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THE WHO
Seattle 1980 [no label, 2CD]
Live at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, WA; April 15, 1980. Very good audience recording.
On September 7, 1978, drummer Keith Moon died from a drug overdose. For the subsequent tour and album, Kenney Jones, formerly of the Small Faces and the Faces, took over the drums. On December 3, 1979, a crowd crush at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio killed 11 fans. For The Who, picking up the pieces seemed hard but it certainly didn’t show in their live gigs.
There are some who feel that the JEMS team’s version of the Seattle 1980 show was one of the better recordings of The Who’s 1980 tour.
Thanks to MS who recorded the show; the JEMS team for mastering it; and to Butterking for sharing the tracks at Dime.
Original notes (BK for JEMS):
JEMS is pleased to inaugurate a new series of master transfer releases from our longtime comrade, MS.
MS started his taping in the late ’70s, and while he was extremely active covering the Grateful Dead out west, he branched beyond as well, recording hundreds of shows over the last 35 years. His base rig was a pair of Nakamichi 700 microphones (often on a pole) and a Sony D5 recorder, and with his years of experience taping the Dead, he worked harder than many to find the sweet spot and get his mics up and away from the audience when possible. He doubled up several shows that JEMS also recorded, but often times MS had the superior location and the better gear.
EDIT: This was taped from Row 6 on the floor, 30 feet from the speakers.
The first tape in the series is a good example of where MS garnered the superior pull. This was the first of two nights for the new Who in Seattle as ‘80 Who shows go, I find this a pretty spirited performance.
For better or worse, there’s a lot of Kenney Jones in the mix - I’m not sure I’ve ever heard cymbals and hi-hat ring through which such clarity on a recording from the old Seattle Center Coliseum. This is a dense and rich recording, another one where computer speakers won’t do it justice. The buzz you hear on occasions is in the PA.
There are several highlights across the set, including the little-played “Dreaming From the Waist,” “I Can See For Miles” and the horn-led cover of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street.” But the song that has always struck me from this show is an inspired reading of the instrumental “Sparks” from Tommy, which is played with real pace and purpose. I haven’t heard many better 1980 Who recordings, but you can be the judge. Samples provided.
Thanks so very much to MS for opening up his archive to us. We look forward to presenting more of his fine work in the coming months.
Linage:
MS master via JEMS
MS Archive Series No. 1
Recording gear: Nakamichi 700s > Sony D5
2013 Transfer: Maxell UD-XLIIS master cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A (azimuth-adjusted) > Sound Devices USBPre2 (24/96 Audacity 2.0 capture) > Peak 6.0 with iZotope Ozone > iZotope MBIT+ convert to 16/44.1 > FLAC
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (224 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
Please Do Not Hammer The Links. Due to the size of some of the files, please be very patient when downloading the tracks. It could be that the server was very busy. The tracks should still be around. Please try again later. Kindly email us at mybigo@bigozine.com if you encounter persistent problems downloading the files.
Disc 1
Track 101. Substitute 3:12 (5.4MB)
Track 102. I Can’t Explain 2:56 (4.9MB)
Track 103. Baba O’Riley 6:08 (10.3MB)
Track 104. My Wife 6:44 (11.3MB)
Track 105. Sister Disco 5:35 (9.4MB)
Track 106. Behind Blue Eyes 3:49 (6.4MB)
Track 107. Dreaming From the Waist 5:38 (9.5MB)
Track 108. Drowned 8:32 (14.3MB)
Track 109. Who Are You 6:51 (11.5MB)
Track 110. 5:15 5:54 (9.9MB)
56 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. Pinball Wizard 3:22 (5.7MB)
Track 202. See Me Feel Me 6:12 (10.4MB)
Track 203. Long Live Rock 4:10 (7.0MB)
Track 204. My Generation 2:34 (4.3MB)
Track 205. I Can See For Miles 4:47 (8.0MB)
Track 206. Sparks 5:14 (8.8MB)
Track 207. Won’t Get Fooled Again 10:47 (18.1MB)
Track 208. Young Man Blues 4:39 (7.8MB)
Track 209. Dancing In the Street 6:08 (10.3MB)
48 mins
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