A truly incredible Talking Heads collectible–the original master tape for two alternate and unreleased mixes of “Don’t Worry About The Government” and one alternate unreleased mix of “Pull Me Up.”

We acquired these from Talking Heads ’77’s engineer and mixer (and all around great guy) Ed Stasium, and included is his signed letter of authenticity detailing the history of the tape, as well as a high resolution digital transfer on CD made by Ed.

As you can see from Stasium’s letter below, these are different mixes than appear on Talking Heads ’77. This is the actual master tape these mixes were made to. As Ed explains in his letter, he would make multiple mixes (it’s fascinating how he describes this process) and the one chosen for the record would be cut from the master tape–so these are the alternate mixes not used.

As Ed explains in an accompanying document, tapes from the 1970’s need to be “baked”–or heated in a controlled enviornment–before playback; the binder used to attach the magnetic particles to the backing can be unstable after many years. Ed baked this tape before transferring it digitally in his recording studio; we suggest the owner not try to play it.

This auction is for this tape, transfer and documentation, sold as a collectible only. No rights of reproduction or copyright are included or inferred. As illustrated below, we have commissioned a frame for this tape which can be hung on the wall or displayed on a table. The frame can easily be slid open and the tape removed. The frame is shown only as an example of how this tape might be displayed and is NOT INCLUDED but can be ordered separately.

A unique opportunity to obtain a truly one-of-a-kind Talking Heads collectible.