Live Fanclub Singles Options

[mattdm11]

I haven't really seen any mention of fanclub releases since 2005....can anyone provide info for the 2006, 07 or 08 releases??

[SecretInsomnia]

I haven't really seen any mention of fanclub releases since 2005....can anyone provide info for the 2006, 07 or 08 releases??

you mean the holiday gifts? I never owned one, but as far as I know, there were no 07 and 08 releases, but just other things key hangers or something?). Dunno about 06, I think it was a media disc with (home) videos and without too many music.

[dangum]

2006 CD - front - http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/283/200...iftfrontzy7.jpg
2006 CD - back - http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3373/20...giftbackfv6.jpg

2007 - phone/camera holder, bottle opener and a sticker.

2008 - a laminated card with a link where you could download a couple of screen savers (Photos from Live at the Paradiso)

[mattdm11]

ok....so basically all junk and no music after 2005. That's what I thought. Thanks

[Badman]

This thread depresses me... SAGE SAGE!!

[SecretInsomnia]

2006 CD - back - http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3373/20...giftbackfv6.jpg

it lists The River video?? Hm... Wasnt that an error and the dic contained the videoclip for Wings ? Can be wrong tho, as I never onwed any of the gifts.

[Lebanon Corvalis]

2006 CD - front - http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/283/200...iftfrontzy7.jpg
2006 CD - back - http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3373/20...giftbackfv6.jpg

2007 - phone/camera holder, bottle opener and a sticker.

2008 - a laminated card with a link where you could download a couple of screen savers (Photos from Live at the Paradiso)

anyone have one for sale? 2006 cd.

LC

This post has been edited by Lebanon Corvalis: Sep 15 2009, 10:50 pm

[dangum]

it lists The River video?? Hm... Wasnt that an error and the dic contained the videoclip for Wings ? Can be wrong tho, as I never onwed any of the gifts.

A video was never made for 'Wings'.
I do recall there was an incorrect song title printed on one of the Holiday Gifts.. I can't remember which one though.

[SecretInsomnia]

A video was never made for 'Wings'.
I do recall there was an incorrect song title printed on one of the Holiday Gifts.. I can't remember which one though.

I didnt mean an official one . Just a video with footage or pics or whatever with the music of the song Wings.

[Distance to Me]

The song was Show, not Wings.

[swami]

Sadness.

I will briefly recall the historic FOL releases. Please do keep in mind my 4 rum'n'cokes, my 6 glasses of red, and my travels-by-foot.

1995: This FOL Gift is kinda unsure. There have been reports of it being one of two things: a) The Throwing Copper guitar tablature book, or b) The Beauty of Gray CD single [RARDM-54442].

1996: The first FOL Gift to be fully appreciated. This was a translucent 7" green vinyl, limited to a precise 1,000 copies. Not only that, it had exclusive pioneering artwork, and an exclusive reworking of Pillar of Davidson (a fan favourite) by a fucking VOCAL CHOIR!!!! This was an epic release. Consider the releases available to Live fans at the time....live versions of songs you've already heard live 100 times on bootleg cassette. Not to mention, the A-side was a remix of PLOTR that was only otherwise on a stupidly-obscure promo CD single which was never actually confirmed as existing until the mid-2000s by....well....me.

1997: A beautiful 10" vinyl. Clear. This was not like the 10" vinyls we'd seen from Live prior to this (all promos, and only two of them....plus NO purely clear vinyls). Again, a release with some monumental tracks. merica and Mirror Song live....neither of which had been regularly played at shows. And, in 1997, you could not rely on MP3 bootlegs to deliver such gems. PLUS...it was backed with a remix of Lakini's Juice (Sippin' on Lakini's Juice) which was, frankly, not unheard of. Good remix. But it was later released as simply "Lakini's Juice (Remix)". Boring? Yes.

1998: Probably one of the most interesting releases in the Live catalog. Though it only held claim to two (2) songs ([Freaks (Holier Than Now Zen Remix)] and Love My Way (Live)), it is remembered as an epic release for several reasons. First of all the "Holier" remix had sonic alterations from the recognized "Labor, Labor, Labor Remix". Most notably, the echo effect was more pronounced in the vinyl version. Secondly, this is the only fanclub release to see 2 separate pressings. Initially, the 10" vinyl was released exclusively on red vinyl. However, a screw-up was encountered where a limited number of vinyls were printed on a mix of red and blue vinyl. It is generally accepted among collectors that the two-colour vinyl is more sought-after.

1999: One could sense, even at such an early stage, that the "fanclub release" was due for a sharp decline in quality. This release featured...nothing new. It was a limited vinyl, sure. But the songs were well-known among fans. Vine Street and Sun (Loop Version). Vine Street was a song we'd PETITIONED for, and had received on the TDC single. Sun (LV) was GIVEN to us in August of 1999 when the promo vinyl single of TDC hit the radio market. Not at all bad songs, but nothing new...

2000: Here's a story:

An interesting story about how the 'Ghost' video finally surfaced: Sometime in 1997 or 1998, I was searching for rarities online, like I normally do. One of the stores I regularly visit had the promotional 'Ghost' VHS single listed for $20.00 USD. Instead of buying it right then and there, I told myself that I'd get it the next day, since it didn't seem like many people knew of this store. I went back to the website for the store the next day, and it was gone.

In 1999, the first website dedicated to Live's discography went up. It was a fansite called 'The Complete +Live+ Discography' and it was run by Lyn Urbanovsky. I was very impressed with how comprehensive this discography seemed, so I e-mailed Lyn to ask him how he knew of all this stuff. He told me that he owned most of it since he also collected. One thing he didn't have listed was the 'Ghost' promo video, so I informed him that it existed. To my surprise, he told me that he had it but he wasn't listing any promo videos. It didn't take us long to figure out that the video he had was the exact same copy that I was going to buy a few years prior. Lyn named me the store and the price. He was the one who beat me to it.

I had told people of the existence of this video for some time on the then-most-popular Live messageboard - 'Live-Web' (now shut down). I don't think a lot of people believed me, because I was unable to prove it. But now that I knew Lyn had it, maybe I could somehow clear the air around this video. After awhile, pressure to see this video started building, and Lyn encoded it to an MPEG file. The video was uploaded somewhere and on March 9th, 2000, any disbelief that the video existed was put to rest as fans downloaded the never-before-seen video from the net.

'Friends of Live' did not like this video being made public, much like how they don't like it when an unreleased song that isn't available anywhere leaks. They pouted for awhile, and then didn't say much about it again. Then, on November 1st, 2000, 'Friends of Live' announced that a previously unreleased music video would appear on the upcoming holiday gift. Sure enough, it was 'Ghost'.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I believe Lyn Urbanovsky and myself are largely responsible for getting this video onto the '2000 Friends of Live Holiday Gift'.

2001: I reckon this is where the whole thing started to take a dive. You got a CD in a Digipak with a few live versions nobody cared about....one exclusive remix (that sucked), and a screensaver they tried to pass off as an "Audio Visual Performance". In short, we were fed morsels of rehashed bollocks which was negatively received, and for good reason.

2002: Don't get me started. The few Dutch performances included are barely worth a mention. Let alone a $35/annum subscription bill.

2003: In an era where most DSL consumers were regularly downloading MP3s and videos off their preferred P2P networks, this release makes no sense. Do I give a damn about the Run Away video anyway? Precisely.

2004: I'll admit, by this point, it was a far distant dream to ever regain the quality and the respect of the 1990s FOL releases. But, I never thought it would come to this. Two songs we get to hear live (neither of which were close to being fan favourites), a 12-year-old remix renamed in shame, and some stills?!?!?!? Fuck off. For $35/annum, fuck off, surely.

2005: Didn't even bother subscribing, and have refrained henceforth. Do I give a damn about a lanyard, a coaster, a 3" diameter carbo-latex sticker, a signed 8.5"x11" 32lb glossy reproduction? No. So, everything they've slapped across our faces since mid-Iraq war has been toss-away.

In short: Bring back vinyl.