Your opinion on "demos"

[jeffd8382]

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

Yes, since I've been curious all these years about the demos and since I knew it would be something my fellow Ledgies would be interested in hearing about I asked Stevie directly how she feels about her demos being out there. I prefaced it by saying (at least 3 times) "please don't be mad at me Stevie" and she didn't seem the least bit disturbed in her response. She said of course she knows they are out there and that things were different back in the days when there would be parities and people would just grab a cassette off the table and she was like "yeah, go ahead and take it" and thought nothing of it. She was totally not angry or resentful in any way when she responded and even re-assured me that she wasn't mad. I think she went through many, many years being extremely upset about the whole demos thing but that lately she's come to accept it and perhaps even embrace it since that's how she was able to track down Secret Love. I'm sure a part of her still has some resentment regarding the subject but she seems to have mellowed on the matter.

I'm so glad you asked her this question... and I'm very happy to hear that she sounds like she's at peace with the idea of these demos floating around. Her radio interviews, when she talks about "Secret Love" and finding it on YouTube, seem to confirm this.. she doesn't sound angry, to me, at all about it.

To the OP, I had almost forgotten about this! Many years ago, when Nicksfix started their "Ask Stevie" section, one of the questions was about her demos/unreleased material and she said someone had stolen her tapes. Before that, I had actually purchased a couple of CDs on ebay of unreleased stuff (I was probably about 16/17 yo at the time) and was thrilled to hear the material... at the time, I didn't even realize fans could just make CDs (until I received them... it was obvious LOL!) But then after reading that answer, I was a little bothered by having those bootleg CDs and I didn't listen to them much for a long time... that was until mp3s and more stuff became available online. But I was the one who asked the follow-up question about "is there anything we, as fans, can do to help the situation?" and really her answer seemed very pragmatic and she just said, "I would prefer everyone get my music when it's finished." I half expected her to say, "stop selling/trading the stuff!"

[HighPassion]

Originally Posted by jeffd8382

I'm so glad you asked her this question... and I'm very happy to hear that she sounds like she's at peace with the idea of these demos floating around. Her radio interviews, when she talks about "Secret Love" and finding it on YouTube, seem to confirm this.. she doesn't sound angry, to me, at all about it.

To the OP, I had almost forgotten about this! Many years ago, when Nicksfix started their "Ask Stevie" section, one of the questions was about her demos/unreleased material and she said someone had stolen her tapes. Before that, I had actually purchased a couple of CDs on ebay of unreleased stuff (I was probably about 16/17 yo at the time) and was thrilled to hear the material... at the time, I didn't even realize fans could just make CDs (until I received them... it was obvious LOL!) But then after reading that answer, I was a little bothered by having those bootleg CDs and I didn't listen to them much for a long time... that was until mp3s and more stuff became available online. But I was the one who asked the follow-up question about "is there anything we, as fans, can do to help the situation?" and really her answer seemed very pragmatic and she just said, "I would prefer everyone get my music when it's finished." I half expected her to say, "stop selling/trading the stuff!"

See that's where it gets me lol. But c'est la vie.
Do you still have those CDs??

[jeffd8382]

Originally Posted by HighPassion

See that's where it gets me lol. But c'est la vie.
Do you still have those CDs??

Yeah, I understand... there's nothing wrong with feeling a moral dilemma when it comes to the gray areas in life. Everyone has to decide for themselves, I guess, what they believe is right or wrong... and what they're comfortable with.

I do still have those CDs actually... a few of the songs I have shared here came from there. In fact, the 3 tracks I am trying to upload at mediafire today (and yesterday) are from one of them... for some insane reason, I keep hitting a roadblock in getting them uploaded. I'm wondering it's some issue with my internet service... very frustrating! lol!

[HighPassion]

Originally Posted by jeffd8382

Yeah, I understand... there's nothing wrong with feeling a moral dilemma when it comes to the gray areas in life. Everyone has to decide for themselves, I guess, what they believe is right or wrong... and what they're comfortable with.

I do still have those CDs actually... a few of the songs I have shared here came from there. In fact, the 3 tracks I am trying to upload at mediafire today (and yesterday) are from one of them... for some insane reason, I keep hitting a roadblock in getting them uploaded. I'm wondering it's some issue with my internet service... very frustrating! lol!

Oh nice. Yeah, I bet the quality must be decent on those eh? Like, being as they haven't been ripped and compressed a number of times...
I'd love to get myself something like a tape or CD closest to the original distrubitor's source... But yeah, I'll keep my eyes peeled? What were those compilations called?

[jeffd8382]

Originally Posted by HighPassion

Oh nice. Yeah, I bet the quality must be decent on those eh? Like, being as they haven't been ripped and compressed a number of times...
I'd love to get myself something like a tape or CD closest to the original distrubitor's source... But yeah, I'll keep my eyes peeled? What were those compilations called?

There were 3 of them from ebay:

1.) Mirrorball (everyone seems to know this one LOL)

2.) Old-Fashioned (there's HORRIBLE noise reduction on this one.. like overkill on the old Dolby NR)

3.) Twisted/Enchanted Outtakes... this is where the "All Over You" that I recently uploaded came from as well as the "Edge of Seventeen" extended mix/outtake version. "Gypsy Beggars" & "The Nightmare" piano demos have pretty good sound (better than the ones previously posted) and those I am trying to upload as I'm typing.

There was also one that someone was kind enough to make one for me a couple years after that with songs that I picked from a list... most have terrible sound quality and have already been posted in better quality on this forum. I did, however, use the "Greta" RAL outtake from this CD and recently enhanced that one and posted it.

[markolas]

I haven't read the replies, so maybe someone's already said this, but here's what I think.
I think the crap about people "stealing her tapes" was mostly BS, and that recently she's admitted what is much closer to the truth: that she used to hand out copies of these tapes to anyone who asked. Apparently she wasn't thinking about what people would do with those tapes at the time she gave them out and she certainly couldn't have foreseen this thing called the Internet, but the long & short of it is that she put this stuff out there (or most of it) her own damn self. Now, I think it's wrong when people sell copies of these recordings, but I don't think there's anything wrong with fans sharing them amongst themselves, and Stevie should really embrace this segment of her fanbase.

[Macfanforever]

SleezeBay is my problem on this.I dont like the Idea of somebody that sells Stevie's demo tapes for a profit.or any other artist to the matter.I'm still shocked after reading these post that Stevie is not that upset about the demo's are out.The word is trust.Can you trust a friend if you gave him or her a demo tape.Of course If I was an artist. I would probably give my demos to friends and like today I probably post them on my website a have my fans have a listen to the demos and have them put some input and some opinions about the songs before i make the final cut.As we know Stevie is not into computers this wont happen with her.

[HighPassion]

Originally Posted by jeffd8382

There were 3 of them from ebay:

1.) Mirrorball (everyone seems to know this one LOL)

2.) Old-Fashioned (there's HORRIBLE noise reduction on this one.. like overkill on the old Dolby NR)

3.) Twisted/Enchanted Outtakes... this is where the "All Over You" that I recently uploaded came from as well as the "Edge of Seventeen" extended mix/outtake version. "Gypsy Beggars" & "The Nightmare" piano demos have pretty good sound (better than the ones previously posted) and those I am trying to upload as I'm typing.

There was also one that someone was kind enough to make one for me a couple years after that with songs that I picked from a list... most have terrible sound quality and have already been posted in better quality on this forum. I did, however, use the "Greta" RAL outtake from this CD and recently enhanced that one and posted it.

Nice

I have a lot of the old school compilations - but they were sent to me at 128kbps... Which is depressing considering the quality on a lot of them aren't good as is. And towards the end of a lot of them, they start skipping. So it's kind of just redundant on my part to even have them.

I'm slowly going through all of them and re-compiling with better versions of songs etc. I'm just assuming a lot of yours must be in decent quality being as you got them so long before they wouldve been compressed a billion times

And you're enhancements probably help a lot. I think I've heard a few. I didn't think that was possible as I've tried to a few times with "Running Through the Garden" but gave up

[-Lillith-]

I hate that people are selling the demos as well.
When i became a fan i watched a lot on youtube, i didnt know the story of the demo s or anything by then.
I heard more demo stuff at first then realesed songs, because i had to get the Cds and stuff at first.
I was already a huge demo fan when i heard that it i s not really her will that they float around on the net.
There are a lot of Songs that are demos that mean a lot to me.
I think she isnt really mad about that, she sees that her Songs are appreciated and might like that at least.
When she gave away tapes she couldnt have known that it would be so easy to circulate them by now.

[-Lillith-]

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

Yes, since I've been curious all these years about the demos and since I knew it would be something my fellow Ledgies would be interested in hearing about I asked Stevie directly how she feels about her demos being out there. I prefaced it by saying (at least 3 times) "please don't be mad at me Stevie" and she didn't seem the least bit disturbed in her response. She said of course she knows they are out there and that things were different back in the days when there would be parities and people would just grab a cassette off the table and she was like "yeah, go ahead and take it" and thought nothing of it. She was totally not angry or resentful in any way when she responded and even re-assured me that she wasn't mad. I think she went through many, many years being extremely upset about the whole demos thing but that lately she's come to accept it and perhaps even embrace it since that's how she was able to track down Secret Love. I'm sure a part of her still has some resentment regarding the subject but she seems to have mellowed on the matter.

That was really cool of you to ask her. Thanks for the information

[DarkUponLight]

Ok, I think now is probably the best time to share a little story with you all, since this was all brought up. It was sometime in 1999, I was in a club & met this guy who claimed to have lived with Stevie in the late 80's/early 90's in one of her L.A. "party houses". He told me this story of how Stevie was really frustrated when she went in with Rupert to do OSOTM. That she felt like she had so many demos & outtakes that would never see the light of day, even if she did 10 albums back to back. So, she supposedly gave him copies of her entire vault of songs & he was supposed to sort through them & pick the best of the best to go on a box set sort of deal. Apparently he made copies of the songs & sold them to the highest bidder & this was the beginning of all these demos being distributed to the fans. From what he told me, Stevie found out & was furious, but couldn't really do much cuz she couldn't prove he actually sold the copies, even though there was some evidence that he had. By this time, I'm thinking this guy was just some kind of crazed fan, feeding me a bunch of bull, but then he pulled out his wallet & showed me some pictures of him & Stevie lounging around a living room & other of them drinking at a party. Now, these were actual photos, and this was long before photoshop came along, so I was inclined to believe him after he showed me the pictures. And as time went on, he came back to the club & brought in more pictures to show me of him at home with Stevie, so the more real pictures I saw, the more I was convinced he was telling the truth, at least about staying with Stevie at some point. But, I've always wondered if the story about Rupert & the demos was true. And the liner notes in Timespace about Rupert sort of supported this story in a way too. I dunno, it could all be a bunch of bull, but I do remember him saying that even though the demos were sold & she wasn't happy about how it happened, she was relieved that the fans were able to hear some of the songs that she knew would never make an album, even if they weren't in polished form. But who knows... I just feel like, they're out there, she knows about it, she doesn't seem too upset about it anymore. And I kinda feel like it's a good thing they did get out because if not, would "Secret Love" even be on IYD? It's kinda the same way I feel about trading demos. I feel like everyone should share what they have because the more copies out there, the less chance any demo will be lost forever if someone's computer crashes or they lose their hard copies. If none of Stevie's demos were ever leaked & her house burned down, NONE of the wonderful treasured demos we know today would ever be known to ANY of her fans... and that freaks me out a lot more than how politically correct it is or isn't to trade or listen to them... but that's just me...

[-Lillith-]

Thats an intresting story

i am like minded. There are songs that are just to beautiful to never be heard by anybody, may be she really felt that way , too and gave them to his guy?

[jkmaletic]

As an artist, I totally get why she prefers people to hear her music when it's finished. It bugs when people want to see a drawing im working on before its done. But I agree that she's mellowed out about it in the past few years. Plus, I can vouch for Stevies reaction to Lindsays question. She wasn't angry at all. It was funny, cuz when Lindsay asked her that I was thinking, uh-oh..
I also thought- wow, that chicks got some balls! :lo

Jamie

[HighPassion]

Originally Posted by DarkUponLight

Ok, I think now is probably the best time to share a little story with you all, since this was all brought up. It was sometime in 1999, I was in a club & met this guy who claimed to have lived with Stevie in the late 80's/early 90's in one of her L.A. "party houses". He told me this story of how Stevie was really frustrated when she went in with Rupert to do OSOTM. That she felt like she had so many demos & outtakes that would never see the light of day, even if she did 10 albums back to back. So, she supposedly gave him copies of her entire vault of songs & he was supposed to sort through them & pick the best of the best to go on a box set sort of deal. Apparently he made copies of the songs & sold them to the highest bidder & this was the beginning of all these demos being distributed to the fans. From what he told me, Stevie found out & was furious, but couldn't really do much cuz she couldn't prove he actually sold the copies, even though there was some evidence that he had. By this time, I'm thinking this guy was just some kind of crazed fan, feeding me a bunch of bull, but then he pulled out his wallet & showed me some pictures of him & Stevie lounging around a living room & other of them drinking at a party. Now, these were actual photos, and this was long before photoshop came along, so I was inclined to believe him after he showed me the pictures. And as time went on, he came back to the club & brought in more pictures to show me of him at home with Stevie, so the more real pictures I saw, the more I was convinced he was telling the truth, at least about staying with Stevie at some point. But, I've always wondered if the story about Rupert & the demos was true. And the liner notes in Timespace about Rupert sort of supported this story in a way too. I dunno, it could all be a bunch of bull, but I do remember him saying that even though the demos were sold & she wasn't happy about how it happened, she was relieved that the fans were able to hear some of the songs that she knew would never make an album, even if they weren't in polished form. But who knows... I just feel like, they're out there, she knows about it, she doesn't seem too upset about it anymore. And I kinda feel like it's a good thing they did get out because if not, would "Secret Love" even be on IYD? It's kinda the same way I feel about trading demos. I feel like everyone should share what they have because the more copies out there, the less chance any demo will be lost forever if someone's computer crashes or they lose their hard copies. If none of Stevie's demos were ever leaked & her house burned down, NONE of the wonderful treasured demos we know today would ever be known to ANY of her fans... and that freaks me out a lot more than how politically correct it is or isn't to trade or listen to them... but that's just me...

Ooooh pieces of the puzzle eh. Thanks for sharing
Too bad this guy was a jackass, we could've had some quality demos of some songs hehe.

This actually seems very probable. Maybe not like this "exact" story cause who knows if it's true or not. But earlier interviews with Stevie she seemed so keen on having everyone hear what she has to say in her songs, and how she writes for the fans.
So maybe she was pissed when people asked her about it, and made the story a bit more dramatic - when she actually knew who stole them. Or she didn't remember who let them leak because she was so doped up. But yeah, maybe she's just mad because they weren't let out the right way.

We should find this guy on facebook and give him a beatdown!


@jkmaletic - I totally know what you meanabout the unfinished work being snooped on...

[Heartboy]

Originally Posted by DarkUponLight

Ok, I think now is probably the best time to share a little story with you all, since this was all brought up. It was sometime in 1999, I was in a club & met this guy who claimed to have lived with Stevie in the late 80's/early 90's in one of her L.A. "party houses". He told me this story of how Stevie was really frustrated when she went in with Rupert to do OSOTM. That she felt like she had so many demos & outtakes that would never see the light of day, even if she did 10 albums back to back. So, she supposedly gave him copies of her entire vault of songs & he was supposed to sort through them & pick the best of the best to go on a box set sort of deal. Apparently he made copies of the songs & sold them to the highest bidder & this was the beginning of all these demos being distributed to the fans. From what he told me, Stevie found out & was furious, but couldn't really do much cuz she couldn't prove he actually sold the copies, even though there was some evidence that he had. By this time, I'm thinking this guy was just some kind of crazed fan, feeding me a bunch of bull, but then he pulled out his wallet & showed me some pictures of him & Stevie lounging around a living room & other of them drinking at a party. Now, these were actual photos, and this was long before photoshop came along, so I was inclined to believe him after he showed me the pictures. And as time went on, he came back to the club & brought in more pictures to show me of him at home with Stevie, so the more real pictures I saw, the more I was convinced he was telling the truth, at least about staying with Stevie at some point. But, I've always wondered if the story about Rupert & the demos was true. And the liner notes in Timespace about Rupert sort of supported this story in a way too. I dunno, it could all be a bunch of bull, but I do remember him saying that even though the demos were sold & she wasn't happy about how it happened, she was relieved that the fans were able to hear some of the songs that she knew would never make an album, even if they weren't in polished form. But who knows... I just feel like, they're out there, she knows about it, she doesn't seem too upset about it anymore. And I kinda feel like it's a good thing they did get out because if not, would "Secret Love" even be on IYD? It's kinda the same way I feel about trading demos. I feel like everyone should share what they have because the more copies out there, the less chance any demo will be lost forever if someone's computer crashes or they lose their hard copies. If none of Stevie's demos were ever leaked & her house burned down, NONE of the wonderful treasured demos we know today would ever be known to ANY of her fans... and that freaks me out a lot more than how politically correct it is or isn't to trade or listen to them... but that's just me...

Speaking of Rupert, did he write any songs about Stevie? Someone told me the other day that they think a song he wrote and Wilson Phillips recorded, could of been about Stevie & it's gotten me thinkin' the last few days! or maybe this is a different Rupert.