“Philadelphia Special Revisted” 2012 Fanatic Records Remaster Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band The Spectrum – Philadelphia, PA August 18, 1978 Audience Recording Cassette?>LP>CDR>EAC> Magix >flac The first time I worked on this recording was in January 2008 and it was posted under the title “Racing In The Street”. Since the source was originating from an old vinyl boot “Philadelphia Special,” released by Phantom Productions, my focus was on removing a lot of the vinyl pops and tape glitches. I did EQ the sound the first time around too. But, after revisiting this recording I realized that the sound was very uneven. Since I don’t own the original vinyl source, I’m not sure if somewhere along the line it was changed. All I know is that as the shows progresses the decibels gradually increase, so much so that by the time you reach disc 2 the dynamic range is completely lost and what you get is a symptom of the current LOUDNESS mastering wars. As a result there was so much of a harsh, distorted sound that I decided to re-work this show from scratch, or I should say go back to the source that was made available to me by Mr Anonymous. My approach this time around was not only to remove tape glitches and vinyl pops, but normalize tracks, de-clip, de-noise and EQ. If you listen to tracks from my original 2008 post and compare discs 2 and 3 with what’s being presented here, you will hear a big difference. It won’t sound as LOUD, but that’s what you have your volume control for. The reason this show holds special meaning to me is that I was there. The night before I had gone to the movies and was blown away by the Buddy Holly Story. At the time I knew very little about Buddy Holly and the movie left such an impression on me and was still fresh on my mind when I was at the Spectrum. During the encores Bruce talks about the movie and brings out Gary Busey to sing lead on “Rave On” and play on “Quarter to Three.” I was blown away, couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. The star of The Buddy Holly Story was on the same stage as Bruce! The other highlight of course was earlier in the show when Bruce says “This is a Philadelphia Special” and goes into The Fever. Although there are many crystal clear sounding shows from ‘78, and this one is far from perfect, it’s being presented for more of its historical value. If you have the remaster recording I posted in 2008, do yourself a favor and throw it in the garbage. This is the one you should have! Special thanks to Pete from Brucebase who sent me scans of the original LP “Philadelphia Special” which I incorporated into the new CD artwork. The new CD artwork will have the look of an old vinyl boot, including those groovy colored vinyl disques! Thanks to Mr Anonymous for sending his source recording. Enjoy! Rob Fanatic Records DISC 1 Summertime Blues 2:51 Badlands 4:53 Spirit In The Night 6:57 Darkness On The Edge Of Town 5:33 Factory 4:05 The Promised Land 6:20 Prove It All Night 11:54 Racing In The Street 9:11 Thunder Road 5:59 Jungleland 10:06 DISC 2 Paradise By The "C" 4:33 The Fever 7:21 Sherry Darling 6:33 4th Of July, Asbury Park (edited) 3:23 Medley: Not Fade Away-Gloria-She's The One 12:09 Growin' Up 10:56 Backstreets 10:52 Rosalita 11:28 Born To Run 5:35 DISC 3 Because The Night 6:59 Rave On (with Gary Busey) 3:43 Quarter To Three (with Gary Busey)10:25