New Beatles in Japan bootleg CD+DVD
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| New from HMC. |
Coming up from the HMC bootleg label is a new edition of their TMOQ Gazette series, this time focusing on The Beatles’ concerts in Tokyo in 1966. The contents are supposed to be as good as ever, with no no subtitles, no logos and no station IDs. Two of The Beatles’ concerts in Tokyo were filmed, and they both have been circulating among video collectors. One of the concerts was also out officially in Japan only by the VAP company, on video cassettes in 1984 and as a laser disc in 1993, in collaboration with Apple Corps Ltd. This DVD brings us both concerts, previously labeled “the black suits” (actually green) and “white suits” (actually cream and with pin stripes), now re-nicked “dark suits” and “light suits”. Word is that the “dark suits” concert (which was the one used on the official Japan-only releases) is better here than on the laser disc. Actually, the 1984 beta cassette release of the “dark suits” concert is considered the best in quality, as the laser disc suffered from audio problems and artefacts from the video conversion.
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| The official laser disc; note the Apple logo. |
The Beatles’ set list during both shows: Rock And Roll Music, She’s A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Baby’s In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer and I’m Down.
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| Video cassette from VAP |
The concerts, from June 30 and July 1, were video taped by Nippon Television. The two shows were edited together and broadcast during The Beatles Recital, From Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, which was screened on NTV Channel 4 on 1 July from 9pm. The June 30 concert (dark suits) was shown in Japan three times: in 1977, 1980 and 1988. The July 1 concert was only shown in Japan in 1966 and never reprised. The Beatles performed five concerts over three days, one on June 30, and two on each of the two following days, July 1 and 2.
Extra bonus material on the TMOQ Gazette release comes in the form of the Japanese support acts from the second evening.
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| Contents of the new HMC release. |
I just got this from the Netherlands, very nice & will be collectable.
This new HMC release is a beautiful upgrade to previous releases. The visuals are crisp and the color is vibrant . Wonderful sound. Its really nice to have an upgrade from a new lower generation tape source. A core DVD/CD set for the collection.
I have had the opportunity to watch this new HMC DVD a few times over the past week. It is a major upgrade to previous releases of this material. HMC has truly given collectors definitive versions of SHEA!, Let It Be and now Tokyo '66. HMC is a winner and I hope collectors continue to support their efforts .
The performances themselves are not best the ones, a pity because there are no screams from the audience and you can actually hear the music