Remember the 2008 Universal fire? What MUSIC was lost? (1 Viewer)

[MielR]

I think many here remember the 2008 Universal "vault" fire that destroyed many films and videotapes, but apparently, a lot of music masters were also lost as well. What is most disturbing, is that UMG still doesn't seem to have a precise grasp on what was lost, or at least they're not saying, if they do.

From Variety: "...the fire, which took place on June 1, 2008 on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood, destroyed 'almost all of the master recordings stored in the vault … including those produced by some of the most famous musicians since the 1940s, [likely including] masters by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland; as well as some of Chuck Berry’s greatest recordings, the masters of some of Aretha Franklin’s first appearances on record, almost of all of Buddy Holly’s masters and John Coltrane’s masters in the Impulse Records collection. ' "

And that's just for starters!

Full Variety article here: https://variety.com/2019/music/news...ty-2008-vault-fire-new-york-times-1203239661/

NYT article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/magazine/universal-fire-master-recordings.html

Massive cover-up? Negligence? Probably both.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Surprised there was a vault fire to begin with. You would think there would be the best fire prevention system set up to prevent or minimalize the fire.

 

[LouA]

Just amazing that so little care was taken to safeguard our musical heritage.

 

[MielR]

Shocking, isn't it?! You think there would have at least been a sprinkler system. It's scary how incompetent those are who are supposed to be the guardians of such important pieces of human culture.

It reminds me of the stories of how 20th Century Fox threw movie reels (sometimes the only known copies) of old silents onto bonfires to make space on their shelves (and recover some of the silver from the nitrate prints in the process).

 

[MielR]

Here's another link to the NYT article for those who had trouble accessing the other one:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/...ster-recordings.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Truly devastating and depressing news.

 

[MatthewA]

Massive cover-up? Negligence? Probably both.

30 Rock had Jack Welch Donaghy make a joke to this effect around the time it happened.

If only that had been all it was.

 

[MielR]

If only.

I remember at the time, TV news reports of the damage to the Back To The Future courthouse set, but then later, reports started to trickle in about lost film reels and videotape masters for various TV shows.

But the music loss is just mind boggling. The entire catalogue masters for some artists were lost, and what's even more amazing is that the artists themselves were not even notified. I'm sure that is due in large part to wanting to cover their rear ends, but also because their inventory system was nearly non-existent, so if they look for a master of a particular album and can't find it (like in the case of The Beastie Boys and Steely Dan)...well, maybe it was misplaced...or maybe it went up in flames.

Here's a list of some of the known labels/artists/titles affected:

LABELS:

MCA
ABC
A&M
Geffen
Interscope
Impulse
Chess (nearly everything)
Decca
Peacock
Probe
AVI Records (entire catalog)

ARTISTS:

Buddy Holly (entire catalog)
Moms Mabley (Chess)
John Coltrane (Impulse Records)
Chuck Berry (Chess)
Aretha Franklin (Chess appearances)
Muddy Waters (Chess)
Howlin’ Wolf (Chess)
Willie Dixon (Chess)
Bo Diddley (Chess)
Etta James (Chess)
John Lee Hooker (Chess)
Buddy Guy (Chess)
Little Walter (Chess)
Duke Ellington (Impulse)
Count Basie (Impulse)
Coleman Hawkins (Impulse)
Dizzy Gillespie (Impulse)
Max Roach (Impulse)
Art Blakey (Impulse)
Sonny Rollins (Impulse)
Charles Mingus (Impulse)
Ornette Coleman (Impulse)
Alice Coltrane (Impulse)
Sun Ra (Impulse)
Albert Ayler (Impulse)
Pharoah Sanders (Impulse)


TITLES & MISC.:

Steely Dan (album multi-tracks, outtakes, unreleased material)
Bill Haley and His Comets - “Rock Around the Clock”
Etta James - “At Last”
Kingsmen - “Louie Louie.”
Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats - “Rocket 88”
Bo Diddley - “Bo Diddley/I’m A Man”
The Impressions - “People Get Ready”
Don Bennett - “The Prince Teddy Album”

SINGLES & ENTIRE ALBUMS:

Billie Holiday (Decca)
Louis Armstrong (Decca)
Duke Ellington (Decca)
Al Jolson (Decca)
Bing Crosby (Decca)
Ella Fitzgerald (Decca)
Judy Garland (Decca)
Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five (Decca)
Patsy Cline (Decca)
Liberace
Ray Charles
B.B. King
The Four Tops
Joan Baez
Neil Diamond
Sonny and Cher
Joni Mitchell
Cat Stevens
Gladys Knight and the Pips
Al Green
Elton John
Eric Clapton
Jimmy Buffett
The Eagles
Aerosmith
Rufus and Chaka Khan
Barry White
Patti LaBelle
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The Police
Sting
Steve Earle
R.E.M.
Janet Jackson
Guns N’ Roses
Mary J. Blige
No Doubt
Nine Inch Nails
Snoop Dogg
Nirvana (including unreleased material)
Beck
Sheryl Crow
Tupac Shakur
Eminem
50 Cent
The Roots
Benny Goodman
Cab Calloway
The Andrews Sisters
The Ink Spots
The Mills Brothers
Lionel Hampton
Ray Charles
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Clara Ward
Sammy Davis Jr.
Les Paul
Fats Domino
Big Mama Thornton
Burl Ives
The Weavers
Kitty Wells
Ernest Tubb
Lefty Frizzell
Loretta Lynn
George Jones
Merle Haggard
Bobby (Blue) Bland
Ike Turner
Quincy Jones
Burt Bacharach
The Mamas and the Papas
Captain Beefheart
The Flying Burrito Brothers
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Don Henley
Iggy Pop
Yoko Ono
Sting
George Strait
Eric B. and Rakim
New Edition
Bobby Brown
Queen Latifah
Sonic Youth
Soundgarden
Hole

 

[MatthewA]

This is criminal negligence on a grand scale. I wish we could send someone to jail over it.

 

[MielR]

This is criminal negligence on a grand scale. I wish we could send someone to jail over it.

Me too.

I'm just wondering if there's going to be some kind of lawsuit filed by the artists whose catalogues were
affected?

My dad recorded an album for MGM in the 1950s, and I found out several years ago that UMG had acquired the rights to that album (and also some singles) during of their many merger-acquisitions. I was hoping that maybe one day I could buy the rights and the masters from them (just for sentimental reasons, not for any anticipated monetary gain)...but who knows if the masters even exist anymore? They may have burned up in that fire, or they may have even been thrown in the trash years ago. Either way, with UMG's shoddy record-keeping, they probably wouldn't even know.

I understand it's now down to 3 companies that basically own our musical heritage: UMG, Sony and Warner. Let's hope the latter two are doing a better job of protecting it.

 

[Malcolm R]

I'm just wondering if there's going to be some kind of lawsuit filed by the artists whose catalogues were affected?

Doubtful, as I think the labels own the masters so I don't think the artists can sue for any loss. If all the labels are under the Universal Music Group umbrella, I don't think anyone would have standing to sue as it would be Universal's own property that was lost.

 

[MielR]

I don't think anyone would have standing to sue as it would be Universal's own property that was lost.

True, but perhaps they could sue for loss of future compensation. When/if the next "super-duper mega-ultra high-rez" consumer format comes out, and these artists' catalogues can't be re-mastered to meet that standard, they might possibly have a case.

With dead artists like Billie Holiday, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, etc., I guess UMG would be safe unless there's an estate rep or relative that would have interest in suing.

 

[JohnMor]

Imagine any unreleased recordings lost, because they would not have existed in any other form but those masters.

The negligence is staggering, but really surprising.

 

[MatthewA]

You'd think that by 2008, every major studio/recording company would have had a standard operational procedure for this sort of thing.

Unless they duplicated any of this digitally and stored it on the East Coast, it's gone.

 

[MielR]

The fact that these recordings were stored in anything less than fireproof vaults with a backup sprinkler system, is mind-boggling. An archivist/curator should have been actively compiling and keeping a detailed inventory (and NOT in an on-site 3-ring binder), and why the hell did they allow the roofer to use a blowtorch?! These tapes should have been treated like the dead-sea scrolls, and if UMG didn't want to do it, they should have at least had the decency to let somebody else take over.

On some level I'm surprised by the lack of care of some of our greatest musical treasures...but on another level, I'm not. The major movie studios have a long history of not only negligence, but willful destruction, and why should their music branches be any different? Corporate greed, ignorance, skewed priorities...they all play in.

I love the "preservation is our highest priority" quote! It would be hilarious if it weren't so damn sad.

 

[Thomas Newton]

You'd think that by 2008, every major studio/recording company would have had a standard operational procedure for this sort of thing.

Unless they duplicated any of this digitally and stored it on the East Coast, it's gone.

The studios should fall on their knees and give thanks for the existence of CDs and the ease of extracting music from them. There may be a lot of stuff that was lost in the fire in terms of unreleased material, or in terms of the chance to do future remastering.

However, released CDs are essentially a massive, world-wide, distributed backup that could be used to recover from some of this negligence. For instance, there was a Muddy Waters / Chess CD box set that might contain some songs from lost master recordings. The studio would only need to borrow one of the copies of that box set to have a chance to recover those songs. Granted, they'd all be mixed down to two tracks, but that might be better than losing them entirely.

 

[MielR]

More fallout:
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/07/taylor-swift-universal-backlot-fire-master-recordings

"Within days, the estates of Tom Petty and Tupac Shakur, along with counsel for the band Soundgarden, filed a class action suit against the company, arguing that, among many things, copyright law necessarily demands that the owners of the masters care for them....Sensing a threat from the publicity, UMG sprung into action almost immediately and announced a new team of 70 archivists and other recording professionals who would work to be transparent with artists about what was actually lost in the 2008 fire. Since then, numerous artists have come forward to say they lost masters, including Sheryl Crow and Bryan Adams."

https://variety.com/2019/music/news...ts-tapes-destroyed-new-york-times-1203253136/

"Sheryl Crow reacted in an interview with the BBC, saying she now believes all her pre-2008 master tapes had been destroyed in the fire. “

“It absolutely grieves me,” said Crow. “...I can’t understand, first and foremost, how you could store anything in a vault that didn’t have sprinklers. And secondly, I can’t understand how you could make safeties [back-up copies] and have them in the same vault. I mean, what’s the point? And thirdly, I can’t understand how it’s been 11 years. I mean, I don’t understand the cover-up.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/magazine/universal-music-fire-bands-list-umg.html

A more comprehensive (but still only partial) list of what is likely lost:

38 Special
50 Cent
Colonel Abrams
Johnny Ace
Bryan Adams
Nat Adderley
Aerosmith
Rhett Akins
Manny Albam
Lorez Alexandria
Gary Allan
Red Allen
Steve Allen
The Ames Brothers
Gene Ammons
Bill Anderson
Jimmy Anderson
John Anderson
The Andrews Sisters
Lee Andrews & the Hearts
Paul Anka
Adam Ant
Toni Arden
Joan Armatrading
Louis Armstrong
Asia
Asleep at the Wheel
Audioslave
Patti Austin
Average White Band
Hoyt Axton
Albert Ayler
Burt Bacharach
Joan Baez
Razzy Bailey
Chet Baker
Florence Ballard
Hank Ballard
Gato Barbieri
Baja Marimba Band
Len Barry
Count Basie
Fontella Bass
The Beat Farmers
Sidney Bechet and His Orchestra
Beck
Captain Beefheart
Archie Bell & the Drells
Vincent Bell
Bell Biv Devoe
Louie Bellson
Don Bennett
Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones
David Benoit
George Benson
Berlin
Elmer Bernstein and His Orchestra
Chuck Berry
Nuno Bettencourt
Stephen Bishop
Blackstreet
Art Blakey
Hal Blaine
Bobby (Blue) Bland
Mary J. Blige
Blink 182
Blues Traveler
Eddie Bo
Pat Boone
Boston
Connee Boswell
Eddie Boyd
Jan Bradley
Owen Bradley Quintet
Oscar Brand
Bob Braun
Walter Brennan
Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats
Teresa Brewer
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
John Brim
Lonnie Brooks
Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam
Brothers Johnson
Bobby Brown
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
Lawrence Brown
Les Brown
Marion Brown
Marshall Brown
Mel Brown
Michael Brown
Dave Brubeck
Jimmy Buffett
Carol Burnett
T-Bone Burnett
Dorsey Burnette
Johnny Burnette
Busta Rhymes
Terry Callier
Cab Calloway
The Call
Glen Campbell
Captain and Tennille
Captain Sensible
Irene Cara
Belinda Carlisle
Carl Carlton
Eric Carmen
Hoagy Carmichael
Kim Carnes
Karen Carpenter
Richard Carpenter
The Carpenters
Barbara Carr
Betty Carter
Benny Carter
The Carter Family
Peter Case
Alvin Cash
Mama Cass
Bobby Charles
Ray Charles
Chubby Checker
The Checkmates Ltd.
Cheech & Chong
Cher
Don Cherry
Mark Chesnutt
The Chi-Lites
Eric Clapton
Petula Clark
Roy Clark
Gene Clark
The Clark Sisters
Merry Clayton
Jimmy Cliff
Patsy Cline
Rosemary Clooney
Wayne Cochran
Joe Cocker
Ornette Coleman
Gloria Coleman
Mitty Collier
Jazzbo Collins
Judy Collins
Colosseum
Alice Coltrane
John Coltrane
Colours
Common
Cookie and the Cupcakes
Barbara Cook
Rita Coolidge
Stewart Copeland
The Corsairs
Dave “Baby” Cortez
Bill Cosby
Don Costa
Clifford Coulter
David Crosby
Crosby & Nash
Johnny Cougar (aka John Cougar Mellencamp)
Counting Crows
Coverdale•Page
Warren Covington
Deborah Cox
James “Sugar Boy” Crawford
Crazy Otto
Marshall Crenshaw
The Crew-Cuts
Sonny Criss
David Crosby
Bob Crosby
Bing Crosby
Sheryl Crow
Rodney Crowell
The Crusaders
Xavier Cugat
The Cuff Links
Tim Curry
The Damned
Danny & the Juniors
Rodney Dangerfield
Bobby Darin
Helen Darling
David + David
Mac Davis
Richard Davis
Sammy Davis Jr.
Chris de Burgh
Lenny Dee
Jack DeJohnette
The Dells
The Dell-Vikings
Sandy Denny
Sugar Pie DeSanto
The Desert Rose Band
Dennis DeYoung
Neil Diamond
Bo Diddley
Difford & Tilbrook
Dillard & Clark
The Dixie Hummingbirds
Willie Dixon
DJ Shadow
Fats Domino
Jimmy Donley
Kenny Dorham
Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
Lee Dorsey
The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
Lamont Dozier
The Dramatics
The Dream Syndicate
Roy Drusky
Jimmy Durante
Deanna Durbin
The Eagles
Steve Earle
El Chicano
Danny Elfman
Yvonne Elliman
Duke Ellington
Cass Elliott
Joe Ely
John Entwistle
Eminem
Eric B. and Rakim
Gil Evans
Paul Evans
Betty Everett
Don Everly
Extreme
The Falcons
Harold Faltermeyer
Donna Fargo
Art Farmer
Freddie Fender
Ferrante & Teicher
Fever Tree
The Fifth Dimension
Ella Fitzgerald
Five Blind Boys Of Alabama
The Fixx
The Flamingos
King Floyd
The Flying Burrito Brothers
John Fogerty
Red Foley
Eddie Fontaine
The Four Aces
The Four Tops
Peter Frampton
Franke & the Knockouts
Aretha Franklin
The Rev. C.L. Franklin
The Free Movement
Glenn Frey
Lefty Frizzell
Curtis Fuller
Jerry Fuller
Lowell Fulson
Harvey Fuqua
Nelly Furtado
Hank Garland
Judy Garland
Erroll Garner
Jimmy Garrison
Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers
Gene Loves Jezebel
Barry Gibb
Georgia Gibbs
Terri Gibbs
Dizzy Gillespie
Gin Blossoms
Tompall Glaser
Tom Glazer
Whoopi Goldberg
Golden Earring
Paul Gonsalves
Benny Goodman
Dexter Gordon
Rosco Gordon
Lesley Gore
The Gospelaires
Teddy Grace
Grand Funk Railroad
Amy Grant
Earl Grant
The Grass Roots
Dobie Gray
Buddy Greco
Keith Green
Al Green
Jack Greene
Robert Greenidge
Lee Greenwood
Patty Griffin
Nanci Griffith
Dave Grusin
Guns N’ Roses
Buddy Guy
Buddy Hackett
Charlie Haden
Merle Haggard
Bill Haley and His Comets
Aaron Hall
Lani Hall
Chico Hamilton
George Hamilton IV
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
Marvin Hamlisch
Jan Hammer
Lionel Hampton
John Handy
Glass Harp
Slim Harpo
Richard Harris
Freddie Harts
Dan Hartman
Johnny Hartman
Coleman Hawkins
Dale Hawkins
Richie Havens
Roy Haynes
Head East
Heavy D. & the Boyz
Bobby Helms
Don Henley
Clarence “Frogman” Henry
Woody Herman and His Orchestra
Milt Herth and His Trio
John Hiatt
Al Hibbler
Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks
Monk Higgins
Jessie Hill
Earl Hines
Roger Hodgson
Hole
Billie Holiday
Jennifer Holliday
Buddy Holly
The Hollywood Flames
Eddie Holman
John Lee Hooker
Stix Hooper
Bob Hope
Paul Horn
Shirley Horn
Big Walter Horton
Thelma Houston
Rebecca Lynn Howard
Jan Howard
Freddie Hubbard
Humble Pie
Engelbert Humperdinck
Brian Hyland
The Impressions
The Ink Spots
Iron Butterfly
Burl Ives
Janet Jackson
Joe Jackson
Milt Jackson
Ahmad Jamal
Etta James
Elmore James
James Gang
Keith Jarrett
Jason & the Scorchers
Jawbreaker
Garland Jeffreys
Beverly Jenkins
Gordon Jenkins
The Jets
Jimmy Eat World
Jodeci
Johnnie Joe
The Joe Perry Project
Elton John
J.J. Johnson
K-Ci & JoJo
Al Jolson
Booker T. Jones
Elvin Jones
George Jones
Hank Jones
Jack Jones
Marti Jones
Quincy Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Tamiko Jones
Tom Jones
Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five
The Jordanaires
Jurassic 5
Bert Kaempfert
Kitty Kallen & Georgie Shaw
The Kalin Twins
Bob Kames
Kansas
Boris Karloff
Sammy Kaye
Toby Keith
Gene Kelly
Chaka Khan
B.B. King
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Wayne King
The Kingsmen
The Kingston Trio
Roland Kirk
Eartha Kitt
John Klemmer
Klymaxx
Baker Knight
Chris Knight
Gladys Knight and the Pips
Krokus
Steve Kuhn
Rolf Kuhn
Joachim Kuhn
Patti LaBelle
L.A. Dream Team
Frankie Laine
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
Denise LaSalle
Yusef Lateef
Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé
Lafayette Leake
Brenda Lee
Laura Lee
Leapy Lee
Peggy Lee
Danni Leigh
The Lennon Sisters
J.B. Lenoir
Ramsey Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Meade Lux Lewis
Liberace
Lifehouse
Enoch Light
The Lightning Seeds
Limp Bizkit
Lisa Loeb
Little Axe and the Golden Echoes
Little Milton
Little River Band
Little Walter
Lobo
Nils Lofgren
Lone Justice
Guy Lombardo
Lord Tracy
The Louvin Brothers
Love
Patti Loveless
The Lovelites
Lyle Lovett
Love Unlimited
Loretta Lynn
L.T.D.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gloria Lynne
Moms Mabley
Willie Mabon
Warner Mack
Dave MacKay & Vicky Hamilton
Miriam Makeba
The Mamas and the Papas
Melissa Manchester
Barbara Mandrell
Chuck Mangione
Shelly Manne
Wade Marcus
Mark-Almond
Pigmeat Markham
Steve Marriott
Wink Martindale
Groucho Marx
Hugh Masekela
Dave Mason
Jerry Mason
Matthews Southern Comfort
The Mavericks
Robert Maxwell
John Mayall
Percy Mayfield
Lyle Mays
Les McCann
Delbert McClinton
Robert Lee McCollum
Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr.
Van McCoy
Jimmy McCracklin
Jack McDuff
Reba McEntire
Gary McFarland
Barry McGuire
The McGuire Sisters
Duff McKagan
Maria McKee
McKendree Spring
Marian McPartland
Clyde McPhatter
Carmen McRae
Jack McVea
Meat Loaf
Memphis Slim
Sergio Mendes
Ethel Merman
Pat Metheny
Mighty Clouds of Joy
Roger Miller
Stephanie Mills
The Mills Brothers
Liza Minnelli
Charles Mingus
Joni Mitchell
Bill Monroe
Vaughn Monroe
Wes Montgomery
Buddy Montgomery
The Moody Blues
The Moonglows
Jane Morgan
Russ Morgan
Ennio Morricone
Mos Def
Martin Mull
Gerry Mulligan
Milton Nascimento
Johnny Nash
Nazareth
Nelson
Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band
Ricky Nelson
Jimmy Nelson
Oliver Nelson
Aaron Neville
Art Neville
The Neville Brothers
New Edition
New Riders of the Purple Sage
Olivia Newton-John
Night Ranger
Leonard Nimoy
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
No Doubt
Ken Nordine
Red Norvo Sextet
Terri Nunn
The Oak Ridge Boys
Ric Ocasek
Phil Ochs
Hazel O’Connor
Chico O’Farrill
Oingo Boingo
The O’Jays
Spooner Oldham
One Flew South
Yoko Ono
Orleans
Jeffrey Osborne
The Outfield
Pablo Cruise
Jackie Paris
Leo Parker
Junior Parker
Ray Parker Jr.
Dolly Parton
Les Paul
Freda Payne
Peaches & Herb
Ce Ce Peniston
The Peppermint Rainbow
Pepples
The Persuasions
Bernadette Peters
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
John Phillips
Webb Pierce
The Pinetoppers
Bill Plummer
Poco
The Pointer Sisters
The Police
Doc Pomus
Jimmy Ponder
Iggy Pop
Billy Preston
Lloyd Price
Louis Prima
Primus
Puddle Of Mudd
Red Prysock
Leroy Pullins
The Pussycat Dolls
Quarterflash
Queen Latifah
Sun Ra
The Radiants
Gerry Rafferty
Kenny Rankin
The Ray Charles Singers
The Ray-O-Vacs
The Rays
Dewey Redman
Della Reese
Martha Reeves
R.E.M.
Debbie Reynolds
Emitt Rhodes
Buddy Rich
Emil Richards
Dannie Richmond
Riders in the Sky
Stan Ridgway
Frazier River
Sam Rivers
Max Roach
Marty Roberts
Howard Roberts
The Roches
Chris Rock
Tommy Roe
Jimmy Rogers
Sonny Rollins
The Roots
Rose Royce
Jackie Ross
Doctor Ross
Rotary Connection
The Rover Boys
Roswell Rudd
Rufus and Chaka Khan
Otis Rush
Brenda Russell
Leon Russell
Pee Wee Russell
Russian Jazz Quartet
Mitch Ryder
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Joe Sample
Pharoah Sanders
The Sandpipers
Gary Saracho
Shirley Scott
Tom Scott
Dawn Sears
Neil Sedaka
Jeannie Seely
Semisonic
Charlie Sexton
Marlena Shaw
Tupac Shakur
Archie Shepp
Dinah Shore
Ben Sidran
Silver Apples
Shel Silverstein
The Simon Sisters
Ashlee Simpson
The Simpsons
Zoot Sims
P.F. Sloan
Smash Mouth
Kate Smith
Keely Smith
Tab Smith
Patti Smyth
Snoop Dogg
Valaida Snow
Jill Sobule
Soft Machine
Sonic Youth
Sonny and Cher
The Soul Stirrers
Soundgarden
Eddie South
Southern Culture on the Skids
Spinal Tap
Banana Splits
The Spokesmen
Squeeze
Jo Stafford
Chris Stamey
Joe Stampley
Michael Stanley
Kay Starr
Stealers Wheel
Steely Dan
Gwen Stefani
Steppenwolf
Cat Stevens
Billy Stewart
Sting
Sonny Stitt
Shane Stockton
George Strait
The Strawberry Alarm Clock
Strawbs
Styx
Sublime
Yma Sumac
Andy Summers
The Sundowners
Supertramp
The Surfaris
Sylvia Syms
Gábor Szabó
The Tams
Grady Tate
t.A.T.u.
Koko Taylor
Billy Taylor
Charlie Teagarden
Temple of the Dog
Clark Terry
Tesla
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Robin Thicke
Toots Thielemans
B.J. Thomas
Irma Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Hank Thompson
Lucky Thompson
Big Mama Thornton
Three Dog Night
The Three Stooges
Tiffany
Mel Tillis
Tommy & the Tom Toms
Mel Tormé
The Tragically Hip
The Trapp Family Singers
Ralph Tresvant
Ernest Tubb
The Tubes
Tanya Tucker
Tommy Tucker
The Tune Weavers
Ike Turner
Stanley Turrentine
Conway Twitty
McCoy Tyner
Phil Upchurch
Michael Utley
Leroy Van Dyke
Gino Vannelli
Van Zant
Billy Vaughan
Suzanne Vega
Vega Brothers
Veruca Salt
The Vibrations
Bobby Vinton
Voïvod
Porter Wagoner
The Waikikis
Rufus Wainwright
Rick Wakeman
Jerry Jeff Walker
The Wallflowers
Joe Walsh
Wang Chung
Clara Ward
Warrior Soul
Washboard Sam
Was (Not Was)
War
Justine Washington
The Watchmen
Muddy Waters
Jody Watley
Johnny “Guitar” Watson
The Weavers
The Dream Weavers
Ben Webster
Weezer
We Five
George Wein
Lenny Welch
Lawrence Welk
Kitty Wells
Mae West
Barry White
Michael White
Slappy White
Whitesnake
White Zombie
The Who
Whycliffe
Kim Wilde
Don Williams
Jody Williams
John Williams
Larry Williams
Lenny Williams
Leona Williams
Paul Williams
Roger Williams
Sonny Boy Williamson
Walter Winchell
Kai Winding
Johnny Winter
Wishbone Ash
Jimmy Witherspoon
Howlin’ Wolf
Bobby Womack
Lee Ann Womack
Phil Woods
Wrecks-N-Effect
O.V. Wright
Bill Wyman
Rusty York
Faron Young
Neil Young
Young Black Teenagers
Y & T
Rob Zombie

 

[LeoA]

Anyone happen to know what may be lost of Petula Clark's?

I hope the Downtown master is at least safe. It was Warner Brothers released to the best of my knowledge in North America, so I'm assuming it wasn't one of their many holdings.

 

[MatthewA]

Reading that list of artists whose masters was lost felt like the casualty list scene from Gone with the Wind.

Anyone happen to know what may be lost of Petula Clark's?

I hope the Downtown master is at least safe. It was Warner Brothers released to the best of my knowledge in North America, so I'm assuming it wasn't one of their many holdings.

That was one of my first thoughts, too, when I saw her name listed. The answer is complicated, so here goes.

Petula Clark's "Downtown"-era years with songwriter/producer/arranger Tony Hatch were recorded for a UK label called Pye Records. They licensed it to Warner Bros. originally for the US, but their license expired after she left the label in 1971. The actual copyright to that and everything she recorded from that era ended up with a company called Sanctuary Records, and they were purchased by Universal in 2007, a year before the fire. However, this does not mean that the master tapes were ever moved to that vault or even out of the UK.

It might not even be the Tony Hatch years. When she left Pye she went to MGM Records (where she recorded, among other things, a cover of Mary Wells' "My Guy" and the Sherman Brothers' "Gratifaction" from Tom Sawyer). That label ended up getting bought by PolyGram, whose assets did become part of Universal eventually.

In the late 1990s, she recorded an album of standards called "Here For You" for Varese Sarabande. A member of this forum worked on it.

Even researching who bought out what company is depressing when it's in this context. Now you know why I'm not too crazy about media consolidation.

 

[willyTass]

 

[Joel Fontenot]

That's a scary list up there.

However, there are some names/groups on that list that are based out of the UK (i.e. Kim Wilde, The Who), or, in the case of t.A.T.u, Russia. Wouldn't a lot of those masters be with the original label overseas?

Or, are those maybe just some of their masters that happen to be here at the time? Or copies sent here for U.S. release, while originals remain elsewhere.

Kim Wilde was originally with RAK (Part of EMI) for 3 albums, but moved to MCA (which later became part of Universal) in '84 until around 2006. I would assume just the MCA stuff was there.

I had heard stories of how The Who's "Who's Next" album master was stored in a file cabinet at MCA in L.A. and was found sometime in the 90s - or something to that effect. Of course, after that, it probably ended up in that warehouse.