Rony Kohn's Collection
David Bowie 08/11/1999
Storytellers, New York, NY
| Source | NTSC Master VHS > in-line NTSC to PAL converter > stand-alone DVD recorder @ HQ > DVD Decrypter > HD > TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 (chapters & menu, no re-encoding) > DVD+R |
| Media | DVD-R 1 disc |
| Notes | PRO SHOT |
| J-Card Comment | David Bowie - Storytellers VH1 Storytellers originally broadcast 23rd August 1999. Type: RoIO Author: 2xS Source: TV broadcast Lineage: Master VHS -}stand-alone @ HQ (see below for comprehensive lineage) Menu: yes / song & scene access Chapters: yes / intuitive Transfer Rate: ~9mb/s Format: PAL / 25fps Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 / 384kb/s stereo Disc Type: DVD5 Number of Discs: 1 Total running time: 45m 06s No Artwork Contents - Intro / Life On Mars? - stories - Rebel Rebel - stories - Thursday’s Child - stories - Can’t Help Thinking About Me - stories - China Girl - stories - Seven - stories - Drive-In Saturday - stories - Word On A Wing Technical Detail: Comprehensive Lineage; NTSC Master VHS -} in-line NTSC to PAL converter -} stand-alone DVD recorder @ HQ -} DVD Decrypter -} HD -} TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 (chapters & menu, no re-encoding) -} DVD+R -} DVD Decrypter -} HD -} uTorrent (torrent creation) -} MWP This broadcast has a very nice stereo mix, Gabrels' guitar in one channel, Plati's guitar in the other and the bass, drums and harmony vocals nicely in the middle. However, there are slight audio drop-outs during China Girl and Seven and the occasional crackle during some commentary. These errors are present on the source VHS. There are also some abrupt edits where the commercials would have been, again present on the source VHS. The colour is very 'colourful', blues and reds being the enemy of VHS to DVD transfers there is some colour 'bouncing'. However, during the end-credits someone is credited as 'colorist' so it's possible that the colours were enhanced during post-production. Or possibly the 'colorist' was simply responsible for the black & white (greyscale?) segments. This broadcast carries a TV1 watermark so I would speculate that the source VHS was a recording of a repeat of the original broadcast rather than being the original broadcast itself. Content Detail; It's obvious that Bowie enjoys himself during this performance. The stories he tells are not specifically about the songs he performs but are rather retrospective and concentrate more on the historical times of the songs. With the benefit of hindsight one might speculate that, at the time of this performance, he was in the process of recording the never-to-see-the-light-of-day 'Toy' and therefore was very much thinking about the circumstances surrounding his back-catalogue. The performance of Life On Mars? starts at the beginning of the second verse and Rebel Rebel is really only a tease of the chorus. The first verse of China Girl is beautiful in its simplicity, being accompanied only by Garson's keyboard. It then moves into the full, roof-lifting rock'n'roll we expect. During Bowie's commentary he briefly discusses the lyrics of Can't Help Thinking About Me and spars with Gabrels over Tin Machine lyrics, Bowie saying "blame the computer, mate". Later, when talking about Drive-In Saturday, he tells the story of why he shaved off his eyebrows. All in all this is a very nice piece of history, catching Bowie at a particular moment in time post-Hours and pre-Heathen. |
| Trades Allowed | Yes |
| Ratings | Show: A+ Sound: A |
| Lists | DVD |
Owned by Rony Kohn
· Last Updated May 23, 2023
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