'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov. '11

Pretty self-explanatory
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the_platypus
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by the_platypus »

Some of the performances are great, though. I love "Lipstick Vogue" and "Watching the Detectives", they came out scorching hot. "All Grown Up" is lovely.
Last edited by the_platypus on Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SoulForHire
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by SoulForHire »

As much as a I loved it, the booklet was waaaaay too hard to read given the tiny print. Or am I just getting OLD?
Brucebhoy
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by Brucebhoy »

Just got it today. I agree the CD doesn't sound great. But it works much better on the DVD, which I put through the home cinema.

I only have one question bothering me. Is that Matthew Weiner who spins Clubland?
johnfoyle
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by johnfoyle »

Is that Matthew Weiner who spins Clubland?
Yes, the Mad Men creator himself. Playing that up in publicity for this release is a baffling omission. A profile of Matthew in Rolling Stone mentioned that he's a big E.C. fan.
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wardo68
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by wardo68 »

Got my CD/DVD copy yesterday, blasting the CD now. For those of us who care, I think I've determined which songs come from which show. I Hope You're Happy Now, Heart Of The City, Mystery Dance, Radio Radio, God Give Me Strength, Watching The Detectives, Tear Off Your Own Head, Out Of Time and Stella Hurt all come from the 12th; everything else is from the 11th.
scamp
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by scamp »

wardo68 wrote:Got my CD/DVD copy yesterday, blasting the CD now. For those of us who care, I think I've determined which songs come from which show. I Hope You're Happy Now, Heart Of The City, Mystery Dance, Radio Radio, God Give Me Strength, Watching The Detectives, Tear Off Your Own Head, Out Of Time and Stella Hurt all come from the 12th; everything else is from the 11th.
Thanks for that info :D
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wardo68
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by wardo68 »

And while I'm at it, here's my review:
http://everybodysdummy.blogspot.com/201 ... cular.html
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migdd
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by migdd »

Spot on review, wardo!

Of all the things to complain about the DVD . . . I really missed Dixie. When did she join the tour? The show seems incomplete without her. Otherwise, great show. As usual, EC and the band don't really hit their stride until the last half of the set. Honestly, they probably didn't really start cooking until halfway through the tour. If only the film crews were on the East Coast to film some of the later dates.

Agree with the sound quality and song selection on the CD. This one probably won't make into heavy rotation on my Zune. (Yeah I have a Zune, that mystical Microsoft iPod knock-off. A superior mp3 player has not yet been made.)
FAVEHOUR
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by FAVEHOUR »

Dixie didn't appear until the Beacon shows, one of the 3 nights (the last one, maybe?). After that she was the go-to go-go girl.

And I agree with you, the dancer on the DVD doesn't match her.


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And No Coffee Table
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by And No Coffee Table »

The official site has the final Beacon show (May 24) as Dixie De La Fontaine's second appearance and Boston (May 20) as her first.

http://www.elviscostello.com/news/the-s ... esults/117
FAVEHOUR
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by FAVEHOUR »

And No Coffee Table wrote:The official site has the final Beacon show (May 24) as Dixie De La Fontaine's second appearance and Boston (May 20) as her first.

http://www.elviscostello.com/news/the-s ... esults/117
Thanks, I missed that one!
Azmuda
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by Azmuda »

Just checked again -- it's now listed in the Records section at elviscostello.com
Azmuda wrote:I just noticed that the Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook has not yet been added to the Records section at
elviscostello.com, so if you wanted to listen to samples there, you can't.

I guess EC will have to pay for another website redesign to get it added.
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Watching the DVD, I'm intrigued that Steve has something taped to his keyboard. Does anyone have any idea what it could be?
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
jardine
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by jardine »

boring, overly familiar, clumsy pacing and muddy sounding. won't bother with the second half of the DVD...
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migdd
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by migdd »

jardine wrote:boring, overly familiar, clumsy pacing and muddy sounding. won't bother with the second half of the DVD...
Agreed, sorta, about the first half. However, for me, it really kicks into gear about the time of Stella Hurt and continues cooking 'til the end. I've said it before but I'll throw it out there again - the DVD should have been filmed further along in the tour when the shows were more fully developed and the band was burning on that elusive higher flame.
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by verbal gymnastics »

I agree. Funnily enough I said exactly the same thing about the Club Date in Memphis DVD.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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watercamp
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by watercamp »

Alright, finally got to watch the whole DVD and for one thing I wish it was longer, also I don't get the idea of offering separate bonus songs when they should just leave them in the sequence of the main feature.

I don't have a 5.1 system but the stereo sounded as muddy as the CD.

I don't like the trays in the double CD/DVD package and it's gonna take me an electron microscope to read the booklet.

Now that I have that off my chest...the music is great and it's wonderful to see the band playing and having so much fun.

All in all I'm glad it was released.
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migdd
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by migdd »

I'm glad it was released, as well.

I view this as a souvenir of the tour - much less expensive than the ones they sell at the souvenir booth at the shows. I don't see this as a major "new album release". It's more of an official, nicely packaged, bootleg.

Dolby 5.1 really separates the instruments and nicely captures the sound of the room and the power of the band and EC's voice, at least it does on the DVD.

Really felt my age trying to read the little booklet, though. And, yes, I was pretty certain that the CD and DVD were going to break in half as I was trying to separate them from the spindles.
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docinwestchester
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by docinwestchester »

migdd wrote:Really felt my age trying to read the little booklet, though.
Impossible with my 50 yr old eyes. I needed a magnifying glass.
migdd wrote:And, yes, I was pretty certain that the CD and DVD were going to break in half as I was trying to separate them from the spindles.
Why so tight? Weird.
SoulForHire
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by SoulForHire »

migdd wrote: And, yes, I was pretty certain that the CD and DVD were going to break in half as I was trying to separate them from the spindles.
I was really worried about breaking them too. In fact, I still haven't even put the CD back in the case yet so that I won't have to risk breaking it when removing it again.
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docinwestchester
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by docinwestchester »

Overall, I consider this a very enjoyable watch. Having steath video recorded 4 different EC shows last year, it's a pleasure to watch a pro shot, multi-camera, real professional job! A few random observations:

The DVD audio sounds pretty damn good on my home theater system.

Stella Hurt is fantastic, especially the interplay between Steve and EC at the end, which is well captured on the DVD.

Watching the audience watch EC while he sings God Give Me Strength gives a nice perspective on what he sees when he roams through the audience during the ballads. A lot of very emotional faces out there.

A rare treat to hear Steve speak in the "behind the scenes" segment.

Pete's impression of Tom Waits alone is worth the $24.99 I spent.
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strangerinthehouse
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by strangerinthehouse »

SoulForHire wrote:
migdd wrote: And, yes, I was pretty certain that the CD and DVD were going to break in half as I was trying to separate them from the spindles.
I was really worried about breaking them too. In fact, I still haven't even put the CD back in the case yet so that I won't have to risk breaking it when removing it again.
That happened to me with a tom waits CD, the One From The Heart soundtrack I think, I took it back to the store, Barnes & Noble, and got a replacement copy. I was so mortified that it would break again that I melted the plastic spindle with a lighter until the CD gave way. It's was a spur of the moment solution, i guess.

I loved the DVD and thought it sounded much better than the CD. I wish it had been the complete show too but I understand they couldn't include everything. It's still an early clunky show but it was far more entertaining than any other DVD where all we see is the band onstage.
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johnfoyle
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by johnfoyle »

Image
Tower Records, Dublin has the first copy of the deluxe 'Spinning box set I've seen. Costing €269.99 (c.US$356.00), I asked the assistant to hold it....if she gave it to me I might have done a runner!
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watercamp
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by watercamp »

That's criminal!
Dr. Luther
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Re: 'The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook', Nov.

Post by Dr. Luther »

johnfoyle wrote:Tower Records, Dublin has the first copy of the deluxe 'Spinning box set I've seen. Costing €269.99 (c.US$356.00), I asked the assistant to hold it....if she gave it to me I might have done a runner!
That's a US import, I assume?
There's no equivalent UK version -- correct?
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