Steve Litchfield

Hawkwind's 1970s back catalogue has been extensively remastered and reworked, mainly by Cherry Red , with such classics as Space Ritual (1973)  and Quark, Strangeness & Charm (1977)  receiving the full treatment. But the cracks are starting to show - Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974)  had only a remaster of the original stereo mix because the multi-track original tapes had been lost.  An album which I'd been hoping could be expanded and improved was Live Seventy Nine , actually released in 1980. This was a single disk live album, with only six tracks (plus a stub of 'Silver Machine' blown apart by an explosion). But as a tour it was a big success, and very popular, not least because the core of Dave Brock, Harvey Bainbridge (on bass), and Simon King  (on drums) was joined by guitar maestro Huw Lloyd Langton  and keyboard wizard Tim Blake . But there are a few FAQ, before I get into what I've been tentatively doing... Why were there only six tracks? You ...

The use case here isn't universal, but it is quite common. There are tracks ripped from old vinyl, or available as 'extras' from various sources, and which haven't been attended to by a professional publisher already. You know, those 'Unreleased demo 2' tracks on band Y's latest re-release of a 1975 classic. They all add value to the re-release, but no one has taken the time to actually improve the quality. Well not until now. Using the tools that we have in 2024, it's possible to take tracks apart to a degree and then put them back together in a way that presents the vocals and instruments more clearly. So, where there was originally a mono-ish, muddy mix, probably a capture of a cassette copy of a rehearsal, or similar, we can now have a much clearer, wider stereo version that sounds as if it was recorded in 1995 rather than 1975. Well maybe. Perhaps nearer 1985 in some cases! But better, that's the point. Begging the question 'How do I do thi...