From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V96 #22 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 96 : Issue 22 252 subscribers Today's topics: Several things Mikep3099 @ aol.com various Nigel Collier Re: TWEE!? Rob Kadel stuff TTrudell @ aol.com ------------------------------ Subject: Several things From: Mikep3099 @ aol.com Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 19:15:32 -0500 Hello all, It is good to see the list growing so. We were seemingly loosing folks for a little while before Christmas. I guess it could have been people at schools cancelling since they would be away from their net access during the holidays. My mail was REAL screwed up a couple of weeks ago and has finally gotten straightened out enough to read the backlog and reply to some stuff. 1st, I think that someone may have answered this but the CDV video singles CAN be played on just about any laserdisc player sold in the last 8-9 years. It is safe to say that any LD player that will play CDs will play CDVs .They are not CD-ROMS or CD-i's or video CDs or CD+Graphics. The video data stored on them is in analog form like a laserdisc. They are, in fact, miniature CLV laserdiscs. The one hitch to playing them on a laser disc player is that you have to have the right format player to play the particular disc(s) you have. By format I mean broadcast standard for a particular country or region, NTSC in the US and Japan, PAL in the UK and most of the rest of Europe I think. France and a few other countries around the world use SECAM or a variant of it. I am only aware of L42 CDVs being produced in NTSC and PAL. Most of what was released in Europe on CDV was also issued in Japan so most titles can be found in either format. FYI, SAY was the only CDV released domestically in the US. Right, while i'm on technical stuff... My On The Level comp. from Pickwick also turned brown and "rotted". This is actually caused by the inner reflective surface not being completely sealed of from outside air/elements. This causes oxidation of the reflective material and pretty much obliterates the microscopic pits that the cd player reads. There is no stopping or reversing this process once it starts. There is no sure way to predict if a disc is gonna take a shit. This problem really sucks and is quite scarey considering that I have bought a couple of thousand discs since 1983 and most of them I could not find replacements for if I had to. I did however find another copy of On The Level. I would urge anyone who has this disc to check and make sure that it is not turning gold or, in the advanced stages, orangish brown. It usually starts at the outer and inner edges on the play side and creeps toward the middle. Some record lables might replace defective discs but they are not gonna be willing to PRESS you up a new one if it is out of print. Good luck. CDNOW. Let me start by saying that I have no connection with them except that I am friends with one of the folks that supplies product for them. They are a WORLDWIDE retail web site. This means that they process more orders for new releases that any single retail store could hope to. They are US based though and this means that product only available in other countries are in fact imports. They must order product from distributors in the country of origin or worse yet from a middle man here in the States. They posted the New FN+4 soon after it was announced and began to take preorders for it. This means that MANY people, not just on this list, ordered it weeks before the new version actually saw the light of day. BTW, he tells me that the RCA version continued to sell suprisingly briskly during this period. That is encouraging news. Anyway, the reissue is on a relatively small label. They only press a few discs at one time and sell out before they press more for obvious financial reasons. Being overseas, at least to them, CDNOW is not at the top of dist./wholesalers list for distribution. Hence CDNOW can't send out more than what they are shipped. They got enough to fill most of the preorders when they got the initial shipment of the new vers. but not quite enough to fill all existing orders at the time. More orders have been placed since due to word of mouth promotion and these were even harder to get product to fill. I am told that as of early last week all orders for that particular title had been shipped. He tells me that to date they have sold 130+ pieces of the Ressurgence FN+4. That could concievably be 10% of all that were pressed for sale WORLDWIDE in the first pressing! I think it is pretty miraculous that they were even able to get hold of that many of them. So don't knock these guys so hard. I personally prefer not to deal with Audiophile Imp. due to their HIGH prices and pompous attitude but I don't refuse to order from them. They do serve a niche market and often stock certain hard to come by items that others might have a hard time even special ordering for you. BTW they got the last batch of biographies by someone in the UK going from one discount bookstore to another and buying up all the copies they could find for typically less than $10 each. Just food for thought. FN+4 on resurg.- What the hell is wrong with you people that are bitching about it?!!!! Finally we have the version that the BAND wanted to release 3 years ago and with improved sonics to boot! And it is reasonably priced unless you get ripped at final retail. Yeah the new artwork is cheesy but it is on a small indie lable. The artwork budget was probably less than some of us make in a couple of days but it probably trimmed more than a little off of their final profit margin from predicted sales. It is different at least and I really though the RCA art was pretty lame too. After all, the music is what we bought this thing for, right? We do get more music, a better sequence of tracks, better sonics and the boys seal of approval, not RCAs!! I can't believe that anyone feels that they are just trying to capitalize on the dedicated fan base they have, I think they were just trying to regain a little integrity by finally releasing the album THEY originally wanted to. Not that I feel thay had lost that much respect or integrity but the new version, whether it be the new sequence of songs or the additional material, really turned my opinion of the album 100% to the positive!!! OK I know I've gone on about 12 times too long, I'll shut up now. Thanks for listening and lets get the subject matter a little more positive in general for a while. See ya, Longwinded Mike PS Oh Yeah,-- Whoever said look at Mark's face on the back cover. I did. He looks like he just pinched a loaf in his pants huh? ------------------------------ Subject: various From: Nigel.Collier @ ncl.ac.uk (Nigel Collier) Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 09:00:38 +0000 What the hell was all that magazine crap that came with, nay, dominated my Level 42 digest this weekend? Lets' have a bit less of that for a start. For a poor, busy student, struggling with her coursework, she managed to include quite a lot of detail in her erroneous and inappropriate message - it's come to this - unsolicited infomercials on e-mail... On a different tack, >I especially dig the sports shits with "Level 42" in giant block lettering on >them. I've heard 'sports shits' will be a demonstration event at the Atlanta olympics - obviously there has been some legal wrangling over sponsorship, with the TV company who own the broadcasting rights complaining about the size of the sponsors' logos on the shits themselves, Level 42's logo was judged to be too large... Robin Smith for President and eyes down for a full house. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nnac ------------------------------ Subject: Re: TWEE!? From: Rob Kadel Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 00:48:56 -0500 (EST) Hey Amanda and Paul! Now you've got me curious -- what the hell does TWEE mean anyway!? -Rob :-) ------------------------------ Subject: stuff From: TTrudell @ aol.com Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 23:54:20 -0500 1) Amanda - Forever Now is one of the best L42 albums - it has a more intimate feel. Some of the songs sound (to me) like they were recorded one-take live in a really great studio. Others are rich in layered sequences that shine with traditional studio professionalism. There is the true variety of Level 42 - many genres on the album, and some songs seem like blends of genres within themselves. I'd say the whole thing is a lot more funky than many of the previous albums, probably because the real drummer is back. AND there seems to have been a lot of quality time spent on vocal harmonies. So I guess I like the album. I'm still flipping out whenever I hear that part of the Sunbed Song towards the end, the wildass funky break. . . . 2) I thought that magazine thing was gross. 3) Zak, in my humble opinion, the Level 42 videos are mostly clunkers. They rarely show a concept that corresponds with the song. One exception is Microkid, which contains some really laughable early 80's "special" effects, although I know we can't judge them by modern production standards. It's just that I usually end up laughing where I'm supposed to be deeply pondering the intended message . . . and the Chant has Begun video is so pretentiously deep and symbolic it hurts. I like the Children Say video the best, 'cause it's true to the song and it seems honest. The Something About You video was great, because it took you awhile to follow the unspoken story lines involving the band members. And, does anybody know what Mark mouths into the camera in that slightly pissed-off psycho manner toward the end of the Something About You video? I've been wondering ever since. 4) Joe Jackson's Jumpin Jive!!!! Never loan that to a friend 'cause you'll never get it back. At least I didn't. Have a good week y'all . . .-Tom