(007737) Blondie 1978-11-06 Walnut Theatre, Philadelphia, PA (FLAC)

Blondie

Walnut Street Theatre

Philadelphia, PA

6 November 1978

Sound quality - EXCELLENT FM STEREO

Despite the initial lineage this sounds much better than the My Girlfriend's Back LP, and all other sources I have heard.

Original lineage

FM broadcast > ? > CD-R > EAC > Peak4 (track splitting only) > FLAC

Further actions

Audacity > Speed adjustment + minor gain level changes (described below) > CD Wave (track splitting) > you

Included in torrent file folder - (info only, though serious Blondie collectors / fans may find these useful):

* Blondie live 1978-79 KBFH FM sources - whither San Francisco Winterland 1978?

* Blondie Picture This Live cd - Philadelphia 6 Nov 78 tracks - suggested eq (final version)

* Blondie live 1998-2023 recommended selections

00 dj intro

01 In the sun

xx X Offender (removed - as on Picture This-Live / Blondie Live - Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980 cd).

03 Hanging on the telephone

xx Detroit 442 (removed - as on Picture This-Live / Blondie Live - Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980 cd).

05 Fan mail

xx Picture this (removed - as on Picture This-Live / Blondie Live - Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980 cd).

07 11:59

08 Pretty baby

09 (I'm always touched by your) Presence, dear

10 Sunday girl

xx Denis (removed - as on Picture This-Live / Blondie Live - Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980 cd).

12 I'm on E

13 I'm gonna love you too

14 Will anything happen?

xx Fade away and radiate (removed - as on Picture This-Live / Blondie Live - Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980 cd).

xx A shark in jets' clothing (removed - as on Picture This-Live / Blondie Live - Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980 cd).

xx I know but I don't know (removed - as on Picture This-Live / Blondie Live - Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980 cd).

18 One way Or another - despite being listed on the above cd, the cd features a different version of this song, thus this song stays

19 Get it on - featuring Johnny Thunders on guitar

21 Jet boy - featuring Johnny Thunders on guitar

22 radio outro

This is a powerful performance! On listening to this show recently and listening to it again, I have really grown to love it more!

I feel it's worth noting I used to think this show was a second best to the Boston November 78 show from two days before (also broadcast on FM radio too) - now I am less sure about that. The Boston show is muddier by comparison in terms of sound quality ... this does have some interference problems here and there, but oh my, does it rock! Even the aforementioned occasional radio interference and minor tape issues do not detract from listening through this once more. The bite of the guitars is excellent, and on that topic, some very nice lead guitar on Presence dear in the right channel! The drum sound is powerful on this show too - the drum is well mic'd and mixed - pounds along (as you would expect from Clem, of course!)

Some tracks from this show were indeed released officially. I have spent a lot of time working on how to eq the latter tracks to fit in the gaps here - not to add to this torrent, but so you can at home, if you so wish, have a go yourself. Some here will be adept at this already and have some ideas, others might discover more about what can be done, but don't just take my word for it, search out online tips and youtube advice, there's a lot that can be done nowadays in terms of eq-ing at home!

WANTED -

A copy of the BBC FM broadcast - in stereo - of Blondie at the London Lyceum 22 Nov 1998

I have so far received a mono FM version - keen to get a stereo FM version, my understanding it was broadcast on radio at the time, and there was a later re-broadcast too.

Tech stuff

The left channel overall was about 1db on average lower than the right channel. I brought up the gain on the left channel to address this, and the overall gain by 2 db as there was still plenty of headroom left, and this sort of gig to me demands to be heard.

1159 might have a couple of very minor drops in speed. Thing is, if that is what I am hearing, it's so minor it's more than I can easily fix - does seem to be a minor capstan issue with the source tape or broadcast there. That said the audio quality is better than other sources and it's so minor it's beaten by the clarity of the guitars drums and synths.

Multiple comparisons were carried out in ensuring the right speed was achieved on this. On the subject of speed correction. A friend of mine does not agree with speed correction, and feels re-sampling is the way. My position is this, having researched the topic, there are arguments that both resampling and speed correction can, depending on how they are carried out and the software used, have negative effects. I have not heard any using speed correction in Audacity, and my ears are good. That does not mean that someone else may not be able to hear a side effect of any speed correction done by me or anyone else. However given the time this takes and the number of old tape captures there are, my take is that few truly justify taking a professional engineering approach when a D90 or similar tape captured a concert on a handheld device in concert or at best an FM broadcast. The most professionally broadcast FM concerts usually seep out in multiple forms anyway.

https://mega.nz/file/EqtkhJRJ#YCAsslgK7qljeeSWmaj2y05A8NSm1or4fyiQJwMPlGk