Bootlegs Archives | Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things

How many live albums does Pearl Jam have now? We’ve officially lost count.

Pearl Jam’s egalitarian attitudes have always extended to allowing fans to record their gigs. They’ve also been very generous with

Over the weekend, 50 unreleased Rolling Stones songs stretching back over almost 60 years appeared online. No one seems to

You know that things are weird when my visit to Costoco revealed that my local store totally out of antiseptic

Illegally made recordings are as old as recorded music itself. In 1901, Lionel Mapleson, the librarian at the Metropolitan Opera

I understand why people back into parking spaces at the mall, but when it’s crowded and busy during the holiday

Unauthorized sharing of songs goes back further than Napster. Much further. As proof, here’s a short film Neil Young shot

I confess: I used to buy a lot of bootleg CDs. And I mean a lot. They ran the gamut:

It was on this day in 1963 that the first-ever push-button telephone went into service. And now, some music news…

The first known example of a successful bootleg was an unauthorized Bob Dylan collection of–ahem–misplaced tracks called Great White Wonder

[For some reason, I’ve recently been getting a lot of people asking about the old illicit Soviet method or distributing

The Custodian of Toronto Sports – Richard Peddie in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 033 May 27, 2021
Over a 20+ year span, as the Toronto pro sports scene evolved from older venues and stands filled with blue and white (Leafs, Blue Jays, Argonauts) to a more intense red (Raptors, TFC), and grand coliseums that define the city’s skyline, there is one sports executive in particular who ownership looked to. We’re of course […]
Mark Silver
The Ultimate Backstage Pass – David Kines in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 032 May 17, 2021
In today’s everything-on-demand world, it may be hard for anyone born post-Y2 K to answer a simple question, “where do you watch music videos?” A reasonable answer would be YouTube, Apple Music, or maybe even Tiktok. Prior to the dawn of YouTube in 2005, the answer was easy. MTV if you’re American, and of course […]
Mark Silver
Gamifying the Movie Theatre Experience – Aaron Silverberg in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 031 May 9, 2021
People yearn for live experiences that they can share with others. Though fan and crowd-based events such as sports and concerts may be the source of most of our FOMO, movie theatres are even more appealing. Although the film may be the main attraction, movie theatre owners are constantly looking for new ways to maximize […]
Mark Silver