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What Was Your First Live Dead Tape


bs69

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The Barton hall thread got me thinking about this. My first shows on tape were 6-24-85 (Riverbend)and 10-31-85(Columbia) and i acquired them sometime in 87' from a high school buddy that got me into the band. I acquired a few more over the next couple of years including the Barton hall show, but did not start acquiring them in bunches until around 89-90.

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My first tape was 12/31/83 SF Civic Auditorium.

We had just moved to Oakland. We were messin' around in the city and happened to wander by the venue. I didn't have a clue about the Dead, Kim (my ex) knew a little about the scene. Anyway, we hung out a little while and talked to some of the heads and found out they were broadcasting the show on the radio so we headed home and I busted out my deck.

Over the years I've lost the tape, but wish I still had the setlist I wrote. At the time I had heard Truckin' & Casey Jones on the radio, I had no albums and no idea what the song titles were. They broadcast a lot of Dead on the radio back then and I taped a lot. It was several years before I made any deadhead friends when they read my setlists they howled. I don't remember many anymore, but two that come to mind are "Franklin's Tower" I called it "Roll Away Purdue" (figured it was a college song) and "I Know You Rider" listed it as "Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Gone).

On another note, overheard after a show:

Girl: "I like it when they do the historical songs"

Her Friend: "Whatta ya mean?"

Girl: "You know - They Raped The Women Of Sparta" (That's right the women are smarter).

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My first tape was 12/31/83 SF Civic Auditorium.

We had just moved to Oakland. We were messin' around in the city and happened to wander by the venue. I didn't have a clue about the Dead, Kim (my ex) knew a little about the scene. Anyway, we hung out a little while and talked to some of the heads and found out they were broadcasting the show on the radio so we headed home and I busted out my deck.

Over the years I've lost the tape, but wish I still had the setlist I wrote. At the time I had heard Truckin' & Casey Jones on the radio, I had no albums and no idea what the song titles were. They broadcast a lot of Dead on the radio back then and I taped a lot. It was several years before I made any deadhead friends when they read my setlists they howled. I don't remember many anymore, but two that come to mind are "Franklin's Tower" I called it "Roll Away Purdue" (figured it was a college song) and "I Know You Rider" listed it as "Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Gone).

On another note, overheard after a show:

Girl: "I like it when they do the historical songs"

Her Friend: "Whatta ya mean?"

Girl: "You know - They Raped The Women Of Sparta" (That's right the women are smarter).

Damn it, TR. Now I'm going to have to go find some of my really old tapes because I know some of the "names" that I wrote down, weren't even close. I think my first tape was either 10/31/91 or one of the Cal State Domingues shows. Really love both of those to this day.

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Guest crazy digits

Harpur College 5.2.70

First generation cassette from Reel to Reel soundboard.

My alma mater.

englishtown....easy to understand why I got on the bus quickly :-)

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They broadcast a lot of Dead on the radio back then and I taped a lot. It was several years before I made any deadhead friends when they read my setlists they howled. I don't remember many anymore, but two that come to mind are "Franklin's Tower" I called it "Roll Away Purdue" (figured it was a college song)

That's some good stuff.

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Guest Charles from Oregon

I'm pretty sure my first one was a 81' Greek show with a hot Estimated Eyes, I also had a Long Beach 81' that had a ripping They Love each other, Brent was incredible on that particular one.

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Good ol reliable Barton Hall 5-8-77.... Remember hearing that Scarlet>Fire for the first time like it was yesterday.....

It was actually only the second set,it took me a while to get my hands on the first. Do you remember who I got that from?--- The Bumking!!

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It was actually only the second set,it took me a while to get my hands on the first. Do you remember who I got that from?--- The Bumking!!

I also had the second before I acquired the first. I wonder if this was common.

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I had heard my brothers play a bunch of the Dead but the first tape I ever had that was mine was 11.1.85 (Richmond).

 

When I got it, a just popped it into the deck and G-L-O-R-I-A came on.  I was like....WOW!

 

I played that sucker till it sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks covering the Dead.  Once my brother heard me listening to this sped up tape, he laughed so hard and gave me Englishtown and 2.28.69.  After that....it was ON!

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Never owned a tape or even seen one for that matter....

 

Thanks for making (most of) us feel old, Mike. At least as a Deadhead you know what tape hiss sounds like - although most of that has been weeded out as well.

 

When I made the 100% commitment to digital in 1990 (and yes, I'm talking digital TAPES) I had 1,200+ cassettes to get rid of.  I think I sold most of them in bulk to a few different folks at $1 a tape.  I think the unwritten rule is that it's okay to "sell" Dead music so long as you're charging less than the cost of the media itself.

 

To answer the original question, I think my first tape was 4-17-84 2nd set (Niagara Falls).

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 First Obsession with a Bootleg was 5.1.81 Hampton Coliseum.

You mean this?

e37570aa46e1738a1156f2f21f4fa72a.jpg

 

Man I loved making labels for my cassettes and drawing some stealies and the like.  Labor of love :)

 

I remember accedentially hitting 'record' on a couple tapes - DOH!  As luck would have it, the oops always seemed to happen during a part where Jerry was shreddin and crestin!  Especially crushing would be when you'd bring a tape with you to play in your buddies deck and your tape would get eaten.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Good Times.

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Especially crushing would be when you'd bring a tape with you to play in your buddies deck and your tape would get eaten.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Good Times.

 

I was visiting a friend at college in Boston in the late 80s.  A guy she knew had a pretty serious collection and he was the quintessential anal taper.  We were listening to a tape in his apartment, and then he was gonna show us around the city in my car.  I asked if we could take the tape with us to continue it in the car.  He was horrified at the thought of taking one of his precious tapes in some random dude's vehicle.   So I said, "I understand man, but I got a Nak deck in the car!"  He realized I was serious, changed his tune immediately, and along came the tape. 

 

You didn’t see too many in dash Nakamichi cassette decks after all…I think that car stereo was worth about as much as the car. :unsure:

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Never owned a tape or even seen one for that matter, I know I know, but hell, at least I had Jurassic Park on VHS.

First show I ever got was 8-6-1971. Still probably is my favorite Hard to Handle and Lovelight.

Wow. Never saw a tape? Youngster

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