Pirated at Last
After 17 long years, it has finally happened. My work has been pirated. Trawling the deep seas of the internet, I came across postings of a “rave” I co-produced - and filmed for a documentary - back in June 1992.
The event was “The Earthquaker” — an all-night rave party held at Dalleagles Farm, Scotland. With some of the top technos dj’s and artists of the time, Europe’s largest circus big top filled up with 15,000 people dancing to a 120K sound system with the most advanced sub-woofer array in the world. Hard-core ravers came from all over the UK, Europe, the USA and as far away as Japan. The lighting and laser rigs were bigger than anything seen at any rave before or since.
Original Flyer for "The Earthquaker"
Given the awesomeness of “The Earthquaker”, I took the precaution of hiring seven camera teams to shoot continuously for 12 hours, recording the entire event. The resulting footage became an hour-long documentary and was distributed in the UK by Sensible Distribution - on VHS.
Dream Frequency \”Feel So Real\” at The Earthquaker
Given that old video clips come up on youtube all the time, it was no surprise to find badly pixelated video of the event on several sites. And from the fan chat I found out there’s a DVD on sale — and has become popular with old-school ravers and people who missed out on the original rave scene in the UK.
When I saw the footage again, I was reminded how powerful it was. It’s no wonder there are buyers out there wanting the DVD. I clicked on another link and there was ‘New Atlantic’ and ‘Dream Frequency’ in all their glory. Amazing stuff. Without boasting, I can safely say that “Earthquaker” is the single best existing video document of the British Rave Scene 1992-3.
New Atlantic \”Into The Future\” at The Earthquaker
Which is why it’s so disappointing it’s only available on a pirate DVD. The images look horrible. My original footage was Beta-SP quality. The show was edited in a top-end facility. The original Sensible label VHS (PAL format) tapes were clean. Even in a NTSC transfer for the US, the program looked excellent - great colors, lots of detail, good skin tones.
Edinburgh’s Sensible Distribution no longer exists — and I’m not even sure where the masters are, but I’d love to be able to strike good DVD copies for an audience that clearly still wants the material, and for a future where my work can be seen from a historical perspective.
So producers and distributors, please - don’t let your copyrights fade away and allow pirates to make money selling old shows to new audiences.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
