It’s video weekend! Back in the late 80s/early 90s, I (and a lot of my friends) used to trade a lot overseas. It was a challenge trading videotapes with Europe since they used a different VHS video format and worldwide VCRs were $1000. In addition, a lot of bootlegs were being manufactured and distributed out of Italy- it was the hub of bootlegs. This was before email so you never really got to know your trading friend like you do today. It was like mailing tapes into a big black hole and hoping they would come back. Sometimes, they didn’t come back and you would hear stories about people being busted and their collections being bulldozed- that’s what I heard about this Italian trader. Luckily, I was never sucked into that whole legal aspect of things, probably because I never sold tapes…. or maybe it was dumb luck.

Anyway, here is one from the Italian trader whose name I have forgotten. It is an hour-long set of Alex Chilton from Italy in 1988. Sounds great for a video from back then. Picture is decent.

Recorded by: ?
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: JVC HRS9800 and Canopus ADVC300. I think I might have used TBC.