Re: The Efteling Special

[chrisw@wwa.com (Chris Williams)]

In rec.music.gaffa you write:

>To whom it may concern,

>In 1979 Kate came to Holland to make a special in a very famous dutch
>attraction-park called The Efteling.
>What I would like to know is, has this special ever been viewed abroad, in
>England or any other country aprt from Holland? 
 
    It has been seen, and is on the Lovehounds Collection.

> Secondly, does anyone of
>you have a mind copy of this video performance. 

    The copy we have is, as far as we know, the best copy in circulation.

>I have a bad copy, but it really is unique material.

    It is vital. A cornerstone of any Kate collection beyond the
commercially released videos.

> Even Kate or any of her close friends seems to
>have a copy of this special and as far as I know it is one of the view
>things she really would like to see again.

    I believe Kate has a copy now. If she doesn't, I'd be overjoyed
to make her a copy in any format. I can supply NTSC or PAL now.

> The dutch television has ereased
>the recording due to financial circumstances. In those days a tape was
>extremeley costly and so the re-used them several times.

    Not true. The show was filmed, not videotaped. We tried to track
the original film down and received the same story...but it is obviously
film...the quality is far too good for the videotape systems of that
era. At that time, it was far easier to film outdoors, using videotape
for studio shooting only. Think Tom Baker era "Dr. Who". "Broadcast
quality" of the time meant: 2" tape on a machine weighing nearly a ton.
Hardly stuff you'd want to lug around an amusment park filming a
then nearly unknown singer.

    As for the film, I believe a 16mm copy is in the private library
of a one-time head of EMI-America. At least that's the story that
accompanied our copy, which was made from a VHS tape made from a 3/4"
copy at least one more film to PAL to NTSC generation away. But unless
someone else has a 16mm film print, or has a copy from one of the
broadcasts, it's the best we're likely to get. Our copy has no credits
at the end, but we also have another copy with a credit roll from a
broadcast.

>So people, who can tell me more.... I am open to all suggestions.

   You can see still frames from our copy at:

http://www.gryphon.com/gaffa/passing/v78_may.html


-- 
Chris Williams of
Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
chrisw@miso.wwa.com (his)
vickie@miso.wwa.com (hers)