The Blasters - San Diego 1985, Spin Radio Concert

While SilentWay is cleaning up anything that might give the Digital Overlords a case of the fantods, I'm going to be moving a few posts over from FBSVIP.   Here's a Golden Oldie from a few years back....along with my notes at the time:

This is my first try at digitizing a SPIN Radio Concert. Here’s what I've put together from searches on the Internet:

SPIN Magazine launched in 1985. SPIN Radio Concerts were distributed to promote the magazine in 1985 and 1986. Distribution was on 2 LPs. Initially, two versions of the show were prepared, one with commercials and the other without. The records are numbered sequentially with an ascending alpha-numeric code following the pattern: C-001, C-002, C-003….or NC-001, NC-002, NC-003, with C = Commercial and NC = non-commercial.  Sometimes there are additional letters or numbers appended to the basic code.  The first show (Green On Red) didn't have a number.  According to Billboard, the Blasters were the second show in the series.   There's a Eurythmics show numbered as 001, though.  Perhaps it was broadcast later, or else Billboard was wrong.

Unlike most syndicated radio shows, national commercials weren’t included (at least at first...). The short commercials promoted SPIN Magazine, and spaces were left for insertion of local advertising spots. Live concert segments are interspersed with a band member in the studio discussing their music.

I have seen Ebay listings for Green On Red (no number given, but Billboard says it was the first show), Eurythmics 001, Blasters 003, Minutemen 004, Husker Du 005, Del Fuegos 006, Fear 007, Jesus & Mary Chain 008, Circle Jerks 009, and 10,000 Maniacs 011.  The Minutemen, Fear and Jesus Mary Chain shows also included tracks from other artists.  These shows are sub-labeled "Radio Underground" and the BBE Records logo has been added to the disc label.  The Radio Underground shows have an "U" appended to the number code.

Regarding this Blasters show, an article in SPIN said, “The Blasters, incidentally, will be the second artists featured in our new, 90 minute radio concert SPIN radio concert series. Our first concert, with Green On Red, airs around the middle of September, on different dates in different cities.”  While this article says 90 minutes, this Blasters show is only about 60 minutes long.  It's possible that with the insertion of local commercial spots, the show would have totaled 90 minutes.

There was also a sixty minute promotional cassette issued in August 1985 that had "excerpts from the Spin Radio Concert Series."  The cassette featured three groups:.  Blasters (San Diego Sports Arena); Green on Red (I-Beam, San Francisco); Del Fuegos (Spirit Club, San Diego).  It's LIKELY that these are sourced from the same concerts as the SPIN radio shows, but I haven't heard this cassette so I can't say for sure.  If they are the same, this gives us the venue for the Blasters show.  During the show itself, they only say the Blasters are playing "live from San Diego."

Just a few months after this series started, it looks like there was a split between the magazine and the radio show.

The 10,000 Maniacs show included a letter dated July 31, 1986 stating that Radio Underground is “no longer affiliated with SPIN Magazine and this will be the last concert that will carry the SPIN name."

In spite of that, the shows by Modern English numbered 012, Fine Young Cannibals 013, Cactus World News 0014, Meat Puppets 015, and Smithereens 016 continued the SPIN numbering system.  At this point, they may have dropped the "C" prefix and eliminated the SPIN commercials, as I've only seen "NC" copies.  Eliminating the "SPIN" name from the record disc labels took longer.   I’ve seen a picture of the FYC disc and it still has the SPIN logo.  However, the Smithereens no longer has it.

There’s a magazine ad that says these later shows were distributed by ERI (Entertainment Radio Inc.) under the name “Special Forces Concert," but that may not be true of all of them.   That looks like they were seeking a new sponsorship partner.  ERI lists an address of 11684 Ventura Blvd. in Los Angeles, while this earlier Blasters show is from SPIN Radio, 1965 Broadway New York City.  Some of the discs list both New York City and Los Angeles addresses on the label.

The Cactus World News show also includes a flyer stating the discs are “…a replacement for the SPIN Radio Concert. SPIN has terminated sponsorship of the concert program.” However, the front cover still has the SPIN logo on it. The Smithereens show includes a letter dated October 1986 mentioning a recent Red Lorry Yellow Lorry show that was ONLY sent to stations that took the time to return the affidavits of broadcast.

After this, it looks like the concerts were discontinued but SPIN continued programming with shows featuring album tracks.   Given the address change, and having to distribute two letters stating they were no longer affiliated with SPIN, something was going on... .I know SPIN temporarily discontinued publication in 1987 when Guccione, Sr. pulled the plug on the project and Guccione Jr. had to relocate and relaunch, but this predates that issue by months.

Records were cleaned with Titebond II wood glue. I declicked the files in Audacity. I don’t have the cues sheets. I scanned the four disc labels. Flac files of wavs. Commercials and deejay are tracked, but several tracks are cross-faded, so check before you leave them out. I’m not sure of the spelling of the deejay’s name, so it’s a guess. The mix seems to have the guitars a bit low (that’s my taste, not a criticism). I have one commercial disc (C-003) and one non-commercial disc (NC-003, so I suspect a mix-up somewhere.  If you like this, I recommend you buy “Testament – The Complete Slash Recordings” by the Blasters.

Blasters
San Diego
Most likely recorded 1985
SPIN Radio Concert NC-003 (Sides 1 and 2), C-003 (Sides 3 and 4)

01. Crazy Baby
02. Spin - Corey Starr
03. American Music
04. Interview - Dave Alvin
05. Long White Cadillac
06. Help You Dream
07. Interview- Dave Alvin
08. One Red Rose
09. Border Radio
10. Spin - Corey Starr
11. Rock and Roll Will Stand
12. Interview - Dave Alvin
13. Lights Out
14. Interview - Dave Alvin
15. Just Another Sunday
16. Trouble Bound
17. Spin - Corey Starr
18. Dark Night
19. Interview - Dave Alvin
20. Somebody Done Hoodooed The Hoodoo Man
21. Interview - Dave Alvin
22. No Other Girl
23. Spin - Corey Starr
24. Spin Commercial - Beat Farmers
25. Spin - Corey Starr
26. Interview - Dave Alvin
27. Jubilee Train
28. I'm Shakin'
29. Interview - Dave Alvin
30. Marie Marie
31. Interview - Dave Alvin
32. So Long, Baby Goodbye
33. Spin Radio Promo 1
34. Spin Radio Promo 2
35. Spin Radio Promo 3

https://mega.co.nz/#!uBRimTwK!4EpLDk1ANdUC9kvLBBDIXDOEUoKl17sT1fI5bJt5Tps