promote them well and make that money back. And do it right - limit it at first for a while of the first two ABC albums, and then let fly with the motherlode - A1A. Next would be CILCIA, then SOASOAS, and then after that interest has died down, let the rest out.
Email HK Management and tell them flat out with as few words as possible that MCA's Buffett albums STINK and they need to be fixed. MCA should be sued for posing as a distributor and gross misrepresentation of Jimmy Buffett's back catalog.
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Parrot Monkey
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Yes, I know all about the vinyl reissues. When MCA bought out ABC/Dunhill, they re-issued AWSCAPC-SOASOAS with just the front and back covers, eliminating everything that was contained on gatefolds, inner sleeves and inserts. I think they moved A-1-A’s liner notes from the gatefold to the back cover, but that’s it. All the other albums lost their documentation right there, unless of course the stuff was printed on the back cover in the first place. Even withVolcano and the other albums that were on MCA in the first place, they went and removed elements from those packages later on. I’m also aware of the numerous “Two on One” releases they put out where a song was left out.
There’s no e-mail address publicly available for HK Management, so I’m going to have to result to a physical letter. Like Key Lime Lee has said before, you can’t sue a record company for this, because it’s not illegal in any way. It should, IMO, be some kind of RIAA code or something like that where you can’t re-issue an album without ALL of the original liner notes and images intact.
There’s no e-mail address publicly available for HK Management, so I’m going to have to result to a physical letter. Like Key Lime Lee has said before, you can’t sue a record company for this, because it’s not illegal in any way. It should, IMO, be some kind of RIAA code or something like that where you can’t re-issue an album without ALL of the original liner notes and images intact.
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Gumbo
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I've said it before, and I'll revert to it. I think the best chance of Buffett's stuff being remastered is when the technology comes out to make sound better. Maybe its the new DVD-Audio stuff. The problem is Jimmy's stuff doesn't sound that bad on the CD's I have listening to it on the stereo I have. I'd love to have the high end equipment to be able to tell the difference, but I, like most, don't have it. I think when the technology comes along to really expose how bad the sound is, it may force the hand of Jimmy's label to do something about it. Until then, I'm not holding out hope. As for the liner notes and pictures, I've had to do what most Parrotheads have done and collect old LP's. Its not great, but it's all I've got.
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Parrot Monkey
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I would be so relieved if that happened. I don't think I would ever stop laughing!TommyMacLuckie wrote:Of course you realise I was kidding about suing MCA. But wouldn't it be funny if it actually did happen? MCA execs would be stymied! It would be hilarious!
I could just imagine them scrambling for excuses: "Umm... well... we... um..." It would sure put their cheap, lazy and disrespectful butts in their places, that's for sure.