Jan 10, 2022

Just happy to be able to see the official release of 1979 NO NUKES footage!

My NO NUKES collectibles. Check four consecutive posts (04/25/2019 to 05/12/2019) on vinyl collectibles and another post (11/12/2020) on the laser disc. A white die-cut sleeve release on the lower row, second from the right, is a promotion-only interview disc titled MUSE VIEWS (Musicians United for Safe Energy, Inc. PROMO 12-1-79), although it does not feature Springsteen. I don't own the physical CD release of The Live Archive series from Nugs.net.

For me, 2021 had started with high anticipation for the official release of the two-night footage from the NO NUKES concerts in 1979 ever since I saw the promotional video clip for Letter To You  (see 11/12/2020). Fortunately, the year ended with what I anticipated for, although I craved the full shows rather than the excerpts from both nights. Old-timers know that before MTV's launch in the early 1980s and the success of BORN IN THE U.S.A., how scarce it was to have opportunities to watch his live performances on television that was the primary visual media, especially outside the U.S. (e.g., Even the three official tracks from the NO NUKES movie were rarely aired here). 

A flyer for the "No Nukes" movie scheduled for screening in Tokyo,
from 7th September to 4th October 2001,
at Shibuya Cine Palace
(which ceased operations in 2018)
.

Back then, I managed to obtain famous Largo 1978 and 1980 video cassettes and used to watch these bootlegged tapes over and over in a video booth at University Library (as VHS players were still luxury for poor students to purchase). Consequently, for better or worse, what is captured on the "Largo" tapes has set the standard live footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to me. Because of this, honestly, I had never been obsessed with any official live video/DVD/BD releases since his first ones without and with the E Street Band (i.e., IN CONCERT/MTV UNPLUGGED and LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY, respectively), until 1975's, 1978's, and 1980's tour concerts became available in three respective anniversary box sets for the three classic albums, BORN TO RUN, DARKNESS, and THE RIVER

Another long-awaited purchase: a recently purchased ultrasonic
vinyl-record cleaner (model no. HG01, HumminGuru, Hong Kong)
ran fully
during the winter holidays. The photo shows the washing
 operation of a Brazilian copy for the 1985 pressing of NEBRASKA
LP, the latest acquisition to examine whether or not the reissue
still carries the alternate version of My Father's House, just like
the first pressing released in 1982 (see 07/22/2019).
As is always the case with official releases, THE LEGENDARY 1979 NO NUKES CONCERTS has been critically analyzed and reviewed for overdubs, editing, or audio/visual sync issues by audiophiles, collectors, or die-hard fans. In fact, the substantial editing and overdubbing have already been known for years by comparing the officially released tracks from the soundtrack album (ASYLUM ML 801 for the U.S. LP issued in late 1979) with the circulating audience recordings, bootleg video clips uploaded on YouTube, or recent Live Archive release. Folks, forget about all these criticisms (although those kinds usually interest me a lot) and enjoy it as it is. I'm truly happy to be able to view the extraordinary performance during his peak period with full of energy, especially more than four decades after the first listening experience to the soundtrack version of Devil With The Blue Dress Medley on the radio when I was just a high school boy (see 04/25/2019). 

BTW, does anyone know what Bruce is doing near the audience during the rather extended bridge between Devil ... and Rave On on the first-night stage? The scene is viewable right before he kicks off the latter song (Note that the official release inserts Quarter To Three from the second night between the two tracks). Just curious.


5 comments :

  1. I believe this may have been the night where Bruce saw his ex-girlfriend, photographer Lynn Goldsmith in the front shooting pictures. There is a story somewhere that he asked her not to shoot his performance. He did pull her onstage apparently at some point. I know there are photos of that. But I am not sure exactly when he did it and not even sure it was at the show where he did Rave On.

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  2. Oh, never mind. Seems like the Goldsmith moment was night 2. Although maybe she was also shooting night 1 which prompted the outburst on night 2...

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your very interesting guessing.
      I think Bruce was confirming someone (a hall staff?) about how much time he had before the concert had to be ended since the overage charge must have been huge at the MSG.
      Probably a wrong idea, though.

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  3. That is possible, but venue staff probably would have been backstage or side stage rather than in the crowd. I suspect it was something involving fans or security down front

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  4. In that scene, Bruce seems to talk to a grumpy-looking security staff who looks similar but not identical to Mr. Jon Landau. And behind him, there is a silver-haired man who played the "hall manager" among Landau, David Geffin, and John Hall during the interruption of Detroit Medley just before Bruce made the emergency announcement (or is he the real hall manager?). He seems to help that Landau-like guy gets up. Could this give a clue to or a hint for what Bruce is doing? There might have been some accident involving security staff? Just curious because that scene didn't have to be included in the film.

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