TheDigitalGardener said:

Hell I even remember being able to buy bootlegs from some of the smaller record shops where I lived, it really was "pssst, I have this for you," really under the counter stuff...hehe.

I remember you had to call boots "imports" when tallking to the clerks. If you called them bootlegs they would play dumb and not sell them too you!

It really was like buying drugs on the street corner... hilarious!!

802 said:

Why should you get all nostalgic about giving money to people who don't deserve it?

Nobody's nostalgic about the price... that's the one thing we ALL agree we don't miss!

It's the hunt, the discovery ...and the underground communtiy! That's what we're nostalgic about.

chocolate1 said:

The DigitalGardener said:

Hell I even remember being able to buy bootlegs from some of the smaller record shops where I lived, it really was "pssst, I have this for you," really under the counter stuff...

I had my guy too!

itsjustaroundthecorner said:

I love this post! I remember trolling around Revolver Records, Bleeker Bobs and Rebel Rebel in NYC hoping to find something new. I remember the Jewel Box blew my mind. And the live stuff just was so addictive. Prince can say what he wants about the boots. But they made me a true Prince junkie. Songs like Desire, Sex of it, all day all night were too good to be ignored. Plus, it was fun knowing you were part of this 'purple underground'

Yes!

I live in NJ, so they would be "day trips" with my friend.

me too,, i was about 12 and i grew up in staten island... i would take the ferry and train by myself, hoping to find some new prince stuff!!!

oh and also, sometimes, you'd get a great pen pal,, that would send you some awesome things .. .it was a different experience... probably not better or worse for those who didnt grew up with it... but for me,, the challenge made the reward that much sweeter.

802 said:

vitriol said:

Why should you talk about things you don't know because you didn't live them? It's so easy to talk when you have no fucking clue what you're talking about...

Back in the day, it was 'worthwhile' to pay money for a crappy boot because there was so little stuff in circulation, so the few people who actually bothered putting those gems in our hungry hands, in a way, 'deserved' that money.

Currently, there's a growing tendency to still buy boots (either pressed or on CDr) when you have 1001 possibilities to get that stuff for free. That is what I don't understand.

[Edited 8/28/11 4:08am]

[Edited 8/28/11 4:09am]

It's never worthwhile to give money to bootleggers. If you pay for music, the money should go to the artists. And while I didn't live this, I have seen actual pressed bootlegs at record stores. Many times.

It's never worthwhile NOW, because of the internet. In 1987 it was VERY worth it!!

I know I wasn't willing to wait for the Black Album to come out in 1994...

The mid to late 90s were really great in terms of quality of material - there were a lot of amazing releases where production and DTP was really coming into it's own. All those 3CD sets with lavish full colour booklets and artwork, it was really a wonder. Before then it was a lot more hit and miss, but there were still so many releases, and it was lots of fun finding them out, and many of them showed the love in producing them too.

Nostalgia is nice, but don't forget a lot of people bought a lot shit quality bootlegs to figure out which were good and which were bad. Now things are more free flowing, and live shows continue to appear quicker than ever even, but studio material has all but dried up except for the odd bone here and there. At the end of the day, freedom of information is never a bad thing - I'm sure we all like downloading and hearing about stuff hot off the press

NouveauDance said:

The mid to late 90s were really great in terms of quality of material - there were a lot of amazing releases where production and DTP was really coming into it's own. All those 3CD sets with lavish full colour booklets and artwork, it was really a wonder. Before then it was a lot more hit and miss, but there were still so many releases, and it was lots of fun finding them out, and many of them showed the love in producing them too.

Nostalgia is nice, but don't forget a lot of people bought a lot shit quality bootlegs to figure out which were good and which were bad. Now things are more free flowing, and live shows continue to appear quicker than ever even, but studio material has all but dried up except for the odd bone here and there. At the end of the day, freedom of information is never a bad thing - I'm sure we all like downloading and hearing about stuff hot off the press

Ah, yes...

Going to a record show, finding a table full of Prince boots, and having no idea which ones contained the jewels and which ones contained a concert taped on a walkman in somebody's pocket in nosebleed seats.... The thing was, they all cost the same so it could be difficult to choose which to buy, hoping you picked a good one. (Or several good ones!)

I still have Uptown magazine's Bootleg issues. The one's where they had a list of every known bootleg complete with cover scans, track lists, and a review of the quality of the recordings. Those issues helped me make smart decisions with my bootleg budget more than once...

Back in the late 80s I used to look forward to the record fair held in Middlesbrough town hall crypt once every three months or so. They were exciting times, you had no idea what was going to be for sale and for the most part what the audio quality would be like. It was always great to get home and realise you've got copy of a gig in great quality.

The internet has allowed me to amass a huge boot collection that I would never have been able to acquire but I miss the buzz of the record fairs, although I don't miss forking out the cash I did on boots back in the day.

LOL, so true, so true. I remember going to record conventions and you always had to look cool when you asked an exhibitor if he had any "live" or "special" albums. Those were always under the table, lest the cops walk in.

Every time you'd get a call - on your landline, because that was all there was back then - that a friend had got something new in, it was Christmas.

And all the people that talked smack because they had something no one else had...LOL.

ARock said:

I don't get what ur trying to say bud. R u mad that u had to scavenge and search and pay for boots when we can all get it free in the interweb. I mean don't get me wrong I totally understand the thrill aspect of the search but the same can go 4 the internet. U can search and search the different sites and when u finally find that boot isn't it the same reward only free?

Not mad at all. Just sorta fondly looking back on the old days of searching and finally getting some great "new" music by the man and the work involved in getting it. I then realized that the fans that have JUST got into him within the past 5-10 years will never know how much work went into being the hardcore fans we've become today.

Hell, I LIKE the fact that things have become tons easier (relatively speaking) when it comes to finding and getting highly-sought after goodies!!! And that fact that they're so easy to store.

Like my last sentence said, just takin' a stroll down good ol' Memory Ln!

vitriol said:

802 said:

Why should you get all nostalgic about giving money to people who don't deserve it?

Why should you talk about things you don't know because you didn't live them? It's so easy to talk when you have no fucking clue what you're talking about...

Back in the day, it was 'worthwhile' to pay money for a crappy boot because there was so little stuff in circulation, so the few people who actually bothered putting those gems in our hungry hands, in a way, 'deserved' that money.

Currently, there's a growing tendency to still buy boots (either pressed or on CDr) when you have 1001 possibilities to get that stuff for free. That is what I don't understand.

[Edited 8/28/11 4:08am]

[Edited 8/28/11 4:09am]

Thank you, Vitriol!! It's real easy for the newbies to sit there and wonder why we'd do this or that. But, the reality is they would never get it because they never had to do it. Never had that be the ONLY option there was in order to get this stuff.

Hell, we had to scour second-hand record shops for some pressed discs (and even LPs) at the time, and it wasn't like money wasn't gonna change hands there. So yeah, we had to give up some funds some times, and 7-8 times out of 10, I didn't regret it!!

It was all hard work, but all of that was washed away when I was jammin' to "Heaven" in my car or on my walkman, listening to something that no one in a 50-mile radius (or so I thought) had ever heard of. And I was glad cuz I felt like I had an exclusive to the best ear sex this side of heaven!! LMAO!

djThunderfunk said:

I still have Uptown magazine's Bootleg issues. The one's where they had a list of every known bootleg complete with cover scans, track lists, and a review of the quality of the recordings. Those issues helped me make smart decisions with my bootleg budget more than once...

I remember doing that too! Using highlighter markers on the ones I wanted to buy next time!

I think this is partly where quality of the packaging came from, it was a signal that said this was a good set - the material, the info, the graphics - it all became a factor.

NouveauDance said:

djThunderfunk said:

I still have Uptown magazine's Bootleg issues. The one's where they had a list of every known bootleg complete with cover scans, track lists, and a review of the quality of the recordings. Those issues helped me make smart decisions with my bootleg budget more than once...

I remember doing that too! Using highlighter markers on the ones I wanted to buy next time!

I think this is partly where quality of the packaging came from, it was a signal that said this was a good set - the material, the info, the graphics - it all became a factor.

djThunderfunk said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Hell I even remember being able to buy bootlegs from some of the smaller record shops where I lived, it really was "pssst, I have this for you," really under the counter stuff...hehe.

I remember you had to call boots "imports" when tallking to the clerks. If you called them bootlegs they would play dumb and not sell them too you!

It really was like buying drugs on the street corner... hilarious!!

Haha, I'd forgotten all about that. I thought that was just a UK thing.

And what about the pressed CD labels? There was some funny spellings/album names printed on those early ones in order sneak past the officials. Small Club, I remember is attributed to someone else, as is my original black album & Crystal Ball.

And as for 'Love Simple's Interactive Night' featuring such tracks as 'Peter Technic' & 'Veramon'... So funny. God, I still love that CD. Might dig it out and play it, it's been a few years

Thanks for the nostalgia trip

I never really collected boots because they were always expensive, and I never knew what I was getting. I do remember when Napster came out, and trying to download stuff on dial-up. We have it way too good now, and it's only getting better.

I would also like to say thank you for all the hard work y'all have put together.

[Edited 8/28/11 12:03pm]

fever said:

I never really collected boots because they were always expensive, and I never knew what I was getting. I do remember when Napster came out, and trying to download stuff on dial-up. We have it way too good now, and it's only getting better.

I would also like to say thank you for all the hard work y'all have put together.

[Edited 8/28/11 12:03pm]

Yeah, when Napster came, it was like a free-for-all!! That was a good way for me to start "digitizing" my collection, as I had a lot of what was on there, but it was in LP, VHS, or CD format.

fever said:

I never really collected boots because they were always expensive, and I never knew what I was getting. I do remember when Napster came out, and trying to download stuff on dial-up. We have it way too good now, and it's only getting better.

I would also like to say thank you for all the hard work y'all have put together.

[Edited 8/28/11 12:03pm]

but thats ther thing though

THEY WERE NEVER EXPPENSIVE

only when cds were introduced and more of the fancier artwork came along

oh yes i have dozens of very cheap TDK90's !!!

jonylawson said:

fever said:

I never really collected boots because they were always expensive, and I never knew what I was getting. I do remember when Napster came out, and trying to download stuff on dial-up. We have it way too good now, and it's only getting better.

I would also like to say thank you for all the hard work y'all have put together.

[Edited 8/28/11 12:03pm]

but thats ther thing though

THEY WERE NEVER EXPPENSIVE

only when cds were introduced and more of the fancier artwork came along

oh yes i have dozens of very cheap TDK90's !!!

Yeah, but with trading tapes it was harder, at least where I live, to get good quality sound. By the time I got copies, they sounded pretty bad. I would buy CDs & vinyl for the higher generation quality. And that... was expensive. Very expensive.

jonylawson said:

fever said:

I never really collected boots because they were always expensive, and I never knew what I was getting. I do remember when Napster came out, and trying to download stuff on dial-up. We have it way too good now, and it's only getting better.

I would also like to say thank you for all the hard work y'all have put together.

[Edited 8/28/11 12:03pm]

but thats ther thing though

THEY WERE NEVER EXPPENSIVE

only when cds were introduced and more of the fancier artwork came along

oh yes i have dozens of very cheap TDK90's !!!

Yeah, me too. And in my case, Memorex's or BASF's, too. I would damn near cry if and when I heard the tape start to get chewed up in the player. Lol!

I remember getting the Black Album on cassette with tracks like We Can Funk, Wonderful Ass, Can't Stop This Feeling I Got, Witness 4 The Prosecution, In A Large Room With No Light, and Strange Relationship. And, it certainly was lower (or is it higher) than 2nd generation, so it had that added bass factor. We Can Funk and Wonderful Ass were (and still are) funkier than a muthafucka!!!!!!!

802 said:

Why should you get all nostalgic about giving money to people who don't deserve it?'

This gets annoying. You're right, the guy pressing and selling the boot probably doesn't deserve to profit from Prince's work. However, those downloading unauthorized recordings aren't innocent. Prince hasn't authorized anyone to record and distribute his performances. Those criticizing the sellers or buyers of bootlegs are hypocrites. I doubt Prince or anyone in his camp distinguishes between those downloading his music for free from those buying the unauthorized recordings.

derrick31 said:

Speaking of hypocrites, who do you think helped kickstart bootlegging when he 'released' the Black Album & countless other recordings?

And who helped encourage file-sharing in the early 00's when he encouraged NPGMC members to hunt out and swap tracks from other countries in order to complete their copies of c-note?

But well done, I'm sure you'll get a gold star, now Prince has decided he's against that kinda thing.

Sorry Prince, you left the stable door open, the horse has bolted.

vitriol said:

Currently, there's a growing tendency to still buy boots (either pressed or on CDr) when you have 1001 possibilities to get that stuff for free. That is what I don't understand.

It is not about getting stuff.

It is about storage.

djThunderfunk said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Hell I even remember being able to buy bootlegs from some of the smaller record shops where I lived, it really was "pssst, I have this for you," really under the counter stuff...hehe.

I remember you had to call boots "imports" when tallking to the clerks. If you called them bootlegs they would play dumb and not sell them too you!

It really was like buying drugs on the street corner... hilarious!!

I remember this guy selling the cassette of the "Black Album" for $20 here in Los Angeles at Tower Records on Sunset. I can't believe that I got that cassette in 1987...boy, that takes me back.

But, I am so thankful for technology. I'm old school hardcore, but this is so much better than waiting for any new concert or new music from Prince. Now I can get my Prince fix daily.

udo said:

vitriol said:

Currently, there's a growing tendency to still buy boots (either pressed or on CDr) when you have 1001 possibilities to get that stuff for free. That is what I don't understand.

It is not about getting stuff.

It is about storage.

If I still got all my boots on CD, I could BUILD a house out of them

udo said:

It is not about getting stuff.

It is about storage.

Absoluteely not!

In your case it's all about promoting Sabotage sales.

i remember spending $100 on the "small club, 2nd show that night" cd boot and NEVER regretting it. this was sometime in '89 and i didnt even own a cd player yet! got one the next day, lol. (had plenty of boots on vinyl. remember seeing my first boot , sweden '87 on double vinyl, and i couldnt wait to get it home.)

lots of disappointing boots for $25-$40 a pop, let me tell you. my first black album on cd was recorded a little too fast.......i didnt even know it for months.

derrick31 said:

I doubt Prince or anyone in his camp distinguishes between those downloading his music for free from those buying the unauthorized recordings.

He sure does.

In his own words: free trading is less despicable.

vitriol said:

udo said:

It is not about getting stuff.

It is about storage.

Absoluteely not!

In your case it's all about promoting Sabotage sales.

Please show me where you didn't and I did that numerous times.
Storage it is.

And yes, Eye records will be quicker.

alexnvrmnd777 said:

These days, you can get entire catalogs in one swoop, with no work at all.

And then they bitch that it's in FLAC.

BartVanHemelen said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

These days, you can get entire catalogs in one swoop, with no work at all.

And then they bitch that it's in FLAC.

Yes, you more easily rip a CD to MP3z...