Problematic Jukeboxes
Tonight, I digitized four more "broadcasts" of the "Tape and Record Show" spin-off series "TRS Jukebox" from the Tape and Record Show Enterprises archives, more details after what I transferred...
"TRS Jukebox: Episode 32: Broadcast Monday, March 19, 1984 at 9:30pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: Genius Of Love(Tom Tom Club), Rappin' Rodney(Rodney Dangerfield), Hyperactive(Thomas Dolby), Ya Mo Be There(James Ingram), Stayin' Alive(The Bee Gees), He's So Fine(The Chiffons), Livin' In Desperate Times(Olivia Newton-John).
TRS Jukebox: Episode 33: Broadcast Monday, April 16, 1984 at 9:00pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: Beat Box(Art of Noise), Video Killed The Radio Star(The Buggles), Tusk(Fleetwood Mac), Ghetto Life(Rick James), She's Strange(Cameo), TVC 1 5(David Bowie), Break My Stride(Matthew Wilder), Leave It(Yes).
TRS Jukebox: Episode 35: Broadcast Monday, April 23, 1984 at 9:00pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: Fashion(David Bowie), White Wedding(Billy Idol), Sign Of Fire(The Fixx), She Was Hot(Rolling Stones), TV Dinners(ZZ Top), Just Because(Elvis Presley), Green Onions(The Blues Brothers).
TRS Jukebox: Episode 36: Broadcast Monday, April 30, 1984 at 9:00pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: White Horse(Laid Back), Radio Ga Ga(Queen), Beat Box(Art of Noise), Lawdy Miss Clawdy(The Buckinghams), Ain't That Lovin' You Baby(Elvis Presley), Survival: Message II(Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five), Hey Harmonica Man(Stevie Wonder)."
Now for some more details. The already copied/edited versions of episodes 32 and 36 on audiotape were missing in the archives. I knew before starting this project there would be episodes of the various pretend series my friends and I recorded back in the day which would be missing, but it seems "TRS Jukebox" had the most missing episodes out of all the series produced by TRSE at the time. Luckily, since "TRS Jukebox" had very little narration, just mainly me saying the show title at the start during the opening theme, then just playing the songs closely in a row, as long as I can find original source material in the "archives", the show can be trivial, although time consuming, to re-create episodes, since I still have the program descriptions written on index cards from back in the day. So, for those two episodes, I pulled out the original "theme music" cassette (which is still in the archives), and dug through the old LP's and 45rpm records, digitizing one at a time, and piecing the parts together in the sound editor. One song, the first one on episode 32 wasn't on vinyl, it was on a "Manufactured For Columbia House" cassette tape, and the notorious pressure pad issue had hit it after all these decades, so I had to replace the pad before dubbing the song from the tape.
Episode 34, a 90-minute year end retrospective episode, is luckily on cassette in its original form, but I decided to wait about digitizing it for another day, due to the late night, and I may not be able to stay awake THAT late to complete it!
RANDOM SIDE EFFECT: Since the "re-created" episodes are assembled and digitized from the original sources in the archives and not a cassette dub, they probably have better sound quality than the old "dubbed from cassette" episodes. Most of my old LPs and 45s from the time are still in fairly "clean" shape, since I tended to record them on tape for general listening, and kept the records on the shelf afterward. For the digitization, this evening was the first time since the 1980's most of these have been put on a turntable since then.
RANDOM NOTE: "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons was NEVER the "original recorded version" on "TRS Jukebox" unfortunately. It was from a 1980 Excelsior/Pickwick International LP I bought back in the day in the Murphy's Mart "Dollar Bin" which featured "cutout" releases (new sealed records, but with a cut in the cover). At the time, I didn't notice the "Especially Re-recorded For Your Listening Pleasure" in small print on the rear cover. The re-recording wasn't as bad as some records covered on the YouTube "Oddity Archive" channel however.
"TRS Jukebox: Episode 32: Broadcast Monday, March 19, 1984 at 9:30pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: Genius Of Love(Tom Tom Club), Rappin' Rodney(Rodney Dangerfield), Hyperactive(Thomas Dolby), Ya Mo Be There(James Ingram), Stayin' Alive(The Bee Gees), He's So Fine(The Chiffons), Livin' In Desperate Times(Olivia Newton-John).
TRS Jukebox: Episode 33: Broadcast Monday, April 16, 1984 at 9:00pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: Beat Box(Art of Noise), Video Killed The Radio Star(The Buggles), Tusk(Fleetwood Mac), Ghetto Life(Rick James), She's Strange(Cameo), TVC 1 5(David Bowie), Break My Stride(Matthew Wilder), Leave It(Yes).
TRS Jukebox: Episode 35: Broadcast Monday, April 23, 1984 at 9:00pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: Fashion(David Bowie), White Wedding(Billy Idol), Sign Of Fire(The Fixx), She Was Hot(Rolling Stones), TV Dinners(ZZ Top), Just Because(Elvis Presley), Green Onions(The Blues Brothers).
TRS Jukebox: Episode 36: Broadcast Monday, April 30, 1984 at 9:00pm central. Theme Music: HBO Video Jukebox Theme. - Songs include: White Horse(Laid Back), Radio Ga Ga(Queen), Beat Box(Art of Noise), Lawdy Miss Clawdy(The Buckinghams), Ain't That Lovin' You Baby(Elvis Presley), Survival: Message II(Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five), Hey Harmonica Man(Stevie Wonder)."
Now for some more details. The already copied/edited versions of episodes 32 and 36 on audiotape were missing in the archives. I knew before starting this project there would be episodes of the various pretend series my friends and I recorded back in the day which would be missing, but it seems "TRS Jukebox" had the most missing episodes out of all the series produced by TRSE at the time. Luckily, since "TRS Jukebox" had very little narration, just mainly me saying the show title at the start during the opening theme, then just playing the songs closely in a row, as long as I can find original source material in the "archives", the show can be trivial, although time consuming, to re-create episodes, since I still have the program descriptions written on index cards from back in the day. So, for those two episodes, I pulled out the original "theme music" cassette (which is still in the archives), and dug through the old LP's and 45rpm records, digitizing one at a time, and piecing the parts together in the sound editor. One song, the first one on episode 32 wasn't on vinyl, it was on a "Manufactured For Columbia House" cassette tape, and the notorious pressure pad issue had hit it after all these decades, so I had to replace the pad before dubbing the song from the tape.
Episode 34, a 90-minute year end retrospective episode, is luckily on cassette in its original form, but I decided to wait about digitizing it for another day, due to the late night, and I may not be able to stay awake THAT late to complete it!
RANDOM SIDE EFFECT: Since the "re-created" episodes are assembled and digitized from the original sources in the archives and not a cassette dub, they probably have better sound quality than the old "dubbed from cassette" episodes. Most of my old LPs and 45s from the time are still in fairly "clean" shape, since I tended to record them on tape for general listening, and kept the records on the shelf afterward. For the digitization, this evening was the first time since the 1980's most of these have been put on a turntable since then.
RANDOM NOTE: "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons was NEVER the "original recorded version" on "TRS Jukebox" unfortunately. It was from a 1980 Excelsior/Pickwick International LP I bought back in the day in the Murphy's Mart "Dollar Bin" which featured "cutout" releases (new sealed records, but with a cut in the cover). At the time, I didn't notice the "Especially Re-recorded For Your Listening Pleasure" in small print on the rear cover. The re-recording wasn't as bad as some records covered on the YouTube "Oddity Archive" channel however.