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Penelope Houston- Frankfurt, Germany June 1994 TV Broadcast Multicam Live Video

I understand that most people know Penelope from her time in The Avengers, but I have always loved her late 80s/early 90s work with Birdboys and other acoustic musicians as much, if not more.

I urge you to stop doing whatever you are doing and watch this. SO GOOD. Forward to 22min and listen to “Waiting Room”. Just gorgeous.

and thanks to Penelope, this music was my gateway to all of the SF/Davis/Bay “alternative” music such as Movie Stars, Camper Van Beethoven, Wannabe Texans, and many more.

Recorded for german TV. Transfer from 1st gen VHS.
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: JVC HRS9800U/Canopus ADVC300

Live Concert Video
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Penelope Houston- KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, Santa Monica Ca. 7/9/93 DAT Master Audio Avengers

I am a bit oversensitive to smooth-voiced “NPR Like” radio hosts. I can usually tolerate them OK, and I think that most MBEs have some good interview segments. This one just rubbed me the wrong way. Let me know if you pick up any unnecessary arrogance or smarm in the interview.

Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Sony DTC-690 home deck recorded off FM
Transfer equipment: Sony PCM-R500 and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card

Audio
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Penelope Houston- NDR Studio Hamburg Germany 2/25/93 xfer from DAT Clone Live FM

Here’s a really nice quality FM show that I received in a DAT trade back in the 90s. It must have come from one of my German trading pals- probably Stef Kullik or Andreas Claus. This was taped off of FM by a friend of theirs- my tape is the 2nd clone.

Recorded by: ?
Transfer by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Sony PCM-R500 and M-Audio Audiophile 2406 card

Audio Live Performance
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Penelope Houston- Starry Plough, Berkeley Ca 1/4/92 DAT Audience master Nakamichi CM300

One of the downsides of having one of the early portable DAT machines was that they were plagued with issues. Sometimes the rechargeable battery packs would just conk out early in the middle of a set, and other times, the deck would just die completely and I would need to send it back to Sony for repair. This probably happened 5 times over the life of the TCD-D3. So, if you see gaps in DAT recordings from me, you know why.
Anyway, something happened here and I did not get the full set, which is a shame because this show sounds much better than the October 91 show I posted last week. Oh well, happy to have captured the 29 minutes here. Good stuff!

Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Sony TCD-D3 and Nakamichi CM-300 mic
Transfer Equipment: Sony PCM-R500 and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card

Audio Live Concert
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Penelope Houston- Starry Plough, Berkeley Ca 10/19/91 DAT Master Tape xfer Nakamichi CM300 Avengers

This was a memorable night. Craig Hilmer was in town fromt he midwest. We had traded tapes for years but this was the first time we met face to face. The Bernat brothers came up from San Diego for the occasion as well. We were trying to figure out what to do for the night. I was lobbying to see Penelope at Starry Plough because both the artist and venue are awesome, and the Bernats were trying to persuade Craig to go to Beat Farmers at Slim’s. We decided on Penelope. I had a few too many pints and crashed on Craig’s hotel room floor. I woke up the next day extremely hung over and drove home while the Oakland hills were on fire. Very surreal.
Penelope played 2 sets, almost 2 hours of music and no repeats. Great stuff!

Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Sony TCD-D3, Nakamichi CM-300 mic

Audio Live Concert
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Penelope Houston- Palms, Davis Ca. 10/5/91 Audio Only Live xfer from DAT Master Avengers

I am surprised about the lack of discussion around The Palms’ closing/indefinite hiatus announcement. The Davis venue was a magical place, probably my favorite venue ever. You could see renowned artists in an extremely intimate setting. Just drive to davis, get off the freeway, drive toward the 2 palm trees, park in the driveway of their home, and go into the barn. It seemed to bring out the best in the performer, along with respect from the audience.
That’s why I picked this recording for today. Penelope (at times) played songs that were so soft that even low voices would interfere with the performance… but the crowd was so quiet… just amazing.

I’m going to miss The Palms.

Recorded by: Shayne Stacy
Equipment used: Sony TCD-D3 DAT and Nakamichi CM-300 mic.
Transfer via sony PCMR500 and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card

Audio Live Concert