Remastering Of A Masterpiece:
The Clash’s London Calling

by Leo Cahalan

I spot the white cardboard media mailer left inside the storm door as I turn the car into the driveway. An expectant smile grows on my face. I have been waiting on a purchase – the 2004 remastered reissue of The Clash’s masterpiece, London Calling, still sealed. But my smile fades as my wife says, “You have to stop buying albums.” Her protest is more rhetorical than positional. It’s her way of saying, “Yeah, I see it. I know what you’re up to. I will allow it.” She indulges me.

She has a point. I already own the original 1980 Epic Records pressing of this record. So why duplicate? Original pressings elevate a record collection and usually sound better than subsequent reissues. But, in the case of the London Calling reissue, a remastered version has to be an improvement over the original, right? If not, why bother?

I grab the package and carry it inside, excited to execute the ritual of carefully pulling an old paring knife through the tape securing the cardboard flaps. I unfold the cardboard and smile down at the Elvis-flavored cover of London Calling.

What an amazing cover! Punk angst and violence depicted by a stark black-and-white photo of Paul Simonon about to slam his bass guitar onto the stage floor. The defiant photo is framed in the nostalgia of rock’s beginnings, with the album title written in the same pastel-colored font used on Elvis Presley’s classic first album.  Delicious.

The sticker extols the merits of this new and improved version and makes a bold promise: “Remastered for superb sound!”

I pull my original Epic U.S. release off the shelves and I compare the two. The packaging of the reissue is faithful to the original except that the spine is white with red and black printing. More significantly, “Train In Vain” is no longer a mystery track, but is listed as the fifth track of Side 4.  This is an unfortunate change, as the original omission of the track listing added to the album’s legend.

I pull Disc 1 out of the sleeve and put Side 2 up on the turntable. Side 2 is one of my favorite sides of any album. It may not rock as hard as Side 1, but the emotions evoked are as varied as the music employed. It is funny (“The Right Profile”), heartbreaking (“Lost In The Supermarket,” “Spanish Bombs”), angry (“Clampdown”), and discontented (“The Guns of Brixton”).

The needle drops and “Spanish Bombs” begins. I immediately feel something missing. I turn up the volume.  It still sounds off. I turn it up more, but just don’t feel that familiar punch. Thinking there’s something wrong with this track, I lift the needle and forward it to “Clampdown.” This will surely bring it I think. But no… volume does not help.

I let it play through to “The Guns Of Brixton” in the hopes that the promised “superb sound” will be revealed in Paul Simonon’s famous bass line. No, the mix is too polite; it sounds tired. There is plenty of air around the instruments and vocals, and the sound stage is wide, but the mix is flat. The bass is heavier and more prominent than on the original and Joe Stummer’s vocals are pushed to the back. This remastering tends to veil the whole production.

I take the reissue off and put on the original Epic release and immediately hear and feel the difference. No need to turn up the volume. Joe is front and center, Paul’s bass is tight and back, the highs are crisp and have a sweet, almost-harsh edge. The mix is clean and in your face. The music feels fresh, not tired. The original release moves you to tap, to sway, to feel. The reissue politely asks you to sit and listen.

Hey, if I want to listen to polite, nice, round, spacious sounds, I’ll put on Steely Dan’s Aja. But I want to bang, I want to shake, I want to dance! I want to listen to the damn Clash! And so I do – on the original pressing.

Anyone looking for a polite copy of London Calling, “remastered for superb sound?” I’ve got a nice white media mailer to send it to you in. My wife would appreciate it.

My plan was to begin writing about some of the exciting new music discovery applications, like Spotify and turntable.fm, that are cropping up like dandelions all over the Internet. In order to write from a basis of experience I planned to join some of these services. The news flash to me is that in order to join many of these services I have to have a Facebook account, or be willing to “share my music with friends” on Twitter or some other social media site. Wow… I just wanted to listen to music.

Spotify is the main offender of this annoying development. Not only can you not get a free account on Spotify without a Facebook account, you can’t  get a paid “premium” account either. Sean Parker, the precocious mastermind behind Napster, the controversial music file-sharing site that turned the music industry on its ear, is a major investor in Spotify and Facebook. This mandatory Facebook requirement would seem to have his fingerprints all over it.

What’s a poor adult boy who just wants to listen to music to do?  I don’t want to jam music into other people’s ear holes, and I don’t want it jammed into mine. I don’t want some “sophisticated algorithm” like Apple’s Genius telling me what I “might also like.” And I don’t want to see what other people are tagging and poking and liking on some tedious social network that’s trying to hijack eyeballs and ears and sell them to advertisers.

This may be part of the reason that vinyl is enjoying a surge of popularity. Vinyl is a throw-back to the good old days of A&R and FM radio and offers a comfort to music fans who long for a simpler era of taste manipulation. I guess we’ve always been told what to listen to and been at the mercy of music-industry weasels. But at least our personal information and preferences weren’t being commoditized and turned into business models.

I’ll continue to support fixed-disc formats like vinyl and CD and cling to what precious little of my privacy remains. And I’ll keep searching for digital sites that don’t force me to be social.

The discussions amongst attendees began to be peppered with questions of “how?” How did AMI pull off the presto-change-o and all of sudden former Ecast machines are now on the AMI network? Turns out there are two basic parts to the answer to that intriguing question.

Part one is technical. We understand that the nerdy technical answer is that AMI’s network, like Ecast’s, is built on a Windows-based platform. By contrast, the TouchTunes network is built on a Linux platform. Therefore, with fairly simple software tweaks and server permission codes, boxes that were connected to the Ecast Windows network server could quickly and smoothly transition to the AMI Windows network server. In order for TouchTunes to perform a similar transition, my understanding is that local hardware in the jukebox itself would have to be changed to make it possible for a former Windows-based node to connect to TouchTunes’s Linux network server. OK, an interesting technical tidbit.

Part two of the answer, not surprisingly, is legal in nature. This part is much more complex and provides the majority of the intrigue in this situation. As has been widely reported, AMI stands as Ecast’s senior secured creditor. While AMI execs haven’t said specifically why this is the case, based upon public-record documents we know that the two companies were engaged in patent litigation in which AMI ultimately prevailed. As a result, as AMI president and CEO Mike Maas said in his public remarks, “AMI has obtained possession of certain assets of Ecast’s network.”

However, to my knowledge, Ecast has never initiated bankruptcy proceedings — either “straight” Chapter 7 bankruptcy for complete liquidation of their operation or Chapter 11 which would have provided Ecast protection from creditors and allow them to continue operating while they restructured debt agreements. Presumably, Ecast has other creditors other than AMI who could step forward and protest the way in which Ecast has dissolved its operation. I am not a lawyer and I don’t know how operators would be impacted if other Ecast creditors made a legal challenge to AMI’s claim on “certain assets of Ecast’s network.”

Suffice it say that the legal chapter of the Ecast story may not yet be complete. It is our fervent hope that in any case there will be no negative repercussions for operators who have transitioned from Ecast to AMI. However, let me take this opportunity to once again make the point that CD provides a healthy hedge against potential further service disruptions on any digital network. CD allows operators to “control their own destinies,” free from the licensing issues and legal wranglings associated with digital music. Independence is a vital feature of the route operation business. CD can be a valuable tool to help operators maintain control of the businesses they have worked hard to build.

Consider contacting us on 866-CD-JUKEB (866-235-8532) and find out how Enco can help you keep your old CD jukes on the street working hard for YOUR route.

AMI has generated tremendous goodwill with its timely and streamlined solution for providing music to Ecast locations. Said one operator, “It’s not like there was weeks of down time while they figured something out. They were right there and made it very easy. Rowe saved our asses.” Operators were not talking about the terms of the new agreements they’re signing with AMI; they’re just very happy there was no interruption of service. It appears that AMI will pick up the great majority of the approximately 5,000 former Ecast locations.

TouchTunes is also enjoying a goodwill spike and will likewise pick up some of those former Ecast locations, albeit a smaller percentage than will AMI. TouchTunes is making their big splash with an announcement that they have secured the Beatles catalog for their digital jukebox network. This appears to be an exclusive for TouchTunes and provides them with a significant catalog advantage over competitors. They are also rolling out their photo booth and karaoke applications for their Virtuo jukebox. Operators are responding positively to these new options.

NSM is also here with a small booth. They are offering machines with a software platform similar to the one we saw at the EAG Expo in London earlier this year. Although NSM boxes were previously on the Ecast network, they claim to have fully-licensed music for the States. It also appears that they are continuing to try to sell directly to locations.

Despite all the positive conversation about the state of digital jukebox music networks, most operators we’re talking to still claim to have CD jukes active on some portion of their routes. We think this is a good thing. CD provides a healthy hedge against potential further service disruptions on digital networks. Ecast’s demise should serve as a warning to music operators. CD allows operators to “control their own destinies,” as competition in the digital realm contracts. Enco can help you keep your CD jukes on the street working for YOUR route.

Feel free to call us on 866-235-8532 to find out how. I may be standing on line trying to place my March Madness wagers, but somebody is in the office waiting to field your call.

Now is a good time for operators to consider dusting off their old CD jukeboxes. It’s important to remember that CD jukes allow operators to stay in complete control of their locations. Recent events remind us just how precious a commodity independence is in this business. And don’t forget, all the music that locations want to hear in their establishments is still readily available on compact disc.

Enco continues to support CD jukeboxes, not only because it’s our business, but because we believe operators are the best at servicing their locations. We share with operators the increasingly old-fashioned values of independence and personal relationships that are the bedrock of good route operation.

We believe this could be a “back to the future” moment. CD is a viable and valuable option during this time of transition. Now more than ever it makes sense to put this equipment back on the street and back to work on YOUR route. Please visit encosystems.net or call us on 866-CDJUKEBox (866-235-8532). We look forward to discussing how we can help you refurbish an old CD juke.

Jukebox in the UK and Europe continues its inexorable march toward computer-based digital formats with enhanced, web-based features. However, there is still a little life left in CD jukeboxes. Sound Leisure debuted a new retro version of Rock-Ola’s classic chromed-out “Rocket 88″ design. Sound Leisure’s Alan Black, the company’s leader and grand poobah of the UK jukebox community, was instrumental in the design of this jukebox, calling it a “labour of love.” But at present there are no plans to add a coin box to this beauty.

Sound Leisure's Rocket 88

Sound Leisure also had another striking CD-based product on display, again for the home market. This one is a riff on the classic 1015 Bubbler style that also includes an iPod dock. Alan Black pointed out that this design can be “skinned” with any graphic theme to suit the customer’s taste. The model pictured below is tricked out with a Union Jack design. While Sound Leisure has no immediate plans to export this juke, it could be a great addition to themed concepts like Irish and British pubs.

Sound Leisure's 1015 Bubbler design

NSM were also in attendance at the EAG with a large exhibit and a show of strength. However, CD jukes are no longer a part of their business plan. A number of other small digital jukebox start-ups were also exhibiting machines, most notably England-based Jaybox and Touch Hits, based in Ireland.

Sadly, the London industry event is not what it used to be. While dates have been set for next year’s expo (January 22-24), Martin Burlin, chairman of event organizers EAG Ltd admitted in a statement on the EAG web site that there are issues concerning next year’s event. Said Burlin, “We have well over 100 exhibitors from all over the world with different commitments and differing requirements and it is extremely difficult to balance all of those needs.”

Indeed the balance of international power in the industry is shifting to China and the Middle East. With more events in those regions competing for exhibitors’ and attendees’ time and travel budgets, the future of the London event is anything but certain.

Chris with Alan Black at the Sound Leisure booth

Touchtunes’ new Virtuo wall box is the most striking step forward in design since the dawn of the digital jukebox era. Touchtunes has bet big on this product, bringing in high-powered technology design firm frog design to help

Touchtunes' new Virtuo

rethink the jukebox. frog has worked with many top firms around the world, and they seem to have been particularly inspired by their own work on the HP Touchsmart touch-screen personal computer. The widescreen, landscape screen layout makes ergonomic sense and their advanced catalog-search capabilities are more intuitive for users. Enco’s old friend Mike Jablonski told me that they pretty much sold out their first production run at the show. Their partnership with Verizon for apps is also intriguing.

Rowe and ami entertainment also unveiled a new digital platform. Rowe’s director of engineering Jeff Kalis expressed much pride in their new NGX next generation of jukeboxes. Searches will now return matches for artists, album titles, track titles and even song lyrics that contain the search terms. This type of expanded search functionality is now standard on most

Rowe NGX

manufacturers’ jukeboxes — good news for users like me with bad memories. Rowe continues to be committed to full albums in their music offering — more good news to fans of album tracks and deep cuts. The NGX line also offers customizable “skins” to give jukeboxes a distinctive look matched to location decor.

Not to be forgotten, eCast was showing their latest EQ jukebox. John Akin, an eCast sales manager, touted the popularity of their social networking bundle. The picture-sharing feature of their platform has proven to be a favorite among patrons at eCast locations.

Finally, Glenn Streeter and Ross Blomgren were exhibiting Rock-Ola’s classic-design, CD-based jukes. The banner in their booth declared, “No third party in cash box. Good resale value. Classic jukes make good money.” Amen and God bless you boys!

Chris with Ross and Glenn from Rock-Ola

Would jukebox operators in the United States prefer to pay a flat fee for music, or a percentage of gross revenue?

The question came up as the Enco team once again traveled to London this past January to visit the EAG Expo. Jukebox was represented by Sound Leisure, NSM, Mexico’s Arion, and a small UK company called JayBox. Of particular note this year was the growing popularity of flat-fee pricing models for digital jukebox music. We talked to manufacturers and a number of operators at the show, and found that the UK, Europe and many other parts of the world seem to have embraced this pricing scheme.

With a flat-fee model, an operator pays a monthly subscription per location to the music provider. Flat-fee locations then theoretically have unlimited access to the provider’s entire music library. With a percentage-based model, which is dominant in the States, an operator is charged a percentage of the gross revenue generated by each jukebox.

To broaden the comparison, operators of CD and vinyl jukes, by purchasing music directly from a retailer or one-stop, determine their own cost of music for each location. This seems to have some similarities to the flat-fee model.

I’d like to know what you think. Would operators prefer a flat-fee pricing model for music, or a percentage-of-revenue model? Leave a comment or send an email to chris@encosystems.net.

And now a couple bonus pictures of the Enco team talking music  in London…

Chris Bisha with Simon Davis of Soundnet at EAG

Old friends Joel Friedman and Alan Black of Sound Leisure at EAG

Thanks. See you in Vegas.

Rowe CD 100

“This is a Rowe CD 100 jukebox. Features 100 CDs of your favorite music and is in excellent condition! What a fantastic piece of equipment to add to your home or location. Great for restaurants and arcades! Colors may vary. CDs not included.”

I saw this ad and the accompanying photo on a classified-ad web site. It makes a profound statement about the CD jukebox.

“This is a jukebox.” It is not trying to be anything more than that. You walk up to it, browse the selections, put in a coin or a bill, push the buttons and play the music. Straightforward, elegant and without guile. The CD jukebox makes no apologies — it only plays music and sounds great doing it.

“It features 100 CDs of your favorite music.” One hundred CDs. That’s over 130 hours of music, over 2500 three-minute songs. You could listen to music on a CD jukebox 24 hours a day for five-and-a-half days and still not hear all the music it might contain. And it’s important to remember that there is still some music on CD that isn’t available in any other format.

But it was the phrase “in excellent condition” that really caught my eye. Clearly, the CD 100 pictured in the ad is in excellent physical condition. The market for operators of CD jukeboxes is also in excellent condition. As new technologies and highly-touted business models have moved in, the CD juke has remained an operator’s steadfast ally. Five years ago operators began telling us that they planned a 100% route conversion to digital. Now as 2011 begins, it’s not uncommon to hear an operator tell us that his route is still close to 50% CD.

I’m proud to still be supporting the CD format, long after many experts had buried the technology. It continues to serve operators well in a range of locations. The CD jukebox is indeed “a fantastic piece of equipment to add to your home or location.”

So, allow me to clear up any confusion and to inform those jukebox operators who might not know. Enco warranties each player we sell for one year from the date of shipment from our facility in Detroit. To be clear, the warranty we extend is technically to the distributor who sells the player to the operator. So when you purchase a player through your local distributor, any warranty claims do need to go through that distributor.

We’re aware that there are a lot of “gray market” options out there. Factory rejects, rebuilt players sold as new, and counterfeit components claiming to be original Philips service parts are out there. Operators need to know that Philips has never sold authorized service parts at component level. Any organization claiming to sell “original factory replacement parts,” or other such claims, are getting these optics through third parties in the Far East. These parts may work, but they are not factory-authorized and their quality and reliability can be somewhat sketchy.

When you buy a factory new, factory fresh Philips CD Pro that has been supplied by Enco, you can be confident that that player came direct from the factory in central Europe. Enco Systems has been supplying Philips CD players to the jukebox industry since 1988. I have shaken the hand of Felician Kovatch, the quality manager at the factory who vouches for every player that comes off of the line.

Chris and Felician Kovatch at the Philips factory

Obviously, we hope that operators never have to avail themselves of the warranty, but crazy things happen in the jukebox world. Sometimes those things are difficult to explain, and it’s nice to know that Enco’s got your back.