The vinyl edition is available in three configurations: standard black vinyl and blood red vinyl limited to 1,500 copies each or a cyan blue vinyl limited to just 500 copies. Incredibly, the tapes mysteriously showed up in the Universal Records vault in 2020, and the band was finally able to mix and re-sequence the album the way they wanted it to sound.ĭubbed the “Re(al)mix”, the 40th anniversary edition was mixed by Petri Majuri at E-Studios in Finland in collaboration with the band.įrontman Michael Monroe said in a statement the release is, “the longest and slowest album recording project ever” and that, “40 years in the making, it’s not just a remix, but the REAL MIX supervised and approved by Hanoi Rocks.” Released before it could be remixed or re-recorded, as their then label had run out of money, the group has always considered the original mix of “Oriental Beat” to be a disaster.Ĭome the late ’80s, when Guns N’ Roses purchased the rights to the Hanoi Rocks catalog to re-release on their vanity label, Uzi Suicide, the master tapes for the LP went missing in transit and were thought to be lost forever. It seemed like a cocktail for success on paper, but due to some truly awful production, “Oriental Beat” was either ignored or downright panned by critics. Recorded in London for 200 pounds a day, the album was made during the height of the British punk and new wave movements, when the band was hanging out with everyone from Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott to the Damned. The second album from Finland glam punkers Hanoi Rocks, 1982’s “Oriental Beat,” was supposed to be the band’s big breakthrough in the States. Hanoi Rocks: “Oriental Beat (The 40th Anniversary Re(al)mix)”.This week, it’s another chance for an album that should’ve been huge, but suffered from a case of seriously poor production. It might be a re-pressing of a landmark recording, special edition or new collection from a legendary act. Keep an eye on this spot as each week we’ll be looking at new or soon-to-be-released vinyl from a variety of artists. COURTESY OF SVART RECORDS Vinyl of the week Though “A Night at the Family Dog” has been released on home video previously, having it packaged together with “Go Ride the Music” and “West Pole” is essential viewing for anyone looking for a representation of what shaped such an important part of American music history. It’s a firsthand witnessing to the birth of a culture with the Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the all-female act Ace of Cups and others. The film also sees cameo appearances from David Crosby and Jerry Garcia.įilmed the same year, “West Pole” captures the magnetic attraction of musicians who provoked the establishment enough to create national news. The 1969 documentary “Go Ride the Music” is a stunning record of Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service, the latter a band destined for stardom who short-circuited their own success. Then all hell breaks loose when Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Paul Kantner kick out the jams to end it all. Jefferson Airplane then splits the club wide open with their incendiary and provocative performance style. 4, 1970, at the Family Dog concert hall, “A Night at the Family Dog” featured the brightest three lights of the Bay Area in Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Santana. The San Francisco sound, as it came to be known, was a montage of shrieking guitars and bold, now-classic acid rock. It was a time of wild experimentation in poetry, film, journalism, sex, drugs and political activism with a wide variety of music providing the daily soundtrack. Gleason, who arguably did more than any other journalist to hip the world to what was in the (bong) water in San Francisco circa the late ’60s. The three psychedelic trips down memory lane, complete with new artwork and ’60s-styled poster, were originally produced and created as groundbreaking television documentaries by Ralph J. Those born too late to experience first-hand what made late ’60s and early ’70s San Francisco so musically - and culturally - significant will finally get the opportunity to understand what drew even Beatle George Harrison to the city’s Haight-Ashbury district to see what all the fuss was about with a brand-new home video collection.Īnnounced this week, and set for release by Mercury Records May 12, is a trio of hippie brilliance on film in “A Night at the Family Dog,” “Go Ride the Music” and “West Pole” across two DVDs.
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