Hey guys long time what's new

[karl]

Richard it's sad isn't it, to think all that wonderful footage is there and nobody gets to see it.

I am so glad the concert footage of Matt was fianally released awhile back, I sat enthralled watching that as I'd never before seen him do a whole show.

Hope you finally get that Shirley Bassey project released the way you wanted it, that sounded a real cracker!

[Rmoore]

Still fighting with the Shirley - Not looking good at the moment though.

[karl]

Still fighting with the Shirley - Not looking good at the moment though.

On a first read I thought you said "Still fighting with Shirley".

Do you remember years ago onher tv series one of her guests was Lulu, they had a scripted argument, Shirley took Lulu out of camera range and you heard a smack. Lulu walked back into camera range rubbing her face saying "Never argue with that woman"

So no Richard, don't fight with Shirley , you won't win!!!!

[Marian]

Re. Ed Sullivan. I have one Ed Sullivan Show from 1961 that Matt appears in. He just sings one song "My Kind Of Girl". Good picture, in black and white.

[Rmoore]

Where did you find that Marian? He made three appearances in total. Two in 1961 (recorded the same day but used across two episodes) and one in 1963

No I'm not fighting with Shirley, Karl. I know I wouldn't win that fight! There are still some very odd things I'm trying to work round that make no sense at all but i'll keep battling on.

[Marian]

Someone sent to me Richard. I'd forgotten all about it. It also has Chubby Checker, Charlton Heston and Phil Silvers on plus some others.

[mike]

I can understand DVDs not selling as much as they used to, with streaming becoming so popular, but music isn't always represented that well on the streaming sites. I guess we're lucky to be getting one last DVD from Matt.

[Rmoore]

I know what that is then Marian, It's just occurred to me where it's from. It's a TV broadcast from the USA that featured guests from the Sullivan Show. I have a copy of it in the estate archive too - although Its still on an VHS tape as it's in NTSC format and a pain to transfer to DVD so had forgotten it.

[karl]

Sometimes they won't let you transfer Richard due to copy control. I tried to transfer some of my American videos to dvd, some worked and others were copy controlled.

[Eman]

That's true also Karl. I tried to transfer an ABBA VHS to a DVD but it was copy controlled.
I think it would be cool if Richard could unearth some of Matt's Far East performances though that would be hard to find and get permission with all that crazy red tape. I heard from some relatives in the Philippines who saw Matt in concert that the scene was pretty wild with excitement and almost to Beatle like status but a little more contained.

[Marian]

I know what that is then Marian, It's just occurred to me where it's from. It's a TV broadcast from the USA that featured guests from the Sullivan Show. I have a copy of it in the estate archive too - although Its still on an VHS tape as it's in NTSC format and a pain to transfer to DVD so had forgotten it.

This is a DVD Richard, but I don't know if it would play on all DVD players. It plays on my blue ray player.

[Rmoore]

Eman, If you ever hear of anything from the far east, please let us know! We have very little record of TV appearances anywhere in that general direction. We are sure he made them but these were rarely booked in advance before he got to the country so Matt didn't keep contracts and thus no record. Michele and I have contacted as many archives over there as I can find in Hong Kong & Philippines in particular but they have no TV. We've found 3 interviews for radio but that's it.

The biggest problem with the Philippines of course is that most of the TV archives did not come out of the Marcos era very well. Matt was a big favourite of Imelda Marcos and so the "National Media Production Center" was usually involved in any filming. In fact they even commissioned the filming of a full concert in San Francisco in the early 1980's. We don't know if it was ever shown on TV and we only have a poor quality VHS dub. The vast majority of the NMPC archives were destroyed when Marcos was overthrown and it appears that the master for that concert went too.

[Eman]

Richard, I'll keep my eyes and ears open for anything. Yet you are right most things from the Marcos era was destroyed during the revolution when he was ousted in 1986.

[mike]

There aren't that many 'unusual' songs but it's something to consider - the biggest problem is that these songs are split across several companies, BBC, ITN Source, Canal etc which only complicates things further.

Sorry Robert, The Ed Sullivan just aren't going to happen - We have asked several times over six or seven years and they won't budge.

Richard

I've just noticed that there are a couple of albums already out of the songs that have featured in the DVDs. They are only available as mp3 downloads, and are called Matt on TV Vol 1 and 2.

[Rmoore]

Yes they are downloads only taken directly from the soundtracks of Odeon DVD's - it's something they've evidently had written into their licence deal. These are not mastered or cleaned up in any way though and they should know better than to miss spell his name!