I'm Still Here

[shakescky]

i remember spending so many hours downloading rar file parts on a 56k modem when TVM would release the VCD's. actually, i think TSIS is the first place i started finding them month-by-month until the C&D was fired off.

as for "i'm still here," wasn't it assumed the 'japan promo' is just a rumor considering nobody has come forward with this particular item/track listing? the only thing i remember is a 'scene' mp3 release.

[Anders]

so just curious... what makes this and the 1995 tour movie taboo?

Back in the day, some of the band's lawyers I believe reached out to this board asking us not to share unreleased, unfinished projects. Probably because there were perhaps plans to release the '95 movie as an official release, its copyright protected, etc.

The long story:

Back in 2002, before DVD burners and YouTube, people started sharing video bootlegs on VCD's. Easier than VHS, with none of the generational degradation, and it meant that everybody could get them. Most of it was facilitated by a fan site called TVM: The Video Mission. All B&Ps and trades. No one was selling anything. Band seemed okay with it - it totally undercut the video bootleg sellers. (The band didn't want people videoing their shows - and asked fans not to - but generally didn't care about the recordings that got out there.)

Then somebody in PJ's circle gave TVM a copy of the Birdman sessions, with a note that it was okay to share them. So they did.

Ed went ape-shit. Unknown to anybody, he considered those recordings to be private. So he rousted PJ's lawyers into C&D'ing TVM out of existence. After that, video boots were verboten across the board. (Tim Bierman is an asshole, but he was never a bigger asshole than he was at that time.)

What made it so rough was that they didn't just ask TVM to take them down. It felt like retribution. It upset a lot of folks.

For the next few years, PJ seriously gave a shit about unreleased stuff like they never had before. (The 1995 movie leaked in mid-2003, and it was basically just back-channel B&Ped for a long time.) Eventually, YouTube (and probably time) made it not worth enforcing.

That's really interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[UglyRedHonda]

as for "i'm still here," wasn't it assumed the 'japan promo' is just a rumor considering nobody has come forward with this particular item/track listing? the only thing i remember is a 'scene' mp3 release.

It was in the original pre-release leak rar. (I assume that's the "scene" release you're talking about.) I went looking through my archive and found out that I still have that rar. The files are all dated 10/24/03, which was three weeks before the album release. No mention of Japan on it.

From the Info file:

ÞÛÛß [ the 2 disc official rarities album will ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ include 31 tracks compiled from the ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ band's extensive b-side archives and from ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ various benefit album and soundtracks. ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ none of the included tracks have been ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ previously featured on any of the band's ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ studio albums. ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ this promo seems to slightly differ ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ tracklistwise from the tracklisting ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ announced on the official website. track ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ 10 "angel" is stated to be missing on the ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ promo cover. the indeed said song is not ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ featured on cd2. ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ the promo however has also got 31 tracks, ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ the final one being unaccounted for on the] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ sleeve. no mention of this song was found ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ on the internet and judging by the style, ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ the most obvious guess would be the song ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ is a ghost/hidden track. ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ on a small & final note. the promo cover ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ proudly states the cd "contains a unique ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ identification watermark that allows ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ tracing of copies in any digital format" ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ although being the actual promo a burnt ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ cd makes the watermark more of the ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ "supposedly-unique" kind of identification] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ which says it all really. ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ ] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ enjoy the music & rememeber to support the] ßÛÛÝ
ÞÛÛß [ artists. if you like it, buy the record. ] ßÛÛÝ

In that rar, it was just listed as "untitled". Not sure when we got the song title.

Around that time, there was an alternate version of the album cover floating around that still had the AMPEX logo on the tape in the oil can, which they removed for release.

[UglyRedHonda]

That's really interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Sure! Just to add - for me, in hindsight, the band C&Ding TVM was the moment that PRAMG started. They certainly didn't get anything out of what they spent on the lawyering. 10C's behavior (especially Bierman's) during that period was so shitty, it was almost like they reached a point where they just went, "Fuck it, let's make some cash."

[shakescky]

It was in the original pre-release leak rar. (I assume that's the "scene" release you're talking about.) I went looking through my archive and found out that I still have that rar. The files are all dated 10/24/03, which was three weeks before the album release.

No mention of Japan on it. In that rar, it was just listed as "untitled". Not sure when we got the song title.

Around that time, there was an alternate version of the album cover floating around that still had the AMPEX logo on the tape in the oil can, which they removed for release.

yes. the pre-release leak rar is what i meant by a scene release. i do remember the alternate artwork. thank you for the clarification. i did a quick search on alt.music.pearl-jam within google groups that brought up nothing pertaining to how 'untitled' started to go around with the newer song name. maybe it was just attributed as such due to its mentioning in the lyrics?

[Iholdthepain]

Oh yeah, the bridman sessions were such a cool little item and it was fuckin hard to get back in the day.

I hated those... and I could see why Ed would, too.

[UglyRedHonda]

yes. the pre-release leak rar is what i meant by a scene release. i do remember the alternate artwork. thank you for the clarification. i did a quick search on alt.music.pearl-jam within google groups that brought up nothing pertaining to how 'untitled' started to go around with the newer song name. maybe it was just attributed as such due to its mentioning in the lyrics?

I have this vague memory of it being stated on a message board somewhere a while afterward. I think, from there, it's just been spread as rumor. There's a note on the Pit now (from 2011) claiming that it was in the text file of the leak, but it definitely wasn't.

I did a quick poke through the ASCAP database - I'm a little surprised it's not there. (Unless it does have another actual title.)