This is a copy and paste of kinch's post over on the APE forum:



You'll all be horrified to find out what I just found out about the original multitrack tapes for Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons and parts of English Settlement . . . Virgin can't find them! That's right, they've lost the original multitracks and have no idea where they are. The reason this came up is because Guitar Hero wanted to include a bunch of XTC songs in a future release and now it won't be possible. By the way, the parts of English Settlement that are gone forever are Senses Working Overtime and Ball & Chain.

So much for remixing that album, then.

It's like, what else could possibly go f**king wrong?

...as Mr. S. Twitch might say...

'kinell!

Nothing like a good system of recordkeeping...
What a kick in the bum.

I do hope that the tapes can be found... it will be a very sad loss if they have disappeared altogether.

In an ideal world, it would merely be Virgin pressuring XTC to film a remake of "Give My Regards To Broad Street."

You've got to be kidding me! They're not lost, it's Virgin being twats! Come on, what are the chances that the masters disappear for XTC three most popular albums and their biggest UK single? So there goes our XTC reissues for this year? Personally, I'd like to see every major record label burn. I'll be downloading my next Virgin release, bah!*

*Unless it is actually XTC, then I'll be purchasing it. :/

It all sounds very fishy to me. ESPECIALLY the part about a "bunch" of XTC songs being used in Guitar Hero. Even one song being on that game doesn't seem feasible to me. Unless it's some "new wave" version of the game.

Agreed. It does smell a bit fishy.

I know this may seem a bit left field but...

Where, in the UK, are things like this generally kept?

The majority of "missing multi-tracks" I hear about from are regarding British bands and their UK labels. It's baffling. No safety masters of the multi-tracks (this seems to be more and more common)? Doesn't Virgin own a warehouse somewhere that these are all kept? IRS Records (nee Universal) has their warehouses in the west (Nevada, or Northern CA).

US artists have this same problem but - surprisingly enough - seemingly far less than UK bands do.

Good question, Bill.

If Virgin is anything like most British firms, there's a 58-year-old woman called Gladys who just 'knows where everything is'. When she goes a bit funny (as we say over here), the whole place is buggered.

This is a copy and paste of kinch's post over on the APE forum:

Quote:

So much for remixing that album, then.

What? Has Andy simply lost it? What would possess him, well aside from being decidedly creatively bankrupt, to remix English Settlement??

I would be interested in a remix, but only alongside a non-remixed remastered version of ES. You never know what it could sound like, you know?

I've got the original (ES) bought at the time of release. That is the album, it sounds like it does, that's the beautiful thing about it, if it didn't sound like that it wouldn't be the album I love. I remember AP saying all the non techno things they did to create certain sounds. Brilliant. I don't want old pictures of my parents digitally enhanced, why would I. I love my old scratched LP's because they have soul. I don't need them to have Botox to be something they were not intended or rather turned out to be.

Plus it just appears dire to do so.

Take one look at George Lucas.