SickthingsUK

Hi Dennis,

first of all great to see you on this forum and willing to answer the questions.

My first questions is :

- do you still own every original single / acetate of anything pre the ACgroup? Just curious as I know some artist are also massive collectors and completists.

More questions to come.

I have records that are original releases - cutouts that Warners gave us, etc. But I haven't gone to the trouble to search for rare copies or anything. I think most of our acetates went Michael's way and then he lost them. I have some rare records, but only because I ran across them at a price you couldn't refuse. Like the time that Cindy and I went to a Church Tag sale. By the time we arrived, it was very slim pickings, I mean everything was ready for the dump. On our way out, I spied an old 45 rpm record box - the kind from the 50's with a handle on top. I went to look at it and it was full of mint condition singles by Dion, Elvis, and Ricky Nelson with the original picture sleeves. I asked the lady how much, and she said, would a quarter each be too much? And she said she would throw in the case. Doah! God strike me dead if I had had tried talking her down. I scored big time! And that's the kind of things that has lead to my collections. Beatles bubble gum cards, 1920's sheet music, and rare portraits of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. They all came by chance.

Dennis has collected far more than records. I'm hoping that someday the Dr. Dreary "Museum makes its way to Arizona. I can't wait to see the rarely seen Electro Lucent Mind Machine. I know he has it stashed away.

Was it common for acetates to be made? I believe there are some from the very early days. Did this practice continue through Muscle Of Love and did you automatically get one or did you have to request that?

Lastly, a lot of the 45's have mono and stereo versions. Where the mono versions a dedicated mono mix of just collapsed stereo?

We got acetates, but usually just one for the whole band's approval. Likely one for management, the producer, and the record company.
I didn't know about mono versions, however, I was there for the Quad mixes of B$B and MoL. The budget was tight due to it being a minor market, so a lot of it was basically double stereo with some exclusive "Easter Eggs" thrown in.
Because Joe and Shep had negotiated it into our contract, we had artist's approval on our album covers, therefore we would get two cardboard sheets with the front cover and the back cover art. The only cover that didn't pass our approval was the inner sleeve of B$B where the sailors are in front of the Nude Wrestling joint. They had cropped the photo and the girl, the pimp, and I were missing.

Dreary wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:50 pm

We got acetates, but usually just one for the whole band's approval. Likely one for management, the producer, and the record company.
I didn't know about mono versions, however, I was there for the Quad mixes of B$B and MoL. The budget was tight due to it being a minor market, so a lot of it was basically double stereo with some exclusive "Easter Eggs" thrown in.
Because Joe and Shep had negotiated it into our contract, we had artist's approval on our album covers, therefore we would get two cardboard sheets with the front cover and the back cover art. The only cover that didn't pass our approval was the inner sleeve of B$B where the sailors are in front of the Nude Wrestling joint. They had cropped the photo and the girl, the pimp, and I were missing.

I always felt the nude wrestling front and back pic should have been the cover. It could have come in a plain brown paper bag!

Do you feel the box was a mistake? The assembly instructions inside left everyone confused. Also did it rack up the price?

I read that Bob had a transistor radio in the studio so he could hear how some songs sounded on the radio. Is this true? Also how much fun was it watching Bob work?

The Brazilian MoL covers were the inside sleeve, and glossy. I have a copy. It's way better.
Hindsight is great. We paid extra for that box, but come on folks, it had a stain!!!

Having large speakers, small speakers, and a transistor radio for reference was standard studio practice. The Record Plant West had a '57 Chevy out back so bands could hear the mix from a dashboard speaker. These days, the vast majority of people listen to MP3's on earbuds.