Mine was THIS IS AN UNAUTHORISED RECORDING OF PRINCE AND THE NPG LIVE VOL. 2, on SW Records. Part of the terrific Australian legal loophole in the mid-90's that allowed bootlegs to be released legally as long as the cover made it clear that it was unauthorised. My first studio boot was Charade, which I found in a second-hand store last week. I just flipped out when I found it, sitting in Egg Records Sydney. My friend Kramer and I ("Emancipation88" at the org) combined our money to buy it right there (incidentally, In All My Dreams = ).

What was your first bootleg? Factory-pressed only, no CD-R's or nothin'.

1988 ... the Black Album on vinyl

My first full bootleg was Testament/Funk City (thanks, you-know-who-you-are!) but I got given some unreleased songs before that; the first unreleased song I heard was Empty Room.

H2O - about 5 years ago

and it's still my favorite

'Charade' and after that 'Chocolate Box'. Both awful sounding by today's standards, but that wasn't the point.

It was really exciting collecting Bootlegs back then.

2 at the same time : The black album (cassette), and one vinyl which was given the bizarre name of "the pink album with white spots" - it's a fairly well known aftershow which I'm sure goes by other names as well (the one from Paris where he sings Mutiny, Just my Imagination, etc; "So teach me some french", "Encore!").

I haven't listened to it in ages as it's badly warped - and on that note - does anyone know how to unwarp vinyl ? I've had this one sitting under a heavy pile of books and stuff for over a year to flatten it out but it still looks more like a motocross track than an LP.

ThataintFunky said:

co-

AsylumUtopia said:

I don't think you can unwarp vinyl.

That's another boot i had way back. Had it on tape though. He did Jimi's Red House on that too. good boot, wish there was a clean version of that.

my first boots were a tape of the black album and a vinyl box set called "royal jewels".

something of shitty quality called rude boy. god that sound was awful. so, at the young age of 12, i learned to LISTEN to the boots at the record store first, then purchase!
[This message was edited Tue Jun 15 6:58:16 2004 by SassyBritches]

A bad quality bootleg called "The Chocolate Box" back in '87 I think...

Marrk said:

As I said, it's been a long time since I listened to it (due to the warp factor) but I seem to remember it being of extraordinarily good quality. It's the best quality live boot I've ever had anyway. I assume some versions are better than others, depending on how many clones away from the original source they are.

I knew it was a bit of a long shot, trying to de-warp vinyl. It's a pity it's so warped, if I still had my old decks I could record it, they had heavy arms that always hit the groove no matter how warped your vinyl. Sadly my modern (i.e. cheap plastic crap) turntable has such a light arm and tiny needle diamond that it just jumps all over the place and goes into a freak if you try to weigh it down. I prefer the old style 'if I don't find the groove I'm ploughing my own' turntable.

If I could only figure out how the damn thing got warped in the first place, and reverse the process...

funkadelic11 said:

co-co sign. then i got the nude tour on vinyl.

Marrk said:[quote
It was really exciting collecting Bootlegs back then.[/quote]

Yeah, I co-sign that... One had to go to record fares, or some cool second-hand shops... No internet Napster MP3s, no CD-Rs (I even got vinyl bootlegs...)

Anxiety said:

Co-sign. Got the cassette in '89, and the vinyl same year. Still have both as a matter of fact.

(1) black album on cassette.

(2) an edited version of Small Club called, "just my imagination".

good start.

Marrk said:

Ditto

Both back in 87 from the criminal formerly known as Chris Dawson from the Revolution shop



.
[This message was edited Tue Jun 15 8:37:11 2004 by Gav]

Didn't know what Boots were until I bought my first one...Septembre. It's still only one of a few "official" boots I have.

I had access to many many boots and I had no idea. I thought they were either songs released in a comp or a live recording. I had no idea that a live recording was a boot and was worth having.

MrSquiggle said:

My first is a DVD of the Purple Rain Tour 1985 - Syracuse NY. It was a broadcast show that was never "released"...and it's awesome! I hope this counts!

I think it is called 'Live at the Rex' from around 1993 / 1994? it's the Paris recording with lots of Gold experience songs on, I got it around 1995 just after seeing him live at Wembley doing TGE, I remember waiting for the official album to be released (didn't know at the time about the dispute regarding the release). It was at a record fair we just stumbled into and I saw it and paid 20 pounds (after having to run to the cash machine). I think the quality is ok but have not listened to it for a while now.

I also remember buying TGE and checking the CD to find the idiot at 'Our Price' in Bracknell had put the wrong CD in the case , luckily discovered this before getting home and spent the rest of summer listening to the album....arhhhh the good old days
[This message was edited Tue Jun 15 9:15:21 2004 by g3ajg]

Oh, wait - one more!

I inadvertently bought a bootleg! I thought I was purchasing The Black Album from an authorized seller on Amazon... it was a boot! Quality was kind of poor - but it had two extra songs on it, one was "Old Friends for Sale"... I forget the other, I gave it to a friend as it was supposed to be his bday gift... but I eventually found another (real) one and gave him that one too Amazon refunded me, BTW!

Gav said:

Ditto


.

1989 ... the Black Album on vinyl

I heard "Rebirth Of The Flesh" in a weka sto when they used 2 sell bootlegs

then it was never the same 4 me again.

Gav said:

GOD DAMN! You guys are bringing back memories!!, haven't heard that bastard's name in a long time!!!, by the way does anyone remember a little mag called 'Dream Nation'

3bogs said:

ooh, i have that Small Club vinyl too. That was probably like the third boot I bought.

my 1st boot was charade lp vinyl mid 80's

does anyone kno if theres a cd boot of charade ???

The Black Album on CD in 1990 or so. It had "All My Dreams" and "Old Friends 4 Sale" tacked onto the end.

I thought I had found the Holy Grail!

[b]BLACK ALBUM ON VYNAL