Dear Ed, I want to thank you on behalf of my father for mentioning some shows that were memorable to you. When I saw your list, I immediately realized the historical importance of each one of them.
The show in Madison Square Garden NY, BIA tour with guests Billy Joel and David Sanborn RIP, has always been in my top 5 shows of the BIA tour. The bootleg recording reveals the incredible atmosphere of a band at their peak.🔥
Whitney Houston's question in your dressing room in 1988 was absolutely hilarious!😂🤦🏻
It's interesting that you mention the Auckland show in March 1986. Almost two years ago I came across a recording of that show made by a cameraman you had hired. His name is Avital Davidzon. According to him, you liked his work and invited him to the tour in Australia and New Zealand in 1986 to film the band for the big screens at stadium shows. For us it was a find, a time capsule that remained unreleased for almost 40 years and that reveals an incredible performance by a band at the height of its career, ending an impressive tour.🔥 I released it here at AMIT, we were all very happy with this recording. Avital also made available a very fun video of the band and the road crew playing a game of cricket, a way to relax a little, to get away from the routine during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in March 1986. I don't know if you know these recordings, but you might want to see them. I'm leaving the links here:
Footage of the show in Auckland 86, improved quality.
https://youtu.be/FLxUVCPIdzw?si=RhzlWJsB72uRvWSwBand v's Crew part 1
https://youtu.be/WhfL6ghT-kE?si=Eh3mENW7UzQFnwFjBand v's Crew part 2
https://youtu.be/3kb-A-ZOkhY?si=G9W1jy46njywWqvARegarding Mark's statement about having recorded some of the shows in Paris in 1983, the information that it was an interview on Top of the Pops may not be correct, I saw this information on an old website a while ago and it stuck in my mind, but I'm leaving the link to the interview below, a video of only 3:27, at the end, when asked about Alchemy, Mark addresses this issue.
Personally, I believe they used the Rolling Stone Mobile to record some of the 5 nights in Paris 83, a month before the Hammesmith Odeon shows.
https://youtu.be/BfjjHANqovE?si=uTcfCaR_u0nECmOPIf Portobello Belle live in June 83 was recorded by the band and is present in the MFN compilation released in 88, who knows if there are more recordings from that occasion, or even from others, 80/81, 85/86. (Just a hypothesis). Rainbow 79 was certainly recorded by the BBC for the BBC Arena, very lucky for us (the fans) that they recorded the audio of the entire show, it would be great if they had the complete footage, from a historical point of view, a record of the end of the band's first phase. Although for you it is the worst period of the band, September to December of 79 is the period that fascinates me the most musically, I love the setlist from that period, especially the versions,🔥❤️ they are incredible, but, I am just a fan looking from the outside at everything that happened, and you were the band's manager and your view is from the inside out, you saw everything happen in real time, another experience completely different from ours, which is very fascinating, very grateful for sharing.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This morning I revisited the song "Mustang" by the Shads. Not only Bruce's rhythm guitar, but the drums here also do an excellent job. Everything about this song takes me back to the Old West. I love that feeling. Listening to The Shadows has always been a luxury at any time.💎❤️🎸
If you'll allow me, I would be interested in a few more aspects related to DS (and I believe others would be too) I will return to the topic again, live releases of the band: The question of how Alchemy was planned and elaborated was already wonderfully explained by you, so I would like to know if at any point was a live release of the BIA tour 85/86 planned, given the size of the success of the album, as well as the tour? And of course, to finish, how was the planning of what became On The Night? Was it a decision of the record company, or between you and the band? By the time it was recorded in May 1992, the band had been on the road for almost a year, so Nimes and Rotterdam were chosen for this production, a very different dimension to what Alchemy was, the result of one night. Did On The Night happen as planned?
The Police and Dire Straits are from the same generation. They emerged at the same time and in the same place, but with different sound proposals. In retrospect, when you look at the trajectory of both, is there any parallel in their careers? What could you consider? I am impressed by the amount of video recordings that The Police have between 77/81 (the first three albums), many of them filmed shows, Dire Straits doesn't even come close to the amount of recordings that they have, was the reason for this some internal politics of the band, or rather, of its management?
Finally, have you ever visited Brazil? Is there anything in our music that you appreciate? I imagine that you know names like Tom Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, João Gilberto, maybe Ivan Lins, Hermeto Pasqual or Gilberto Gil.
Cheers!
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