In YesYears when the band is working on Drama they said they were in a small studio called Rodan and you see a few vid clips of them there working. Has anyone ever seen those FULL clips?
YesYears sent me on a 15+ year journey collecting every piece of live (and studio) footage used in that documentary. It occurred to me the other day that this is the only piece I never saw or found. I didn't have any luck on YouTube, though maybe you will?
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It's not actually from Rodan. It's from the Lititz tour rehearsals. The footage was shot by MTV. Low-quality copies of a very small excerpt used in a 1980 retrospectie has appeared but the actual complete footage seems to be a mystery. Longer clips are in the Reelin In The Years catalogue, according to their website and I think that's where this footage came from when they did YesYears.
Ah! Very interesting! Thanks for the details!
PS What is the Reelin In The Years catalogue?
That is Lilitz, but I don't think it was shot by MTV. This footage was shot around August 1980 and MTV didn't launch until August 1, 1981.Originally Posted by popeyebonaparte
here is a full recording of one rehearsal from Lititz, Pennsylvania 08/18/80. audio only, low quality. it says Lillitz but I don't think there is a Lillitz, Pa
i.ain't.dead.irock
one other thing.....I would imagine the rehearsals took place in a secret downtown studio owned by Clair Brothers Audio and Michael Tait (Tait Towers). Yes used Clair Brothers Audio for live shows and Tait designed their lighting. both had companies in Lititz, Pa. there was a small downtown studio where bands could hang out/rehearse under the radar during the early 80's. both Roy Clair and Tait have confirmed this as fact. it very well might have been referred to as Rodan Studios but that's only speculation on my part. it was closed around 1985 after bands outgrew it and they moved on to warehouses, airplane hangars, etc. Clair Brothers moved to Manheim, Pa. in 2009 and Tait Towers is still headquartered in Lititz, Pennsylvania.
i.ain't.dead.irock
I had the impression Rodan Studios was where they started working on the follow up to Tormato, when Jon and Rick were still involved, with Roy Thomas Baker producing. Then Alan broke his foot while rollerskating with Richard Branson (I think that's how the story went), the sessions got canceled, Jon and Rick quit, etc.
I don't know. I was just speculating about Rodan and I probably shouldn't have. I've always heard that the well known bands rehearsed at a place called Water Street Studios when they were in Lititz working with Clair. there is indeed a Water Street Studios mentioned in a timeline on a Clair website at the 80's mark.
that particular business entity was created in 1979 but withdrawn in 1984 after being deemed fictitious. so, was there ever really a secret studio anyways? there's a bootleg DVD of Bruce Springsteen rehearsing at Clair Brothers in September 1980. maybe that was always the place. I dunno. before I look like to much of a dumbass, I'll just leave it there and maybe someone with more knowledge can clear it up.
i.ain't.dead.irock
It's an archive that will drive you nuts because their collection contains a lot of rare music footage but they won't ever consider making it available to rubes like you or me. They license footage to industry people (i.e. If you're VH-1 and need some Hendrix footage for a 60s documentary, then they'll work with you)
Rodan Recorders was a small studio in London perhaps best known for being where Gordon Giltrap made many of his classic acoustic-prog albums during the late 70s/early 80s. I believe it shut down in the early 80s, but if anyone can find more information then I'd love to read it.
Some of this footage I think was also in the BBC Rock Family Trees documentary on Yes/ELP...but very brief, like split-second shots.
It was all taken directly from YesYears.
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