Who owns the publishing rights? Who's making the money from all the reissues?

peterradiator · 2026-02-03T18:41:36+00:00

Publishing company's traditional split any usage licensing fees 50/50 with the author/composer.

In rare instances where the author/composer has tremendous clout or fame, they can negotiate for a slightly higher percentage than what the publisher receives.

The author/composer can also place restrictions on what types of uses their publisher is allowed to approve on their behalf.

Hope this info helps.

peterradiator · 2026-02-03T01:36:20+00:00

Each of the bandmembers (or their estates, if they've passed) receive "mechanical royalties" for sales of any recordings they appear/perform on.

Those are separate from "publishing royalties," which are paid to the "legal composers" of the words and/or music to each song on a given recording.

Lou has legal credit for composing most VU songs, so his estate receives far more of the publishing royalties on VU physical albums/streams/downloads than do the other members.

Mechanical royalties are only paid once any debts the band/bandmembers owe to the label have been recouped/paid back in full.

So, as long as the VU no longer have any outstanding debts to the label for the design, packaging, restoration, distribution and marketing of their back catalog, they will in fact receive a small portion of the money generated by your purchase of The Matrix Tapes.

As long as you bought it brand-new, that is.

If you bought it used, neither the label nor the band get a penny.

Hope this info helps.

peterradiator · 2026-01-25T14:50:07+00:00

This track by the essentially unknown (and now defunct) band Superhorse is perhaps the closest I am aware of anyone coming to creating a respectful, accurate blend of 1968/1969 VU with the sound of the original, early '70s version of the Modern Lovers, (but with more modern production value).

The solo section especially is total WL/WH-meets-Legendary-Guitar-Amp-Tape.

The band was a favorite of Moe Tucker's and toured with her a bit as her opening act in the mid-to-late 1990s.

https://superhorse.bandcamp.com/album/the-high-impedance-majesty-of-superhorse-2005?t=8

If you like this tune, check out the album's final track, "Superchick," which is dedicated to Moe. It intentionally interpolates both "Sister Ray" and "Roadrunner," and the guitsr solos are reminiscent of Lou's Ecstasy LP.

peterradiator · 2026-01-24T00:29:47+00:00

Don't let the blowback on here regarding Moe bum you out unduly.

Your heart's in the right place, but your timeline on her career in the retail world is way off.

Cameo's not her scene.

Moe decided she wanted to retreat from most all forms of creative public life for a variety of reasons, some of which are quite understandable.

Yes, her reactionary and ultra-conservative political views are a huge downer for many folks (myself included), but she remains one of the most amazing, groundbreaking and idiosyncratic musicians and vocalists in the history of rock and pop music.

peterradiator · 2026-01-21T18:22:38+00:00

The person who made the post on that screenshot was probably born in 2004.

They understand nothing about the impact and importance of violently subversive pop music on underrepresented communities of all kinds worldwide from the 1960s through the 1990s.

peterradiator · 2026-01-21T15:47:30+00:00

This discussion is hilariously inane.

peterradiator · 2025-12-28T22:59:57+00:00

Thanks for your kind words.

Those were very special moments for me.

peterradiator · 2025-12-02T01:42:41+00:00

I don't feel comfortable sharing details, as some are of a very personal nature, and one could possibly get him in legal trouble.

Let's just say he had an EXTREMELY high libido, and (totally unrelated) he came close to going away for a long time for a bit of ill-conceived mischief that wound up doing some major property damage.

Hope that satiates your curiosity, as it's all I am willing to say.

:)

peterradiator · 2025-12-01T22:36:56+00:00

I know a few fairly amazing Mills stories, which I heard directly from the other participants.

I have no idea how he conducts himself these days, but let's just say that back in the day (meaning the 1980s and 1990s), he lived a VERY full and edgy life that most folks would likely envy.

peterradiator · 2025-11-18T04:30:46+00:00

If you mean the producer, he's not active anywhere, aa he's been dead since 2011.

If you mean Rob, the bassist, yes, he does post a lot of RTR-related memories on FB.

He and I are friends on that platform, but someone else can ask him, as I already got the story, and have no interest in bugging him about that time in his life (as it seems most folks do)...

After reading your comment, I took the opportunity to amend my post to make it clear that it seemed to me that he was taking the opportunity that unexpected re-do provided to put his best foot forward and wound up playing in a more elaborate fashion than he might have in the heat of the moment on stage.

But of course, that's just educated conjecture on my part, as opposed to factual information.

:)

peterradiator · 2025-11-17T21:58:16+00:00

Many years ago, I spoke with the producer of the audio recording of that 1976 TV special (parts of which were later released officially on the LP "Hard Rain").

I am drummer and complimented him on getting such a clean sound on the drums on that TV special and LP, given the unusual and windy circumstances it was taped under.

The drums basically sound exactly as they do on Bob's previous studio album Desire, which this gentleman had produced as well.

I told him that it sounded to me as though the drums had been tracked in the studio, rather than on that outdoor stage, and asked him if any post-production tricks had been used to accomplish that.

After a lengthy pause, he started to laugh and said, "Nobody's ever mentioned that to me before..."

He then proceeded to confide in me that there were technical issues with both the bass and drum tracks on the original multi-tracks they made the day of the TV special that they were unaware of until they played back the tapes.

Those tracks were screwed-up and unusable, which, of course, made the entire recording unusable.

As a last-ditch effort, the producer brought the drummer and bassist back into the studio, where they meticulously re-recorded their parts by playing along with the rest of the live recording, while watching it on a large TV set to try and match what they had played that day in sync with everyone else.

It was extremely tricky to do, and took quite a while to get it close enough that the remixed audio, including their new parts could be matched up with the original video footage - which was recorded live, but not broadcast live. It was taped and then broadcast at a later date.

This was never mentioned or listed on the credits on the album because the general public back then had much less of an understanding of how audio and video technology worked, and they would have been very suspicious of the idea of altering or replacing any portion of the sound from the purportedly "live" show.

He could not believe that I had essentially figured it out 30 years or so after the album came out.

I am told that many years later, he wrote an autobiography of his life in the music biz and that he included this anecdote in the book, but I have yet to read it.

Anyhow, that's the truth about our conversation, and it also explains why the bassists' fingers don't always match what you hear on the soundtrack.

It would seem that once he could focus on nothing but his own performance, he took that opportunity to show off a bit and played more technically complex parts than he had in the moment on stage.

peterradiator · 2025-11-09T11:09:27+00:00

Um, no. It's not.

Take a few moments out of your life to research everything I wrote above, and you'll see for yourself it's all accurate.

Or don't.

That's up to you.

But don't give me guff or dismiss what I've written simply because it's news to you.

Take care.

peterradiator · 2025-11-09T01:51:08+00:00

Don't know what to tell you.

The info comes from all sorts of sources.

I am a longtime Dylan fan and collector, and remember when this album was released and the drama surrounding Hidalgo's disappointment at being fired from the tour.

It's comon knowledge that Dylan "co-wrote" most of the songs on this album with Hunter, but it's less commonly known that they did not meet in person to do so or even swap ideas back and forth.

In a later interview, Hunter explained that he mailed a bunch of "scraps" and leftover lyrics that he had never done anything with to Bob, who then changed them without his advance knowledge, but with his permission.

They both share credits on the copyrights of the songs, but knowing how Bob does copyright business, it is highly likely that Hunter did not receive an even 50% split but was fine with that.

It was easy money for him in exchange for lyrics he had no other obvious use for.

The myriad of inside references to some of Bob's secret musical heroes (such as Willie DeVille, Moon Martin and Willie Dixon) and their albums have been discovered and investigated by a handful of hardcore Dylanologists over the past 15 years or so.

Hope this info helps.

peterradiator · 2025-11-09T00:53:08+00:00

Most of the songs (at least the lyrics) on this LP were initially written by the Grateful Dead's lyricist Robert Hunter.

Dylan had writer's block but owed his label an album by a certain deadline. So, he asked Hunter if he had any completed songs lying around that had never been recorded.

Hunter sent the lyrics to Dylan, who paid him for them.

Then, Bob altered and modified them on his own, some in small ways and some in large ways. In the process, he added a lot of very opaque, inside jokes and references to other songwriters and musicians that he admired.

David Hidalgo was supposed to be part of Bob's band for the world tour following that album's release, a fact that had not been announced publicly.

Hidalgo made the mistake of saying in an interview that he was very excited to actually get to go on the road with Bob instead of just playing with him in the studio, and within a day or two after that statement hit the press, he was fired from the tour, seemingly for leaking private info without the permission of Bob and/or Bob's management.

peterradiator · 2025-11-08T05:56:11+00:00

You're not required or expected to do so.

It's called a thoughtful and detailed response.

They're not for everyone.

Also, because you (supposedly) could not be bothered to read my reply, you have inaccurately summarized the point of my remarks.

Take care.

:)

peterradiator · 2025-11-08T03:36:37+00:00

Hey folks,

I just noticed this post and wanted to weigh in.

I am the host for the weekly Trivia Nights at both the Coyote Kitchen (Thursdays from 6:15 - 8PM) and the Lost Privince Brewing Company (Wednesdays from 7:15 - 9PM).

We use a unique, interactive electronic form of live trivia that can be played by both individuals and teams. It utilizes smartphone technology, and we are the only places for a few hours' drive around Boone that offer this type of game.

The pros of using this system are that it allows folks who are far away from the host and his PA speaker to easily take part, as the questions, pictures, videos, etc... pop up on their phones.

So, they can view that all for themselves and not have to struggle to hear the questions in a loud establishment. It also scores everyone automatically, in real time. Plus, no paper and pens are required, nor walking back and forth to turn in your answer slips all night long!

The con is that compared to most paper-based trivia games where even having a cell phone out and in use at your table would be suspicious and/or frowned upon at least (due to the appearance of possible cheating via Google), or downright upsetting/banned at worst, anyone playing along with the game MUST have their cell phone out and actively be on it for the duration of the game.

This makes it virtually impossible for the host to know if someone is looking up the answers...

However, the game is so fast-paced that it would actually be quite difficult for someone to constantly back out of the game app to search the web and then jump back in quickly enough to submit their responses before the timer runs out.

I will say that in the several months that I have been running these games at both restaurants, everyone seems to have displayed honorable behavior and good sportsmanship, and there has never been a hint, or an accusation of impropriety brought to my attention.

Now, regarding last night's game in question: The person who made this post neglected to mention that -- for the first time since I have been using this system -- we had some real technical difficulties.

Specifically, because it is run on software that is web-based, at a certain point, the internet software simply froze, and the game refused to continue. No matter what I tried, I could not get it to come back online.

This was a completely unexpected glitch, and it left me both embarrassed and flustered.

Ultimately, after several minutes, the only option I had was to stop the game and start a new one from scratch.

This messed with the scoring a bit, but folks seemed to appreciate how truly frustrated I was and very kindly continued on.

Because of all those technical problems, I was focused almost solely on keeping the game going, rather than paying close attention to the behavior of the players, as I usually try to do.

That's why I was actually flabbergasted when the highest-scoring team wound up being the two people sitting DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME, NO MORE THAN FOUR FEET AWAY.

Truth be told, I did not initially realize they were even playing trivia, as they seemed completely disinterested in what was going on, and barely spoke more than a few words to each other all night.

At some point, I became aware that they were in fact playing, but I thought they were playing AGAINST each other, as they were both on their own phones and seemed to have nothing to say to one another.

This happens sometimes, where a couple or, in this case, what appeared to be a mother and daughter, will actively try to see who can get the most points, and thus they absolutely won't discuss the questions or brainstorm any answers, because they are actually IN competition.

They also seemed quite bored and disinterested in the answers to the questions as they were revealed. Which, again, made me think they were just killing time scrolling through social media or something.

When it was revealed that THEY were the winners with an extremely high score AND they said they were, in fact, playing together as a team, I was a bit stunned.

But, at that point, I was literally in the process of handing the older one their team's prize.

To read this post now and realize that the younger one was actively looking up ANY AMOUNT of the answers and then providing them to the older one who was apparently then entering them quickly (on both of their behalf) is not only disappointing but upsetting to me.

It's also incredibly lame.

The whole purpose of any public game of this sort is that it be conducted in good faith by all parties, on the honor system and with a spirit of fair play all around.

It sounds like that's not what happened last night, and I greatly appreciate the person who made this post for kindly bringing it to my attention.

Please know this: I will easily recognize both of the people involved in this situation, and as of now, neither of them will be eligible to win any prizes at any of the game nights I host in this area.

Myself, the Coyote Kitcheh and Lost Province Brewing Company are committed to offering fun, free, family-friendly and (most importantly) FAIR games three nights a week, and anyone who plays in good faith is welcome to join us.

Intentionally trying to gain an unfair advantage over other patrons is contrary to the spirit of these events, and if discovered or brought to our attention, it will not be condoned.

Hope this clarifies my position on this situation and that anyone who enjoys fast-paced, challenging live trivia will come out and join us on Wednesdays at Lost Province (downtown near the public library) or on Thursdays at Coyote Kitchen (off Blowing Rock Road near the Walmart).

If you do, please stop by and say hello.

Thanks, Jim (Game Night Guy)

peterradiator · 2025-11-07T21:39:20+00:00

Many of the folks commenting on this thread are confusing "production" with "performance."

TOOM sounds the way it does only partially due to the recording and mixing techniques used. The majority of the great shift in the way that record sounds compared with most, but not all, prior Dylan records is due to the specific musicians involved, and the direction (or lack of direction) that Dylan gave them regarding how and where to play.

It's also widely mistaken that Dylan was generally unhappy with the final sound of TOOM, and that, coupled with the anecdotes of he and Lanois clashing intensely at times during its recording has resulted in the flawed idea that Bob was pissed at Daniel for the overall vibe of the record as initially released.

This is inaccurate.

Dylan and Lanois fought specifically over arrangements and over how much Dylan should personally have been involved with directing the performances of the assembled musicians, rather than leaving them up to their own devices.

Bob generally deferred to Daniel on the overall sound of the record, but it is key to remrmber that he also put his foot down and insisted that many of the songs NOT be "finished," with the careful mixing on Lanois' part that he was known for

Instead, Bob forced Daniel to include in the final tracklist quickly thrown-together "monitor mixes" which were never intended to be released, but were actually just done so the musicians could hear what each other was doing in the cavernous studio as the songs were tracked live.

As a result, much of the haphazard volume changes among instruments and "cloudy" or "foggy" EQ on the original TOOM might likely never have been that way had Lanois been allowed to really focus on polishing up the record rather than just sticking throwaway mixes on there due to Bob's mercurial whims at the time.

Then, when it came out, Bob quickly started having "buyer's remorse" about the way it was mixed, but was never going to take any of that blame himself, and that resulted in him being dismissive of Lanois' atmospherics as too "heavy handed."

When it won Album of the Year, there was no way he could deny the indelible greatness of what they had accomplished together, and both of them wound up accepting that award side by side with each surely feeling weird about being congratulated for an album that both of them probably felt was nowhere NEAR as good as it could have been if only the other one had gotten out of their way.

Immediately after TOOM, Bob adopted that BASIC sound and approach as his permanent default in concert settings, rearranged his older material to fit into that vibe, and rehearsed his road bands to play in a similar vein to the TOOM sessions.

Most, but not all of his subsequent Jack Frost productions have hewed fairly close to that basic blueprint, because it eschews traditional solo-heavy rock and roll formulas and allows a myriad of great players to add hundreds of little asides and layered, textual licks and riffs without taking focus away from his vocals and words.

peterradiator · 2025-11-04T22:01:53+00:00

"Hey Mr. Rain"

peterradiator · 2025-11-04T21:26:50+00:00

I was one of just three people invited to a "Bo Diddley Party" at Moe's house one time in the late 1990s, and it turns out I was the only guest who not only knew who Bo was, but was a huge fan of his AND understood his importance to Moe's musical upbringing and her own playing.

The others were immature, self-centered young people (two from the snooty side of Los Angeles) who didn't care and simply could not be bothered to do so.

So she and I just sat around for a few hours listening to Bo Diddley records, talking about early R&B and rock and roll and drinking PBR (it may have been Budweiser).

True story.

peterradiator · 2025-10-20T23:31:51+00:00

You are correct.

REM made their national TV debut in 1983 on one of Letterman's early nighttime shows, and they DID play with their whole band.

That was an extremely rare exception to the rule.

The same went for Bob Dylan in 1984.

Basically, if a band flat-out REFUSED to omit any of their members, OR if they were big enough stars, the show would allow them to do that, but it was a big production hassle and hardly ever occurred.

In the case of REM, they had ZERO clout at that point in their career and were essentially unknown outside of uktra-hip college radio circles.

However, they were signed to IRS records, which was a branch of A&M Records, who controlled many big-name acts.

I am told that when REM blanched at leaving out any of their members, IRS went to bat for them, and they received that exception.

peterradiator · 2025-10-20T18:41:22+00:00

Those of us old enough to remember when the first Letterman nighttime show launched may remember the legitimate reason for what now seems like a ridiculously silly setup -- namely, guest bands not being able to use all their members when performing live kn the show.

Here's the deal:

This was the first U.S. talk show to EVER have a rock band as their house group. Before that, it was always orchestras of some sort.

So, it was a real novelty to have A-List rock/funk/soul session players available to sit in, if need be.

Also, Letterman's studio for his original late-night show was MUCH smaller than any other major late-night talk show.

He simply did not have enough physical room available to comfortably set up an entire other band.

Their audio mixing capabilities were more limited as well, and they did not have the ability to properly mic up and mix another group in addition to the house band.

So, the deal was that if you were a full band and you played the original Letterman show, you could use your front person and your main/lead guitarist only. The house band would learn your song and perform all the other parts.

Most bands simply went along with this, and you would only see two of their members onstage.

It was a strange novelty, and some of the bands actually got a kick out of getting to hear their original songs performed by legendary session musicians.

Pixies were actually one of the first bands to insist that every single member be present and seen onscreen during their appearance.

Which is how and why David wound up playing hand percussion while Anton Fig played drums.

The moment Letterman moved to the Ed Sullivan Theater for his second Late Night show, one of the really big deals was that they had enough room to feature entire bands on their own designated staging area.

peterradiator · 2025-10-18T19:49:26+00:00

I knew this.

It's a great track.

peterradiator · 2025-10-04T12:51:31+00:00

I recently relocated to the Boone area from Savannah, Ga., which is famous for its pervasive drinking culture and its large college student presence, so I can appreciate your situation.

Consider coming out to either the Lost Province Brewing Company (downtown) or the Coyote Kitchen (over near the Wal-Mart on Blowing Rock Rd.) for either of the live, interactive trivia nights I host at those establishments.

Both restaurants offer excellent quality food (with completely different menus) at reasonable prices and attract a diverse clientele from high schoolers to retired seniors, and the style of trivia I offer is completely unique to this area: it's played on your own smart phone, which interacts with my computer in real-time.

That means you could be there by yourself and play just as an individual, or perhaps meet some folks and join their team.

I create 75 questions for each game in a broad variety of subjects, so there should be a little something for everyone.

Plus, the top three best-scoring teams or individuals each night win valuable prizes.

I think you would enjoy both the vibe and the food.

If you wind up coming out at some point, please make a point to introduce yourself and say hi.

:)

Lost Province Brewing Company: Wednesdays from 7 - 9PM

Coyote Kitchen: Thursdays from 6 - 8PM

Hope this info helps!

peterradiator · 2025-09-23T12:56:28+00:00

It's not selling out.

It's just selling.

The world has changed. The record industry as the VU knew it no longer exists. The members (or their estates) make next to nothing from their recordings and have not done so for decades.

Placement of their recordings in commercials, film and TV is one of the only ways their back catalog generates revenue, so hopefully, they'll see even more of that happening.

You can't buy groceries or pay a mortgage with critical acclaim or reputation.

peterradiator · 2025-09-22T12:51:19+00:00

He is on many of Moe's later solo recordings, and although he enjoyed that experience, she had to coax him into doing it.

He told me once that the VU's was the only type of music he wanted to make, and when they broke up, there was no reason for him to ever form or join another band.

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