Announce: Definitive Houston '77 DVD

Just for some clarity:
     A "Master" for the Houston show  in '77 would have been NTSC because the taping was not a Queen video production for a PAL broadcast or endeavor but rather an agreement with the facility in Houston during that year with all performances that year.  All concerts that played there during that time agreed to be taped.  I don't remember much more of the particulars but this is the very reason why such other bands of that year were taped at this same facility and in the same manner (stills between songs being the most common practice).  A major example of this was the Kiss '77 Houston show (now available on their Kissology release) and the circulating Eagles concert from this period.  Whether it was 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch tape remains to be seen but rest assured it wasn't VHS. Sorry for the spotty information but I'm trying to recall what was more common knowledge in the early 80's of these Houston concert videos leaking out.

aerosmith also has a concert filmed in that period

Batfriend - I agree, but do you have any evidence that REAL NTSC version still exists ?
Because as I wrote all NTSC versions I have seen are converted from PAL

The NTSC original. We may never see it if it does exist. The quality of the show that has surfaced in the last two years is light years above the one full of lines that everyone used to have.  Most of these Houston shows are fabulous but we'll never see broadcast quality copies for some reason. The Eagles show and the Aerosmith concert are both brilliantly flawed. (Especially the poor Aerosmith show... someone should have shown the guitar players the parts before they went on!)  And those stills between songs are annoying. Just goes to show how important they are that people are so interested. It would be nice to find out what the sources are for the copies that did leak out.

[i]pittrek wrote:
"Batfriend - I agree, but do you have any evidence that REAL NTSC version still exists ?
Because as I wrote all NTSC versions I have seen are converted from PAL"[/i]

pittrek,
   I was simply stating it in a historical context for those who might not be aware of the various concert tapes that have come from the Summit and not as a lead to source material for better copies or as a counter statement or challenge to your prior observation. But you know that.  :)  Yep, the current stuff all seems to be coming from one PAL source or another.

Some rambling thoughts and observations on the subject of the original source material:
Although there is no evidence of the original NTSC tape is still in existence or a direct NTSC copy from it doesn't change how the basketball arena handled their concerts back then.  They would have shot it with the same gear they shot all the other concerts and it would have been NTSC.  They wouldn't have flip flopped between PAL and NTSC depending on where the band came from.  A PAL copy was more than likely made for the band or rather their produciton company/ management either then or possibly later when they were compiling footage for their various 80's compilations such as Greatest Flix, Magic Years, or Rare Live.  But I have to think (IMHO) that the current copies come from a later copy than the one used for Greatest Flix because that footage suffers from a pretty bad conversion from the get go.  But such was the technology floating around then.  It's not like the slick exotic stuff we have today. Yes, it would be nice to find out who ended up with the original tape(s) and hope it still exists.  Since the Summit was owned by the city of Houston, there is probably public records of the contracts for the venue and the video company who was probably contracted for the events for 1977.  It would even be possible for the library of tapes to be part of the city archives (no evidence or claim but thinking out loud as to common city practices).  The city has been leasing the place as a Church since 2003 but still owns the facility.
  Or somebody could ask Bri (just kidding).  ;)

That is one of the best posts QZ has ever seen.

Thank you for your insight.  It is surely a breath of fresh air, amongst all the "seed, I need torrent" posts from people who don't seem to understand that there is a process by which recordings make their way from the source to collectors and eventually websites like this.

I had a dream. I drempt that some municipal civil servant in Houston has a box of the original videotapes made of all these bands in the 70s collecting dust under his desk... and he's just waiting for one of us to chase him down and arrange to digitize them! (Oh crap!!! I woke up!)

Lol. Wake up soooon!!! The municipality doesn't hold neither the tape nor any contract related to the gig because, even supposing it was a written contract, which it wasn't, it's been more than 30 years and, of course, the municipality has to re-arrange and revamp the archives, and the less important files, such as these, get disposed of - I thought it was just another Brazilian peculiarity, so to speak, but when I was the second time in the U.S and wanted to make some researches and needed to get some documents, I discovered it was exactly the same way.
 
Of course, if one filled such a request to the municipality he'd be screamed out of the place by the civil servants, that's for sure. lol

The point being that me and many other people would like to see Queen release the concert, because nowadays, after the arrival of high-definition tv and surrounding sound, I just don't feel like watching the usual dvds anymore, let alone an old, bad-sounding one. Youtube is great to get an idea of something or have some laughs, but that's it. That's how I feel about watching DVDs nowadays.

Anyway, the problem is: Brian is adamant about not releasing this concert. Many people either talked to him, mailed him or approached Jim and the answer is always the same: they will not release it. The reason given being problems with the audio, especially the piano and the piano mic. 

Personally, I think it's a polite way of saying - I don't want it released, let it go, I have other ideas in mind. 

For me it's a bit pointless, really. There have been here for years versions of this concert being illegaly sold in markets or specialized stores, and those who want to sell it and are, so to speak, professional in the business, do a lot of enhancements in the material, no doubt. 

And that's one of the reasons, I think, why Brian wouldn't like to see it released now - his work is being literally stolen and sold all over the world. It's useless to put an advertisement saying: "Only for personal use". People know that this isn't a magic phrase and I always suppose that there will be people wanting to make gains with it or based on it. One can't be so naive as to think no one will take the material and bootleg it, especially nowadays with all these technologies.

I think Queenzone is great as a way of having fun, listening to different concerts of the band, but I think it should be focused not on trading or collecting, but listening, and making it harder, either by streaming or other technique, for people to keep the material to themselves.

I also want to say I'm the only one who thinks like this in QZ - hahaha - so, really, no need to take it more serious than it is - just a personal view. A personal view which is not, let's say, SHARED by anyone on QZ, so please don't shoot the messenger of his own private message. :-)

Best regards you all!

I agree that a high quality listening experience over the net would be a fine alternative to trading unreleased material. As you say... someone would spoil it.

Thank you for this great share in great quality, this the best version i have never saw!!!

Many thanks for this great concert. I haven't watched it yet but it looks like it is going to be better than the versions I already have. So well worth while.

If I remember correctly, this DVD is supposed to be a Japanese pressed disc that people suspected came from the PAL that was upped at QZ which I took, extracted the audio, converted to mono wav as per Sir GH's instructions, and upped to QZ again after I doubled the volume.

The suspicions were that the DVD that I upped was converted to NTSC. That would explain the AC3 crisp audio and the quality video, which in my opinion had to have come from the PAL DVD that was upped here first.

Can everyone follow that?

PAL DVD with AC3 audio-very low audio > tgunn-extract audio to wav > delete one channel > double volume >
up to QZ > Japanese download it > convert to NTSC > sell on Ebay> LOL

[QUOTE]

[b]tgunn2760 wrote: [/b]

extracted the audio, converted to mono wav as per Sir GH's instructions, and upped to QZ again after I doubled the volume.

PAL DVD with AC3 audio-very low audio > tgunn-extract audio to wav > delete one channel > double volume >
up to QZ > Japanese download it > convert to NTSC > sell on Ebay> LOL[/QUOTE]
I really wish you hadn't doubled the volume, because it distorts on White Man and the the guitar solo.  Is there any way you could do another version with the volume at the original level, or maybe raised to a lesser extent?

[QUOTE]

[b]Sir GH wrote: [/b]

[QUOTE]





[b]tgunn2760 wrote: [/b]



extracted the audio, converted to mono wav as per Sir GH's instructions, and upped to QZ again after I doubled the volume.

PAL DVD with AC3 audio-very low audio > tgunn-extract audio to wav > delete one channel > double volume >
up to QZ > Japanese download it > convert to NTSC > sell on Ebay> LOL

[/QUOTE]
I really wish you hadn't doubled the volume, because it distorts on White Man and the the guitar solo.  Is there any way you could do another version with the volume at the original level, or maybe raised to a lesser extent?

[/QUOTE]


I will have to check to see if I have the original seed, but I do believe Pittrek said he would do an upgrade, so, if
there is a lossless audio source out there, he could combine it with the video from this, it's the best I've seen.

The lossless audio has a big hum in the background, so my vote still goes for yours.