Phanton Power Demo Mystery Answered

[mrlayance]

Got this email today.

Hey Everyone

Hope you are all doing well, and are enjoying this warmer weather.

I thought I would write to let everyone know how the Phantom Power demos came to surface. I do really feel bad in my connection in getting the tape ‘out there’ – though I am not sure if I should… Anyways, here is my story (vagueness is on purpose).

It was mid June 1998. I was in my late teens, working at a music shop somewhere in Ontario. I had some Hip playing, which prompted someone to strike up a conversation with me about the band. I’m guessing we talked about the upcoming tour, but then I was asked ‘have you heard the new album yet?’ Of course I hadn’t, so I told him so, to which he replied ‘Want to?’ And then he ran to his car. He came back with a tape and said I should play it. Not having a tape player at the shop, he told me I could borrow it, and he would come back the next day.

I brought it home, and listen to, what I thought, was the new album. Awesome. Of course, I made myself a copy, and brought it back to the shop the next day. The same guy came back, and we chatted about the songs and such, and then he asked me not to share out my copy, just in case…

So I had my copy, he had his copy, and a co-worker had dubbed himself a copy during the day.

Jump 2 weeks later. The Tea Party were playing a small win to get in show in town. The co-worker went, without passes, to see if he could get in. I don’t really know how the transaction went down, but he basically traded cash+PP Demo tape to get in. This is possibly where the circulating copy came from – but probably not (read on).

Remember, I/we still thought it was an advance copy of the album…

See, back then, when trading was strictly tapes, the rarer the show, the more valuable it was. For example, if you had a rare show, you could trade for another rare show, or you could trade your rare show for 2 not-so-rare shows. Confusing, I know, but it’s the way we did things.

I was just getting started with my trading, so having an advance copy of the album was like gold. I offered it up to another trader in exchange for some boots. This way, I would get some rare boots for my collection, and someone else would get to hear the album a couple of weeks early. He wouldn’t tell anyone, and I knew he would buy the album as soon as it came out anyways. July 14 comes – not the same songs…

A month or so later, I see it on a couple of people’s list. A number of years later, it’s digitized, and then…

Long story eh? Well, I apologize to anyone who might have gotten in hot water about the tape – they’re good tunes, and I know that the community is happy to have access to them. However, there is probably a reason they were never released.

There will probably be questions, so post away, and I will answer them someway or another.

AHF

Interesting story

[chris]

I didn't know there was a mystery to be solved... and who was this email sent to? It is addressed to "Hey Everyone".

And who is AHF?

More mysteries to be solved!

[Tthip]

Hey Everyone
There will probably be questions, so post away, and I will answer them someway or another.
AHF

Cool story - I have a question:
Is your copy - or your friends - any "cleaner" sounding than the versions that the majority of us have?
I seem to remember a bad tape hiss on mine, and maybe clicking.

[Ballgame]

Id like to hear them. PP is one of my favs

[srb]

Id like to hear them. PP is one of my favs

http://www.thehiptracker.com/torrents-d ... php?id=301

[IMissMyLungBob]

How did that original guy get a hold of the tape?

[rocketsan22]

Sounds like someone who was part of the original Hip FTP that FearNoArt used to admin. We came upon a whole whack of rare stuff. That led to the not-so-secret higher upper echelon who had access to a ton of rare stuff before it made its way to everyone else a few months later. These not so circulated tapes led to the concept of the Let's Gather 'Round The Fan series...

[Ballgame]

Id like to hear them. PP is one of my favs

http://www.thehiptracker.com/torrents-d ... php?id=301

no go on the torrents. I was able to at one point but I use a work laptop and they locked the desktop. I guess IT was getting too many calls on virus from people DLing stuff

[chris]

There are no viruses through torrents.

[mrlayance]

More Email

i]Is your copy - or your friends - any "cleaner" sounding than the versions that the majority of us have?
I seem to remember a bad tape hiss on mine, and maybe clicking.[/i]

-Unortunately, my tape copy is packed up somewhere deep inside storage. But listening to the tracker copy, I remember it sounding similar, complete with the clicking and pops.

How did that original guy get a hold of the tape?

-He either didn't tell me, or I completely forget - sorry!

Sounds like someone who was part of the original Hip FTP that FearNoArt used to admin.

-T'was before that!

[Ballgame]

There are no viruses through torrents.

no so much about torrents but in general. Screensavers and shit like that.

[chris]

There are no viruses through torrents.

no so much about torrents but in general. Screensavers and shit like that.

Got it.

But just FYI, unless someone shares a file that is a virus, the torrented file cannot pick up a virus along the way - as files can that are shared through many other P2P applications.

[Zenith]

There are no viruses through torrents.

no so much about torrents but in general. Screensavers and shit like that.

Got it.

But just FYI, unless someone shares a file that is a virus, the torrented file cannot pick up a virus along the way - as files can that are shared through many other P2P applications.

That's (one of) the reasons I love BT so much!