Anyone else watching the HBO Special tonight?
 

After all, it was filmed 30 years ago today (or... yesterday? :shrug: ). I can't be the only one who listens to (or watches) things during every anniversary. :]

I am, too!!!

BTW, all of the 9 songs on the HBO Special (and "Leather And Lace" from the I Can't Wait collection) were filmed the night of the 13th. Listening to the audience recordings from both nights, the only official release from the 12th is "Angel" from the Superstar Rock Concert radio broadcast. All the others are from the 13th. Mostly, Stevie sang better on the 13th~ "Rhiannon" on the 12th is not nearly as powerful. But "Angel" was better on the 12th, as definitely was "Blue Lamp".

Did you re-watch Stevie's Saturday Night Live performace this past Saturday? 28 years since December 10, 1983!

So the radio broadcast was a mix of songs from the 12th and 13th? Ignore that. I can't read. :laugh: I downloaded it about an hour ago and just listened to Angel and Bella Donna. Angel sounds so different! I wonder why so many songs were cut from the VHS. Was it too long to fit on one tape?

I don't really know when any of the televised performances happened, but I have a little calendar to remind myself of album release dates :laugh:. It's quite nerdy, really.

Back then, HBO concerts were typically only one hour, although the VHS release could easily have contained the full number of songs in great quality. Oddly enough, though, while the Stevie (March 1982 broadcast) and Fleetwood Mac (March 1983 broadcast) concerts on HBO were only an edited hour, Olivia Newton-John's January 1983 broadcast show was almost an hour and a half (of her September 1982 Odgen, Utah concert). Only one of Olivia's songs was cut from the HBO broadcast ("If Not For You"), but had it been included, the show would still easily fit in under 1.5 hours. No idea why things are the length they are.

The only thing that bugs me about the Stevie HBO concert is the second verse of "Outside The Rain" being edited out. The original radio broadcast clearly has the second verse intact, so it's not like Stevie accidentally skipped it (as she did sometimes back in those days! :) ), it was purposefully cut from the HBO concert. For time?

Remember, there are no commercials during the concerts, and HBO likes to use 5 or so minutes between programs to run promos and hype upcoming shows.

Thanks for reminding me.I remember back in the day when the show aired At that time vcrs were over $1000 dollars and a single blank tapes were about $15 to $20 dollars.I could not afford to buy a vcr at that time so I stayed home to watch the HBO special every time when it was aired.Lost some sleep .but it was worth it. BTW. I'll watch the show later .I have it in my Stevie digital picture frame that which plays videos too.

Now they should release the show on Blueray DVD.

HBO Special = the real Stevie Nicks.

I was going to post a happy anniversary thread but you beat me to it!

I personally feel, too, that this will always be the stevie that i remember and was the era that i compared every subsequent thing she did to. She was at the top of her game and something about her aura onstage seemed so gracious and humbling. She wasn't acting all coked/stoned out and it was just a straight forward performance. When this concert aired on HBO I was already getting sucked in and discovering stevie and fm's music. I watched this concert every time it was on. I even tape recorded it with one of those cassette recorders held up to the the tv speaker lol.

i've always wondered who she's pissed at during edge of seventeen. watch at 3:05:

When this came out on HBO my brother recorded a 22 minute of it just to' finish' out a beta tape that he was going to send us. I was really starting to like Stevie based on her videos,but this really sold me on her as a live artist.

Yet...bets are she was doing coke during that period. It's just that it evolved into serious dependancy soon after, and became more obvious in her performances.

As I watch the HBO show .Number of times I recorded the soundtrack onto cassette also on reel to reel tape.I still have these tapes and still play great.Also about around 1983 or 1984 I believe .I had a chance to videotape the show from HBO on one of those old Panasonic reel to reel video recorders from the early 1970's which I got on loan from my friend.photos below.later I tranfered it to VHS in 1985.

With all the steviemania going on lately why isn't her record company taking advantage of her past work by remastering everything? Look at the huge boxsets that are being put out by classic rock acts like pink floyd,the who, ect. not only are those bands releasing remastered versions of their albums but also releasing all the demos and unreleased tracks.

Bella donna could have a massive rebirth if it was remastered and expanded to include not only the demos but also the 1981 hbo concert as 1 package.

I agree.with zero promotion as IYD is getting.They probably thinking why bother promoting her old stuff.I just dont understand why.

That's funny about the tape recorder, because I did the
same thing in the mid-70's when Elvis' Concert movie
"That's The Way It Is premiered on TV. I thought
my tape was something special. I've still got it somewhere.

It's getting harder to remember the exact sequence of
events the lead me to becoming a huge Stevie Nicks Fan.
I'm pretty sure I at least had the Wild Heart album,
and possibly Bella Donna and Tusk. But the
HBO Special cemented it for me. I probably saw it
for the first time in about 1984. I had the local video store
order it for me to try out on CED Disc no less. They didn't
get that disc back to rent out. I bought it.

If only we could get the whole show on Blu ray.

I used to tape record a lot of other stuff as well since we didn't get a vcr till '84. And I actually just now remembered that I (and really embarrassed to admit this) took a few pictures with a film camera way back then of the Sara video when it played on MTV. When the pics were developed, there was the tv with the faint image of the video. Thank God I did this when noone was home. Hey, I had to do what I had to do lol...

Did she do a skit?! I didn't even know it was on! No one tells me ANYTHING. I didn't know they were re-airing the HBO special, too! I keep up with rockalittle.com, they don't keep posted very well....

I've never seen the HBO special in it's entirety, I don't think. Maybe if I puzzled all the pieces together that I've seen, though.

Wow.Must see the whole show.I think most of it is up on Youtube by now.Plus the Behind the scenes footage when Stevie goes backstage to change was up with the cursing as she comes into the dressing room .

From a variety of sources, here's the best sound I've found for each song from the original radio broadcast (with a great audience-recorded "Blue Lamp" thrown in as a bonus!)

Live 12/12-13/1981
Gold Dust Woman
http://www.mediafire.com/?73q4w3co8bo718d

Outside the Rain/Dreams
http://www.mediafire.com/?vdcfx7btnytsfnq

Angel
http://www.mediafire.com/?96tnnshrfg31qcg

Gold And Braid
http://www.mediafire.com/?cvwbry5xh2h4992

I Need To Know
http://www.mediafire.com/?1iyus0kypid49of

Sara
http://www.mediafire.com/?jya5bdqaeqn167j

Bella Donna
http://www.mediafire.com/?h7v0s5tb8vf0eyn

Blue Lamp - Audience Recording
http://www.mediafire.com/?r84kmxnp12j27k1

Leather And Lace
http://www.mediafire.com/?un52hfhm5se3h0l

How Still My Love
http://www.mediafire.com/?uilubwpbuogng7b

Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
http://www.mediafire.com/?269u3un2puwbw6r

Edge Of Seventeen
http://www.mediafire.com/?62ycqa39k7kgfp5

Rhiannon
http://www.mediafire.com/?sn4dowm1n4y24oj

All songs are from 12/13/1981, except "Angel" and "Blue Lamp", which are 12/12/1981.

I meant to add that these versions of "Outside The Rain" and "Leather And Lace" are UNCUT. The video releases are edited: "Outside The Rain" is missing the 2nd verse and "Leather And Lace" one of the repeated choruses at the end. HERE, they are full and complete!!! :)