Greg Brooks calling John Stuart. OPEN INVITATION/REQUEST

Josh Henson wrote: Does anyone REALLY care?  QPL have made it VERY clear that they don't intend to relase any new material or anything remotely interesting - and singles box sets that everyone already owns all the songs digitally already (or almost all of them) don't really amount to shit.  Greatest Hits I (version 24.9) will only grab a few more fans - I think 'Absolute Shit' Greatest Hits proved that.

John, I tihnk it's cool that you potentially own this stuff but why talk about it if no one will ever hear it but yourself?  Release the music so everyone can enjoy it.  If you're not going to, then why these little tiffs with the Archivist?  It's pointless.  He's about as useful as tits on a boar.

BTW, does anyone know what the year is?  2010.  By my calculations, it is Queen's 40th anniversary.  Any bet they will release something MONUMENTAL?  Probably not.  They blew that chance last year when they could have released a revamped Live Killers w/ the addition of the songs they left off the set list and some video footage.  Whatever happened to Brian's talk about Hammy 75???

Queen is dead and so is their creativity and anyone's marketing creativity surrounding them.
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Music is a business - never ever forget about that!
It's obvious that with EMI being in trouble for years now they would not give them anything "new" from their archives.
Cause this archive is their only trump for any future negotiations, contracts... whatever.
Once their archive is published, then it's over. And it's logical that they will stretch these releases for as long as possible.

Josh, re:

>Does anyone REALLY care?  QPL have made it VERY clear that they don't
intend to relase any new material or anything remotely interesting - and
singles box sets that everyone already owns all the songs digitally
already (or almost all of them) don't really amount to shit.  Greatest
Hits I (version 24.9) will only grab a few more fans - I think 'Absolute
Shit' Greatest Hits proved that.

Yes, they do.  Queen is OUR band and the legacy is being "royally" fucked up by the likes of Brooks, Jim Beach and all who have so poorly advised Brian and Roger since Freddie's death.

Queen used to be a brand that both demanded and gave higy quality.  It is now a brand that is being used by a certain few to ensure that their bank balances never fall below a certain level.

If he were still alive and this had been visible to him, Freddie would have quit the band in disgust.  But, no, wait, here's a thing; he'd never have let it get to this state in the first place..........

So basicly Greg is asking John to consider selling his best quality stuff to him for future release.
That's reading between all the bullshit.

To John: Don't. Not until someone will upload it here on QZ. Otherwise we'll never get to hear it.
And if it will be released anyway, then I won't be a bastard not to buy it properly. I'm still a collector at heart.

One can only hope that John will ignore this "offer"...

With regards John holding (or not holding) the best copy of the De Lane Lea demos, consider this information gleaned over the years and decide yourselves what is the truth:

1) John says he has the master tape. That's always possible, especially as it was recorded while Queen were a nobody and it's quite common in the TV industry in those days for tapes of shows to either "go missing" or be copied, so why not audio tapes in the record industry?

2) Unless things have changed, the only copy of the demos that Brian held in his personal archive were on acetate.
There was an article somewhere around 10-15 years ago where Brian stated that technology had moved on sufficiently for him to get a decent sound recording from this acetate. Unless it was made up, that, if nothing else, proves that the only copy Queen had of their demos was a record!

3) The German collector who John sold his "sub-master" tape to in the 90's has always told the story of how he gave a copy of that tape to QPL (who apparantly didn't have it!!!!) and subsequently gained permisssion from Jim Beach to 'bootleg' said tape, which is where we all got those demos from in the first place.
Okay, you lot have to decide how much of this is true or not!

So, to summerise, if Brian only has an acetate of the demos, but John Stuart has an industry reel to reel tape (and let's face it, there's no way that tape would have been a copy from an acetate!), then I think it's fair to say that John certainly has A master, if not THE master....

brians wig wrote:

3) The German collector who John sold his "sub-master" tape to in the 90's has always told the story of how he gave a copy of that tape to QPL (who apparantly didn't have it!!!!) and subsequently gained permisssion from Jim Beach to 'bootleg' said tape, which is where we all got those demos from in the first place.
Okay, you lot have to decide how much of this is true or not!

I find it hard to believe Jim Beach gave anyone permission to bootleg ANYTHING at any point. Even if it was an alternative to having to pay the collector for it  - I just can't see him ever agreeing to something like that.

BBC is out of my hands.
I copied MY versions and posted the disc (as promised)  to another Queenzoner.

What that 'zoner does with the disc is outside my control, just as the bootleg of De Lane Lea was out of my control also.

As for history; I seem to recall being in EXACTLY the same position over 10 years ago.
QPL asked me to provide a copy of Wreckage - which I did in good faith.

First: The tape was stolen. (It was NOT returned to me as promised)
Second: It was widely bootlegged - and I made not one penny from those illegal discs.
Three: I did not recieve an official appology - ever.
Four: I had to buy my own boxset.

What was it Ian Hunter said; "Once Bitten Twice Shy?".

John: In your honest opinion, would even a belated official reply from the parties involved in the embarrassing tape blunder possibly help towards re-invigorating any involvement on your part in resuming providing QPL with highly valuable tapes, acetates and the such needed towards making a more complete collectible box set of rarities that all Queen fans will finally be able to enjoy?

Honestly, I wish to see you AND Greg somehow find a way to patch things up soon enough, because 10 years already is a long time to be angry over matters like the stolen tapes, however understandable your anger is, but even if Greg risks his job to garner an official apology from the aforementioned parties involved in the blunder, that in itself would be a positive step.
And there is an undeniable fact that the rest of us Queen fans who don't enjoy the fruits of being part of an 'elitist' circle desperately WANT to hear these songs, even if it means shelling out good hard-earned money to do so, because you know what, THAT is the type of we want, not rehashed GH shit over and over!

all ridiculous discussion .... the tapes were never john's he was just inpossession of them ... he was not on recordings, he was not the engineer or in the record company.    oh so I suppose i find rare egyptian artifact fall off the back of museum truck and keep it, and "it's mine" but im an asshole if I do that ....

The band can't claim any ownership of the physical tapes unless they can claim they actually owned them AND they were stolen - which is a bit difficult even if that had ever been the case. QPL etc. still own the rights to what's actually stored on the tapes though.

andreas_mercury wrote: all ridiculous discussion .... the tapes were never john's he was just inpossession of them ... he was not on recordings, he was not the engineer or in the record company.    oh so I suppose i find rare egyptian artifact fall off the back of museum truck and keep it, and "it's mine" but im an asshole if I do that ....
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Legally speaking, they WERE his. He bought it under apparently legal conditions through private circles. He HAD a conditional agreement with QPL that he would loan the tapes to them long enough for them to make their own copies for use in sanctioned releases. However, through a serious of embarrassing blunders, not only did they "lose" the tape, but somewhere along the way, someone made their own copies and made a killing selling pirate CD-R's at the conventions, for which John received neither compensation nor an apology.

What Greg should do on his part, and I don't believe it's too late really, is try as honestly hard as possible to garner a belated apology from the people responsible for the blunders, with an additional apology for the cold shoulder given to John as well.

Negative Creep wrote: The band can't claim any ownership of the physical tapes unless they can claim they actually owned them AND they were stolen - which is a bit difficult even if that had ever been the case. QPL etc. still own the rights to what's actually stored on the tapes though.
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Whereas, if Mr. Stuart has IN WRITING a copy of the agreement between him and QPL, he could in theory have legal grounds to sue them for breach of contract and theft. Whether his case still falls within any statutes of limitations is another question.

inu-liger wrote:

not only did they "lose" the tape, but somewhere along the way, someone made their own copies and made a killing selling pirate CD-R's at the conventions, for which John received neither compensation nor an apology

Why would there be an official apology - it sounds like a deliberately confrontational action. The tape isn't returned AND gets bootleged? lol It doesn't take much to come to the conclusion it was deliberate and essentially a major "fuck you". And was the tape actually sent to EMI or QPL? It just seems a bit odd that EMI would have been involved in receiving and returning a tape they wouldn't have had anything to do with, as they have no involvement in the band's archive.
(What's happened to the quoting on this forum?)

Where is JSS's response for the sit-down?  Tired of watching pissing matches.  Where is the sit-down?  Can't JSS just watch them being transferred, while he waits, and he gets what he has back?

I have been inside the Sony headquarters (former Sony headquarters) and watched master tapes being transferred.  It was, like, a Pointer Sisters LP, but that's beside the point.  My point is that why can't these two people meet, figure out what JSS really has that's unique, and do it?

Greg B here laid out why JSS gets on his nerves.  So JSS: Why won't you meet up?  Is it a matter of affording airfare?  I have some pretty good SkyMiles saved up; I'd donate them.  Anyone else want to pony up?

Daniel Nester wrote:

Greg B here laid out why JSS gets on his nerves.  So JSS: Why won't you meet up?  Is it a matter of affording airfare?  I have some pretty good SkyMiles saved up; I'd donate them.  Anyone else want to pony up? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think it's more likely that John has better things to do with his life.
There comes a point in any long running argument that one of the parties reaches that point where they can't be bothered anymore and they realise there are more important things in Heaven or on Earth than pointless arguments that go round in circles...

Thanks in advance for the BBC Sessions John.
I hope you are kind enough to donate a copy of the demos to this forum one day.