The following is a message from Jaimie
Vernon, President of Bullseye Records, which was sent on July 19th,
2004. It contains the most up to date information about the
progress for the Klaatu Boxed Set, "Sunset". I think once
you read what is posted here, that you will agree that any delays will
certainly be worth it!
So, without further commentary from me, here's the message from Jaimie.
- Dave Bradley, Official Klaatu Home Page webmaster
Well,
folks...
I've been keeping kind of quiet lately because there have been some
shifting of plans/attitudes/objectives where the Klaatu boxed set is
concerned.
When we last spoke of our stalwart heroes there was some talk of doing
a DVD for the set. Now it looks like the DVD is not only a go, but it
will be jammed packed with previously un-attainable STUFF!
A visit to Mr. Woloschuk's place last week revealed hundreds of
previously unseen documents -- not the least of which was the COMPLETE
"Hope" orchestral sheet music score for all 89 instruments by the
London Symphony in England -- including a last-minute change done on
the flight over to the UK to "Loneliest Of Creatures" and the
parts performed by the three french horns; there are also complete
orchestral scores for "Routine Day", "Cherie", "Dear
Christine", and several tunes from "Magentalane". Alas, there has
been no sign of anything off '3:47 EST'....the assumption is that
original arranger Doug Riley is still in possession of these documents.
I am currently working on contacting him to see what's in his personal
collection.
John also has a thorough file of internal Capitol Records publicity and
promotional documents between the band's publicist, Frank Davies and
the media. There are dates, times and tracking data on where the band
received radio mentions, who and when they did interviews, and radio
stations that aired audio clips of the interviews themselves.
The entire story board and script layout for "Happy New Year,
Planet Earth" has been revealed. There are also stills and promotional
schedules for the release of the "Routine Day" video -- including
internal documents from Don Kirshner about the world premiere on
"Rock Concert".
Our very own Bob Reid has also gone back and re-scanned all the
available live photos he took at both the Danforth Music Hall in 1981,
and Ontario Place (with the alternate live line-up) in the summer of
1982.
As some are aware, John is working directly with Dave Bradley to offer
up some additional info on-line through the website as he uncovers and
documents more of his archives..... layers of an onion as it were. To
that end, John has been meticulously researching the recording of EVERY
Klaatu song from the January 1973 recording session to the band's
demise through his personal diaries, session notes and the archived
tape boxes themselves.
John called me today to great delight because he's discovered several
recordings that had been long forgotten....leaving us with a new trove
of recordings that should be considered for the boxed set.
1) Previously we knew that Dee's "Cherie" had been recorded as a
demo in 1972 -- it appeared on the audition tape given to Terry Brown
which saw John and Dee signed to their original artist recording deal.
Over the last few years Dave Bradley and I unearthed and preserved two
OTHER recordings of the song in Dee's personal archive....both sounded
like demos. Turns out that the first, less slick demo was, in fact a
FINISHED master recording from December 1973 of what was supposed to be
the SECOND Klaatu single. But, Terry Brown eventually got cold feet
because the song was very mellow and Middle Of The Road sounding for
radio (in fact, quite baroque for radio at that time).
Anyway, John has found an early monitor mix of the "Cherie"
recording from 1973 without percussion (knee-slapping....take that
McCartney!!!) which is how we realized what the finished mix we already
had really means -- it's a previously unreleased finished master
recording; [BTW - The third demo of "Cherie" is from the "Sir
Army Suit" sessions and was re-done by Dee at his home.]
2) After abandoning this recording John and Dee attempted to record
"Little Neutrino" with Whitey Glan on drums (he was used on the
original "Sub Rosa Subway")...but it never made it past the
bed-track stage (and will remain in the vaults, unfortunately)...and
then in February 1974 Dee brought Terry Brown a demo for "For You
Girl". John has unearthed this previously unheard demo, too!!!
3) From the working tapes of "Hope" John has uncovered two very
important demos. One, "Madman", was thought to have been lost
many years ago; Terry Draper has made mention of the original
arrangement of this song in conversations and how different it was from
what Dee eventually did with the song. I've been told that it's a
pretty straight-up acoustic version without the wacky effects and
transitions; the second demo is a John origianl called "Grave"
and as John explained it to me today: "I don't want anyone
thinking that I'm being an a** for holding back demos of "Up To
The Skies" or "Kinkajous"....but those songs I've always thought
had a potential that I may or may not pursue one day in a solo
recording. And we've already offered up a previously unreleased
original by Dee in "Something Happened". So to balance out the
boxed set and give the fans a taste of a recording that might have
pimples on it, but I'm quite proud of, I think that "Grave"
represents an interesting comical interlude. It's a short tune done in
the style of a radio commercial....I was doing a lot of jingles when I
worked for Terry Brown in those days so this was a natural extension of
that. And it's something that was considered for "Hope". The demo is 16
tracks with just Dee engineering and me playing most of the
instruments."
4) The demos for "A Routine Day" and "I Don't Wanna Go
Home"....both of these demos have never been heard by anyone outside of
Klaatu. John assures me they are releasable quality and he feels that
either are suitable for the boxed set.
John was going back to dig through boxes today and tomorrow. I will be
meeting with him next week to mull over the material mentioned above
and also anything he finds between now and then.
The bottomline to all this is that the more he and I discuss the set,
the less likely it is that the set is going to get released real soon.
What started as a contractual house-cleaning has become a passionate
project for John again....he seems excited each time he calls with a
new discovery and it's become obvious to everyone involved that to just
plow through with what we've got and not take the time to thoroughly
scour the vault and the memories of the participants would be a
disservice to the fans, the band and the finished product. The guys are
really aware of the impact these final recordings will have on the fans
and their legacy and they want no f***-ups.
The battle plan now is:
1) a 2 CD set with a DVD bonus disc
2) a VINYL pressing of the best material from the boxed set to satisfy
the vinyl junkie audiophiles and give Ted Jones's new painting the 12"
x 12" showcase it rightly deserves.
3) Posters, postcards, and other memoribillia to commemorate the set
4) the re-issue of "Magentalane" as a Bullseye remaster
The vinyl and "Magentalane" will now be released first....sooner,
rather than later....with the boxed set finally hitting international
retail come early 2005.
Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicPopEncycloPages
- Last Updated July 20th, 2004