Remember When

cdacidvinyl

I played in a goofy band in 93-94 with some friends right out of high school. We covered a lot of Pearl Jam. At one show we played 'Daughter' but it was learned from a bad tape someone had given us a copy, of a copy..before VS was released. We thought we were the shit..here's a new Pearl Jam for everyone..really. But we fuck'd it up and that was that.
The Internet has brought some great video's to light from all over. Particularly, songs/videos from bootlegs that I would pay $40 for at Record and Tape Traders. Every weekend was a another trip to that place to see what was in. CD's mostly, stuff from Den Haag(sp?)..'Saying No."..."Pearl Jam Covering Themselves"..eventually Record and Tape traders got busted for selling bootlegs and that was it. Near the last thing I probably got was the Atlanta show. The first time I heard that was rushing home from Blockbuster where I worked at the time so I could tape it. A few days later seeing them for the first time in VA.
Anyhow I was browsing threw the hordes of video's on Youtube tonight and I watched a video and more videos of a show that I have on tape that I had always wished I could see in some way from 91-92.
Gone mostly are the days of having something special that you thought no one else had. Remember the days of rooting down a live version of "Angel"?
It's a good thing though right? Now I don't have time to do any of that searching..thankfully it's a bit easier and with a wife and three kids now..oh and a friggin dog..time flies. My love for Pearl Jam reminds me of how old I am.
I don't know if there was any point to this but I guess if your a bit over thirty then you can relate to some of this. Just wanted to give everyone a group "wow".. We've made it this far.

PJ Fan est. 1990

when i say this next line, i mean it.

I ENVY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

as a young man (only 18) i hear of all of your stories of the early 90's and even my parents about the 50's and 60's and even 70's. this idea that us, the wave of the future, cannot understand. this idea of "roughing it". not having this thing called "the internet" and trying to do things without it. i envy the whole lifestyle of back then and i wish i was my age now living at that time.

i feel that although the internet makes everything easier, and how i wouldn't be making this post in this thread on this website, it causes today's youth to become both lazy and lack capabilities of understanding.

i'm speaking out of my ass, but damn, i feel so fortunate, yet not so fortunate

PearlJam24

Dad was driving me home from baseball practice freshman year and told me he and mom got me tickets to Pearl Jam in New Orleans on November 16, 1993. Damn that was quite the experience.

cdacidvynil, it's a good thing to have the music available the way it is now. I remember looking through shitty bootlegs and trying to justify spending $30+ on a PJ concert I attended. I never ended up buying one. Thankfully most of it is available at the fingertips. Like you, I don't have time anymore to sit at the computer and hunt down those "rarities". 19 years and still going strong, PJ Fan est. 1990 don't worry dude, the best is yet to come!

yoke

haha I know the feeling... my band did Animal but we pulled it off or at least we thought we did. We thought we kicked serious ass.

I do remember tracking down Angel and was floored by it. I remember going to my local record shop and looking for whatever boots I could find. I think the first good(audio wise) one I got was called Free World(best live Sonic Reducer and Baba O'Riley). I still have that one and many others. I remember when Vs. came out and my local record shop had a sign with and arrow poinintg over the tapes and CD's saying EAT IT, YOU MUST FEED.. The anticipation of any new song was really unreal to me. I still remember the first time I heard Crazy Mary on the radio and I was floored. I didn't understand what was going on where to get the able etc.. I waited to hear it again on the radio so I coud "tape" it.. haha As you said there is noway I would have the time to do any of that stuff I used to back then tracking this stuff down. I do miss it however. I drove about 150 miles to a record store that had Hallucinogenic Recipe cuz the store owner said they have it in thier other store but it would take a few days to get to this one. I said no worries, give me the town and address I will go get it tonight and I did, and it was glorious

ahh the good ole days

leadbedr10

Do you remember "release" the fan zine?
I think thats what got me into tape trading.
I probably still have some blank maxells in a box somewhere.

wolfbear

leadbedr wrote:

Do you remember "release" the fan zine?
I think thats what got me into tape trading.
I probably still have some blank maxells in a box somewhere.

I still have my copies of release and footsteps too, and read them quite often. They were/are a great source of info, plus just fun reading.

Tone

Oh cassettes... I remember hooking up 2 VCRs to get a recording of a recording of a recording x1000 of PJ's Tower Records appearances, Off Ramp, and sundry others that my friend had picked up in a market in Dublin. Aussie music magazine Juice had 200 copies of the Atlanta '94 show to give away to the first 200 people who subscribed... I flipped out and mailed my form in so fast and flipped again when I received it in the mail. I had that same CD with me in '95 when I met Mike and Jeff in Sydney and it's signed and still my most prized possession. When Vs was released I transferred it onto cassette, both sides, and listened to it constantly on the way to work.

Camping out all night for tickets (it was the only way) the first time PJ toured Australia and being absolutely guttered when the first Sydney show sold-out in 6mins (no mean feat when you had to physically be at a box office or somehow manage to get through on the phone)... even camping out overnight, I was about 250th in the line. The outcry from fans (there were no ticket restrictions at that stage) resulted in 700 restricted viewing seats being released the day before the show from the venue box office, limited to 2 tickets per person. I was at work, I couldn't leave... my dad worked around the corner, he went and lined up for me and got me tix. I was so happy. That same show, my friends had 6th row on the floor (they had camped out 3 days, but I didn't know them at that stage) and when the seats were removed for the first seven rows, one of them ran out of the venue with another friend's ticket and I ran in and joined them... luckily I was still hanging out in the foyer.

I remember leaving work, driving to Canberra and sneaking my camera (with old school film) into the show, being frisked and telling the security guy it was my wallet shoved down the back of my pants... my friend's recordable walkman was down the leg of her jeans and as we were running in, it started falling out. We worked our way to the front and security threw a bucket of water over me every time I was spotted taking a picture. I listened to my friend's bootlegs of Sydney March 10th and Canberra March 14th over and over and over again in my car, along with Masters of War which I transferred onto a cassette after hooking up the VCR to the stereo.

Also, getting ready to record the Melbourne show, onto cassette, when it was broadcast live and freaking out over when to hit stop and turn the tape over to keep going. Very stressful!

yoke wrote:

I still remember the first time I heard Crazy Mary on the radio and I was floored. I didn't understand what was going on where to get the able etc.. I waited to hear it again on the radio so I coud "tape" it.

OMG, me too! I rushed out immediately to plonk down my $30 for the Sweet Relief CD. I also bought Bullhog & Tugboat for "Against the Seventies".

redeye

cdacidvinyl wrote:

I played in a goofy band in 93-94 with some friends right out of high school. We covered a lot of Pearl Jam. At one show we played 'Daughter' but it was learned from a bad tape someone had given us a copy, of a copy..before VS was released. We thought we were the shit..here's a new Pearl Jam for everyone..really. But we fuck'd it up and that was that.
The Internet has brought some great video's to light from all over. Particularly, songs/videos from bootlegs that I would pay $40 for at Record and Tape Traders. Every weekend was a another trip to that place to see what was in. CD's mostly, stuff from Den Haag(sp?)..'Saying No."..."Pearl Jam Covering Themselves"..eventually Record and Tape traders got busted for selling bootlegs and that was it. Near the last thing I probably got was the Atlanta show. The first time I heard that was rushing home from Blockbuster where I worked at the time so I could tape it. A few days later seeing them for the first time in VA.
Anyhow I was browsing threw the hordes of video's on Youtube tonight and I watched a video and more videos of a show that I have on tape that I had always wished I could see in some way from 91-92.
Gone mostly are the days of having something special that you thought no one else had. Remember the days of rooting down a live version of "Angel"?
It's a good thing though right? Now I don't have time to do any of that searching..thankfully it's a bit easier and with a wife and three kids now..oh and a friggin dog..time flies. My love for Pearl Jam reminds me of how old I am.
I don't know if there was any point to this but I guess if your a bit over thirty then you can relate to some of this. Just wanted to give everyone a group "wow".. We've made it this far.

big , big bump

MrPotatohead

When I was a boy, I had to walk 10 miles up hill both ways to get me a Pearl Jam bootleg! Seriously though, kids these days don't know what it was like to live in a world without the internet!

mfc2006

i used to cut grass when i was younger & i'd spend the majority of my $ on those $40-50 bootlegs. my older sister & brother would drive me to several record stores on Westheimer in Houston & i'd go nuts.

letsongsprotest

mfc2006 wrote:

i used to cut grass when i was younger & i'd spend the majority of my $ on those $40-50 bootlegs. my older sister & brother would drive me to several record stores on Westheimer in Houston & i'd go nuts.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The old days when record stores had a couple of rows of old boots. No Fuckin Messiah, $25 for 1 disc, and then I saw No Fuckin Messiah 2!!!!!!! Those double disc live shows for $50!!

Im getting very nostalgic, great times.

one of my best PJ memories was way back before I even knew of bootlegs (only pj I thought was out there to buy were the albums), a new(now old) friend played me sonic reducer and fuckin up!!!!!!!

PearlJamPatriot

mfc2006 wrote:

i used to cut grass when i was younger & i'd spend the majority of my $ on those $40-50 bootlegs. my older sister & brother would drive me to several record stores on Westheimer in Houston & i'd go nuts.

Yea, I remember paying $25 for bootlegs like No Fucking Messiah 1 & 2. I also payed $125 for the Deep Through the Years box set and $75 for the unofficial bootleg of Live At Soldier Field. I though it was worth every penny back then and still dont have nay regrets. I was like a kid in a candy store back then.

mfc2006

PearlJamPatriot wrote:

mfc2006 wrote:

i used to cut grass when i was younger & i'd spend the majority of my $ on those $40-50 bootlegs. my older sister & brother would drive me to several record stores on Westheimer in Houston & i'd go nuts.

Yea, I remember paying $25 for bootlegs like No Fucking Messiah 1 & 2. I also payed $125 for the Deep Through the Years box set and $75 for the unofficial bootleg of Live At Soldier Field. I though it was worth every penny back then and still dont have nay regrets. I was like a kid in a candy store back then.

i had that box set too! i also had NFM, Chapters, Firepoint and several others that i can't remember now.

good times, good times

cdacidvinyl

Tone wrote:

Camping out all night for tickets (it was the only way)

haha..does anyone camp out any more? I camped out for tix to a few shows at Tower Records..spent some long nights there. They actually did a good job at distributing tickets. The 'guy' would ask say the first 20 people in line how many tickets they wanted, collect all the money...then just print all the tickets out at once rather than a transaction for each person in line. I actually got 2nd row to the DAR Constitution Hall show in DC back in 95(?)..first time ever I think 'Push Me Pull Me' was played..or attempted (haha) live.

JimMacLeod

Man, I don't want to imagine how much I spent on bootlegs back in the early/mid '90's. Back when I could easily justify dropping $150 on Hallucinogenic Recipes, or $25 on plenty of other bootlegs just so I could get a new song or two. I think I only paid $90 on Deep Through the Years.
I stopped most of the song hunting when Vitalogy came out and there was only one full song on there that I hadn't already heard (Nothingman). It kind of ruined that "new CD" feel for me.

yoke

JimMacLeod wrote:

Man, I don't want to imagine how much I spent on bootlegs back in the early/mid '90's. Back when I could easily justify dropping $150 on Hallucinogenic Recipes, or $25 on plenty of other bootlegs just so I could get a new song or two. I think I only paid $90 on Deep Through the Years.
I stopped most of the song hunting when Vitalogy came out and there was only one full song on there that I hadn't already heard (Nothingman). It kind of ruined that "new CD" feel for me.

Its funny, I did the same thing. i stopped hunting them down because it got to the point that nothing was New to me when the album came out. Yes that $150 on HR was well worth it though :ugeek:

andrewb

PearlJam24 wrote:

Dad was driving me home from baseball practice freshman year and told me he and mom got me tickets to Pearl Jam in New Orleans on November 16, 1993. Damn that was quite the experience.

Best version of release ever!

ponytd

I remember in either 93 or 94, can't remember which, when PJ took over a radio station and played (I think) their Atlanta show and I sat at home in my room taping it off the radio and watching as one side of the tape was almost done and then ejecting it and flipping it over as quick as possible so I didn't miss anything. That was the first time I heard Sonic Reducer and I loved it. And going to record store after record store to find the Daughter import single that had Yellow Ledbetter on it. Ah the good ole days.

ranger800

I can also completely identify with this post. I remember going to the local record shop while I was in college to hunt down the $50 bootlegs. My favorite that I still have, is Chapters.

Thankfully with a family now, those days are gone, as I certainly don't have the time to go to 10 record shops in a day!

Great nostalgic post for those of us over 30.

Gardenparty

There was no greater feeling than receiving a fresh package of cassettes in the mail. Tyring to complete the '95 and '96 tours sticks out the most in my memory. Think that was the height of it.

How about the 10C hotline? I would call that line once a month for any updated tour info.

I do miss it a lot. Just the excitement and mystery surounding my favorite bands. There was so much left to the imagination back then and in order to be an "elite" fan, you really needed to do your homework. It required a lot of work to build a unique collection.

megatron

PJ Fan est. 1990 wrote:

when i say this next line, i mean it.

I ENVY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

as a young man (only 18) i hear of all of your stories of the early 90's and even my parents about the 50's and 60's and even 70's. this idea that us, the wave of the future, cannot understand. this idea of "roughing it". not having this thing called "the internet" and trying to do things without it. i envy the whole lifestyle of back then and i wish i was my age now living at that time.

i feel that although the internet makes everything easier, and how i wouldn't be making this post in this thread on this website, it causes today's youth to become both lazy and lack capabilities of understanding.

i'm speaking out of my ass, but damn, i feel so fortunate, yet not so fortunate

smart kid

everything that is great and/or influenced me is early 90's
i thank god for bein a child of the 90's

ms. goldenwords

ponytd wrote:

And going to record store after record store to find the Daughter import single that had Yellow Ledbetter on it. Ah the good ole days.

I remember finding that one too!

I think my favorite memory though is from when Vs. was coming out. The anticipation was SO thick!! The local record store re-opened at midnight the day of the release to start selling them - the ones without an album title on it - remember? I BEGGED and BEGGED my big brother (because I couldn't drive yet) to go get one for me. He did, and I clearly remember him walking into the living room and throwing it at me like a frisbee, adding as he walked out "let me listen when your done." I sat there on the floor listening to it (twice through), and obsessively rifling through the liner notes for hours. Man, I still love this band, but that insane teenage passion kind of fades... but every time I score tickets, or at every show when the music starts, I get it back for few seconds

Gonzo1977

WOW!!!
This is easily the best thread I've read in a long time

It really makes me really nostalgic.

I guess it's easy to forget what it was like to be a teenager, and getting into music, and Pearl Jam big time

I'd hear songs like "Leaving Here" "Crazy Mary" "Breath" "SOLAT" and "Yellow Ledbetter" on the radio and being just blown away at how amazing Pearl Jam was. I couldn't believe that they had these great albums and unreleased covers and B-sides out there.

I remember hearing a brand new Pearl Jam song on the radio and frantically diving across my bed, streching my arm out to try and hit Record on my cassette player and eventually only getting the last half the song on tape. It's crazy the amount of hours I'd spend waiting for them to play the song again.

When "Daughter" first hit the radio, It was great when the radio would play that little "You Guys Ready" part. It gave all us tapers a good enough lead time to hit Record

I remember driving out to this record store in Yellow Springs Ohio and finding a bootleg of Solider Feild as well as a bootleg with "Brother", "Angel", "I've Got A Feeling", and "Dirty Frank" on it. The fucking Solider Feild bootleg was like $50.00 but I didn't care how much money I spent , I just cared about getting those elusive rarities and B-Sides.

Those drives home from Yellow Springs seemed to take a lifetime...I only had a cassette player in my car and couldn't listen to the CD's until I got home. I'd sit in the car and try to Imagine what they sounded like as I drove home; making up my own words, and picturing this amazing unreleased song that'd I'd never heard.

Funny how...9 times out of ten...the song ended up sounding better than I could have ever imagined.

In 1996 when No Code came out. I went to the midnight pre-sale. It was so amazing seeing all these people from your town, that you'd never met before, lining up outside the doors hours early, talking about Pearl Jam, and blaring Vitalogy from their car stereo's as we all waited in line, money in hand, waiting to get our hands on the new record and pour over the artwork.

Music has changed so much since those days. The Internet, You Tube, and MP3 sites have kind of taken all the fun out of that elusive magical search for new or unreleased music. You can pretty much find anything you want at your fingertips. Of course that's not a bad thing...but it definately takes some of the fun out of finding the music.

Lately I've gotten back into collecting vinyl. It's kind of a way to bringing that feeling back. I'm like a kid again...Even though I pretty much have all these records on CD back at home, It's still cool to get out there and find an Original Copy of "The White Album" or "Stickey Fingers" on vinyl. It's a great way to spend a Saturday. The other day I was in this Antique store in Hamilton Ontario Canada and found (I shit you not) a pristine copy of "Yeild" and "Vitalogy" on vinyl!!! It's kind of scary how Pearl Jam vinyl is now considered an Antique...Oh Well...I was so happy that day, you should have seen the smile on my face

I find it amazing that as the technology keeps gets more and more advanced, and tries to make everything so easy for us, how it only ends up making us look back and long for the time when things weren't so goddamn easy.

elevation622

Awesome Thread

It was like '93 or something and the local radio station X107 was giving away a PJ B-Side bootleg to the first car with an X107 bumper sticker, that came by their parked van. I heard this just as I was passing the van, which was across the four lane road I was driving. So naturally, having just got my license I ripped a horrible U turn, dangerously cutting off some oncoming cars. I pulled into the dirt "parking lot" with my car facing the van, jumped out and ran over to the van, pointing at my car. The guy in the van just motioned to my car, which was slowly rolling backward, with the driver side door open, toward the busy road. I ran back to my car, for some reason to the passenger side, and tried to pull the car to stop. That didn't work, so I ran to the back of the car and tried to push it to stop. That didn't work, so then finally coming to my senses, I jumped in the drivers side and yanked it into "Park" inches from the road.

The car stopped so violently, I got whiplash. So I get out of the car, rubbing my neck and go over to the van, sweating my balls off and the X107 guy's laughing at me. Then he hands me a blank tape with a home made label on it. Not a bootleg CD, a bootleg tape their interns must've made. He said that after watching my clown show, he was giving me the tape anyway when the whole time, my bumper sticker was in the back and he couldn't even see it (until I took off I guess). So I look at the tape and the only song I didn't already own from the $40 CD bootlegs was "Bee Girl". Soon after, not so coincidentally, my car's transmission blew.

So basically I almost killed a couple of motorists, destroyed my car, got whiplash and made a complete ass of myself for "Bee Girl". Good times!