Recorded by: Steve Vanoni
Month: December 1988
Earwigs- Unknown Location, New Years, Unknown year Part 1. Late 80s?
Recorded by: Steve Vanoni
Flower Leperds- House Party at Rick, Dan & Kevin’s, Azusa Ca 12/31/88 xfer from 1st gen off band VHS
Starting early with the posts today to ensure everyone gets some time with the music before celebrating new years. I hope everyone’s 2026 is better than 2025.
This is one of the shows that Tony sent to me back in 1989, packed on a 6 hour VHS tape. Tons of shots of the crowd, so if you are from the L.A. scene, look for your friends.
Recorded by: Jerry Venemann
Transfer by: Shayne stacy
Equipment used: JVC HR-S VCR (9800 or 9911u)-Canopus ADVC300
Natalie Merchant- KCRW Snap Live in Studio and Interview, Santa Monica Ca 12/28/88 high gen tape
Alright, 2 early ones for you today. This first one is probably the highest generation tape I have ever posted. From what I can see online, there are no good copies of this one. It was so sped up from high speed dubbing that I time stretched it by 12 PERCENT and it still sounds a little fast to me. Izotope did a nice job of de-hissing it. It’s as good as it’s gonna get.
Long interview w/Natalie and Deirdre O’Donoghue, plus Natalie on piano. Really cool performance. Sounds like the first time “eat for two” was performed.
Recorded by: ?
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Nakamichi Dragon and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
Pitch correction in Sony Sound Forge 10
De hiss in Izotope RX8 Spectral Denoise
Attitude- The Stone, San Francisco Ca 12/28/88 xfer master audio cassette Sony WMD3 Punk Adjustment
Let’s hit up Gary Shurtleff’s collection of audiotapes for today’s post. I posted Death Angel from this show last month and here is Attitude’s opening set. This one sounds good, but not quite as good as Death Angel’s set. I had lost track of Attitude at this point- I saw them at The Place in Davis in June of 1988, and that was the last time I ever saw any of them perform. It’s nice to hear that Rick Strahl is still active- his new project (Anti-Trust) is great. You should check it out. anti-trust.rocks is the url.
I thought that this was toward the very end of Attitude’s run before they morphed into Two Bit Thief, but setlist dot fm shows them playing Attitude shows until the end of 1989. This might be the latest documented show from the band.
Recorded by: Gary Shurtleff
Equipment used: Sony WM-D3
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Nakamichi Dragon and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
EQ in Sony Sound Forge 10
Death Angel- Stone, San Francisco Ca 12/28/88 xfer from master audio cassette Sony WMD3 Thrash Metal
This one comes from another collection that I have had here for quite a while but have not digitized anything in years. I think that last one was that NOFX Gilman 1988 soundboard. Thanks for the patience, Gary! His VHS videos are also being digitzed- some good stuff in there.
Doing these tapes got me talking to Gary, and unbeknownst to me, he was taping with a pro walkman in 1988. That was even before Anonymous 1 and I got ours (1989)!. He taped some really nice sounding shows that I’ll be popping up here in the coming months.
I figured I would start with this one, since DA is playing their annual Christmas shows this weekend. This one sounds really good for the time- there is some light tape damage so the first 3 minutes suffer from some wow/flutter/warble. Once the high end kicks in, it’s smooth sailing.
Recorded by: Gary Shurtleff
Equipment used: Sony WM-D3
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Nakamichi Dragon and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
EQ in Sony Sound Forge 10
Operation Ivy- Danceteria, Sacramento Ca 12/26/88 VIDEO
I bought my first video camera in 1988 just so I could video tape Operation Ivy. This is probably the best of the videos I did of them, as the lighting is good and the performance is great. One of the few Clear and Distinct Ideas shows (Stewart Katz) I ever did.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment Used:Â Aiwa CV80 camera with stock microphone
7 Seconds- Danceteria, Sacramento Ca. 12/26/88 Part 1 Transfer from Master Tape
I think this was the last Clear & Distinct show I went to. Stewart Katz was our promoter in town from the early ’80s, starting at Club Minimal until the late ’80s. I caught up with him last year and hear some awesome stories. Thanks Stewart for bringing awesome bands to town- the bills back then were crazy. Also shown in this video (in the background) is my good friend and drummer of my band, Scott Oakes. Rest in Peace buddy. This was 26 years and 1 day ago. I am old. Sorry for the audio, this was before I bought a mic that did not suck.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Operation Ivy- Danceteria, Sacramento Ca. 12/26/88 Live xfer from Master Enhanced
With this one, I attempted to brighten the video and it did not turn out well. This version has been de-noised with neat video. It is still a bit dark but much cleaner.
I also have a different audio source from “anonymous” that we can hopefully synch one day.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
7 Seconds- Danceteria, Sacramento Ca. 12/26/88 xfer from 8mm master enhanced Live
Here is the very last band to play a Clear and Distinct Ideas show. 7 Seconds headlined Stewart’s last show ever. I cranked the brightness all the way up, please let me know if those stage lights are too annoying.
This is a fun video to watch if you like to hear Steve’s bass lines, not so much if you want to hear Kevin. I have an audience tape that was recorded FOH if anyone wants to synch it for me. REMINDER: I need help with edits, and audio/video synchs. As I work my way through my old masters, I am also digging out audience and soundboard masters that me & “Anonymous” recorded. Holler if you want to help!
PS: I think John Muheim was in my way for a lot of this show, before we knew each other!
PPS: Many appearances by Scott Oakes, who worked stage security. I miss that guy, it’s nice to see him here.
Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment Used: Aiwa CV80 and stock mic
Enhancement: Adobe Premiere increase brightness and exposure, denoise with neat video.