Applause Records

[Daniel A]

I suppose all of us know of Applause Records, which reissued a number of Blue Note and Pacific Jazz albums on LP and CD with botched covers and poor sound. I can't recall why, but I am under impression that they were not bootlegs, but somehow relied on some sort of licensing deal.

I thought this ended years ago, so I was astonished to find a Jazz Crusaders Pacific Jazz album on Spotify, in terrible sound, featuring the ugly Applause cover, and with the following note:

(c) (p) 1969 (c) Applause Records (TM) a division of 43 North Broadway LLC.

What was/is the status of Applause Records?

[Ken Dryden]

Hopefully out of business. I avoided those ugly looking LPs suspecting that they were low budget crap.

[Teasing the Korean]

My Dad would buy these on cassette, for a buck a throw, and blast them while driving his Buick.  I still remember how badass he looked behind the wheel while "Society Red" was playing.

[Eric]

For me, there is a small amount of nostalgia factor going on there. Early 1980s, it was hard to find anything on Blue Mote.  So the Dexter album, sure, a yellow tint if I recall correctly. I didn’t really give a crap about sound quality, and that was probably the first place that I heard Freddie Hubbard.  A later favorite was Witch Doctor by Art Blakey on cassette that I played to death. Not sure the crappy artwork was even the correct artwork, but I knew it was Art Blakey, and that it kicked butt.   I also had Grant Green’s Am I Blue, which saved me from ever buying it again 😂

Edited September 2, 2023 by Eric

[Kevin Bresnahan]

The story I was told was that these licenses were issued in error. Someone got in big trouble for it too. They were never supposed to be released like that.

The CD releases (and probably this Spotify playlist too) and totally illegal and the story I was told by my friend who worked at One Way Records (also long out of business) is that someone found the original Applause licensing agreement and saw that there was no expiration date on the contract. They thought that gave them carte blanche to reissue these titles. My buddy saw the contract and told them they were idiots if they believed that. They kept shopping it around until they found someone stupid enough to believe them.

[felser]

5 minutes ago, bresna said:

The story I was told was that these licenses were issued in error. Someone got in big trouble for it too. They were never supposed to be released like that.

The CD releases (and probably this Spotify playlist too) and totally illegal and the story I was told by my friend who worked at One Way Records (also long out of business) is that someone found the original Applause licensing agreement and saw that there was no expiration date on the contract. They thought that gave them carte blanche to reissue these titles. My buddy saw the contract and told them they were idiots if they believed that. They kept shopping it around until they found someone stupid enough to believe them.

One Way licensed and issued some wonderful titles in the early days of CD's, thoughbthey eventually got outdone as time went on.  SRC, Keef Hartley Band come immediately to mind.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

My buddy Frank was pretty proud of the stuff they did. He was really bummed when they couldn't cut it. I think he'd still be there if it didn't fall apart.

[jazzbo]

4 minutes ago, felser said:

One Way licensed and issued some wonderful titles in the early days of CD's, thoughbthey eventually got outdone as time went on.  SRC, Keef Hartley Band come immediately to mind.

One Way reissued Shorter's "Moto Gross Feio" . . . .

[Daniel A]

7 hours ago, bresna said:

The story I was told was that these licenses were issued in error. Someone got in big trouble for it too. They were never supposed to be released like that.

The CD releases (and probably this Spotify playlist too) and totally illegal and the story I was told by my friend who worked at One Way Records (also long out of business) is that someone found the original Applause licensing agreement and saw that there was no expiration date on the contract. They thought that gave them carte blanche to reissue these titles. My buddy saw the contract and told them they were idiots if they believed that. They kept shopping it around until they found someone stupid enough to believe them.

Thanks, Kevin (and everybody else for your reminiscences). Maybe I even heard this story before here at the forums.

It seems that Applause Records might be out of business, but that their "licenses" have been acquired by this 43 North Holdings company. 

https://43northholdings.com/labels/and-sub-labels-in-2016/

For what it's worth, they also claim to own the rights to a couple of other jazz-related labels, like Vault, Skye and Hep Jazz. Quite an interesting list, actually:

https://43northholdings.com/#label-grid

But they are keeping up with the spirit of the original Applause Label in terms of production standards: the Jazz Crusaders album is apparently a vinyl rip which plays back at 45 rpm instead of 33!

 

[sidewinder]

10 hours ago, Eric said:

  I also had Grant Green’s Am I Blue, which saved me from ever buying it again 😂

I still have that one and I think it is the only Applause LP I ever bought. 50 cents from the sale rack at a ‘Sam The Record  Man’ at a Canadian mega-mall.

Don’t think I ever saw these for sale when new in the UK, although you occasionally see second hand copies. The other week I saw Jazz Crusaders ‘Powerhouse’ with a crummy red sleeve as per Daniel’s post. It is so bad that it is pretty cool. That 45 rpm audio is ridiculous !

Edited September 3, 2023 by sidewinder

[Teasing the Korean]

15 hours ago, felser said:

One Way licensed and issued some wonderful titles in the early days of CD's, thoughbthey eventually got outdone as time went on.  SRC, Keef Hartley Band come immediately to mind.

One Way released a CD twofer of Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible (Dot) and More MI (Paramount), and added "Secret Code" from There's a Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin' On!

[Teasing the Korean]

I still have my Applause LP of Inventions and Dimensions by Herbie Hancock. 

At least I don't have to worry about the cover yellowing: It came that way! 

[Daniel A]

3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I still have my Applause LP of Inventions and Dimensions by Herbie Hancock. 

At least I don't have to worry about the cover yellowing: It came that way! 

I have all of Hancock's Blue Note albums on LP except that one, which is especially expensive (low numbers pressed initially?). I have even considered getting the Applause version, as it still has the original picture (the reissue cover on Blue Note proper is a failure in my opinion):

How's the sound on the Applause LP?

[Teasing the Korean]

Just now, Daniel A said:

How's the sound on the Applause LP?

It's been a while.  I don't remember anything particularly bad that sticks out.  I'm off for a few days and will give it a spin.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I've never heard an Applause LP but the CDs sounded absolutely terrible. I think they made them from an old cassette tape.

[Ken Dryden]

I remember writing a nasty review of a Japanese Nat King Cole jazz trio CD featuring tracks that sounded like they were dubbed from a worn LP. To top it off, it was a later reissue that added overdubbed strings. The label owner sent me a snippy email CD claiming that he sourced them from the original master tapes.

[Teasing the Korean]

On 9/3/2023 at 3:36 PM, Daniel A said:

How's the sound on the Applause LP? [Inventions and Dimensions]

Listening now.  Does not sound bad.  There are some percussive effects on track 1 that could initially be mistaken for surface noise, but they are not.  I don't have Blue Note vinyl to compare it to.  If you can find one for cheap, it may be worth picking up.

[Mark Stryker]

On 9/3/2023 at 3:36 PM, Daniel A said:

I have all of Hancock's Blue Note albums on LP except that one, which is especially expensive (low numbers pressed initially?). I have even considered getting the Applause version, as it still has the original picture (the reissue cover on Blue Note proper is a failure in my opinion):

How's the sound on the Applause LP?

"Succotash" in my experience was a GREAT sounding LP, at least in its "black b" version from 1973 I've not heard the "white b" reissue from 1975 so I can't speak to the that but have always assumed it sounded excellent too -- still a real bargain in terms of Blue Note reissues. 

"Inventions and Dimensions" was always scarce and expensive and I assumed this was because it was never reissued under its original cover in United Artists blue label white or black b versions in the '70s. There are Liberty reissues up to a 1970 black/turquoise version and a 1971 Division of United Artists version with a classic blue/white label and black text. I have have also assumed that "Succotash" appeared with a non-traditional Blue Note cover because the label was trying to capitalize on Herbie's skyrocketing fame in the '70s.  I could be wrong about the this. and perhaps there's another reason. What are the other Blue Notes that got a similar treatment? Cannonball's "Somethin' Else" is one. Others?