LET'S ACTIVE
Sunday, 1 April 1984
Savoy Theater
144 West 44th Street
New York, New York 10036
USA
FLAC master, 24 December 2024, by elegymart:
Analog audience recording (stereo) {recorded by Gene Poole}: unknown mics/recorder > 1982-83 Maxell Epitaxial UD XLII 90-minute (Type II CrO2) analog audio cassette master > probably BBE Sonic Maximizer > 1982-83 Maxell Epitaxial XLII 90-minute (Type II CrO2) analog audio cassette {from the Gene Poole collection} > Sony TC-WE435 (azimuth adjustment) > Roland R05 (24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (audio cleanup, convert to 16/44) > SHNtool (fixed SBE) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (WAV > FLAC8).
Created this text file.
Total running time [45:23]
-----------------------------------------------------------
01 WLIR-FM intro [0:28]
02 Leader of Men [4:21]
03 Ring True [3:26]
04 Easy Does [3:23]
05 In Between [4:05]
06 Edge of the World [3:58]
07 Flags for Everything [3:02]
08 Co-star [3:06]
09 Ornamental [3:18]
10 Counting Down [4:10]
11 Room with a View [4:23]
12 Every Word Means No [3:54]
-- encore --
13 Make Up with Me [3:42]
Band line-up:
Mitch Easter – guitar, vocals
Faye Hunter – bass guitar, vocals
Sara Romweber – drums
Notes:
THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 227
Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which surfaced during the pandemic. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable in what has already been the mid-2020s norm.
Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this was the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and microphone malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety of mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up.
The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day.
Santa's coming down the upload chimney to clear out some more TGPC madness off the hard drive. What are we going to listen to today? Why it's another near-mystery tape from early 1984.
This one comes from a dub of a Let's Active show. Gene labeled the master of this as the Beacon, April 1st, 1984, but this dub as the Savoy, March 1984. Is this Beacon Theatre or the Savoy -- where Echo and the Bunnymen headlined? All evidence seems to point to this show as being from the Savoy. It is a 45-minute set, so if they were headlining it would have been extremely short. The set is introduced by WLIR, who promoted the Echo shows at the Savoy. The Beacon was also too big for either band to probably play at this point. Echo wouldn't play there until they returned to NYC four months later in August.
For other clues, let's actively turn to the tape. Around the 8:00 minute mark, Mitch makes a comment about some music he's hearing outside the venue filtering in; it sounds like he's saying "this is the second night in a row these people are playing ZZ Top" -- which lends more support to this being the April 1st show and not the March 31st show.
This was the day Marvin Gaye died, but RIP to Faye and Sara who have passed on in the prior decade.
As far as sound quality goes, there's a little bit of distortion in the intro as Gene is clearly dialing in the levels, and that distortion affects the start of the opening number a bit more on the master, but he ironed some of it out here presumably with the BBE.
Time hasn't been any better to Let's Active, but Robert Plant can't be entirely wrong praising them as one of his favorite 80's bands. Listen carefully, and there's enough evidence of people in the audience who don't care for them, and are impatiently waiting for the Echo and the Bunnymen set. But listen harder, and it'll confirm Percy was right -- you'll find yourself rewarded with a tightly played set of well-crafted alt/power pop tunes.
Enjoy,
elegymart
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