Legacy Recordings

Punk rock was (or “is,” depending on your age and point of view) a visual and physical manifestation, an explosion of emotion and energy that went beyond language. While the Clash rose above the nihilism of the movement and became known for their politics and social commentary, their artistic expression was always as much through the physical as the written word.

Appropriately, the new DVD from the Clash out this week THE CLASH LIVE: REVOLUTION ROCK, directed by longtime Clash collaborator Don Letts, tells the story of the band the most fitting way possible, through their performances. From their early club shows to the blow out arena events, this is the Clash at their best, all emotion and electricity.

Putting this together, we researched hours of video, went on crazy hunts for rumored footage and looked for stuff Don or the band wanted to include, compared set lists in attempting to determine performace dates and tried to keep the wheels spinning on a project being worked on in two continents.

I wish we could have included all the footage that we came across, all the news clips, all the international tv appearances, but we had to edit, had to keep within certain constraints, as this was originally a one-hour program for PBS. When an official release became a reality, we went back and added footage, but as a fan, I know how these sets elicit the “why didn’t they add this?” or “why did they only include 1 song from that show when 4 exist?” or “why did they put that in there?” Trust me, if we could have we would have.

In the meantime, this is a cool DVD and there is some fantastic footage on here that you cannot get anywhere else, in a store anyway. Where Westway To The World had the band telling their story, Revolution Rock sees the band performing it. (And yes, there is a way to turn off the narration.)You can watch the trailer online on YouTube for a glimpse of what’s in store..

Welcome to the Legacy Recordings Blog.

My name is Sam Gomez. I oversee Digital Media here at Sony BMG’s Legacy Recordings. As you may have read in my profile, I describe my job as “I get paid to listen to music and play on computers.” Granted, lots of people may actually get paid while while doing this, it is my real job and I love it. My crack-team of enthusiasts and I oversee technology-related activities for our catalog division. One of our main responsibilities is building and maintaining various web properties for our artists and music - this includes includes www.legacyrecordings.com. We also work very closely with digital retailers to make our music available online. Most importantly, we try develop new ways to continuously introduce fans to our deep archive of recorded music.

Over the coming weeks/months, we plan to use the Legacy Recordings Blog to share thoughts on what we’re working on. Staff members will likely share their experiences working with artists/estates, researching archives and finding unreleased masters. Obviously, there will be a few shameless plugs here and there - check out Sony BMG MusicBox for great classic music videos. The intention, however, is not to create yet another hypebot, but rather share our passion for music. Our staff is comprised of some of the most knowledgeable music fans in the world. Music touches our lives everyday and we want to share this with you.

Please feel free to post your thoughts and comments. From time to time, we may even solicit your response.

Thank you for stopping by. We hope you enjoy.