Welcome to a "tips of the trade" page!

So, I'm not sure of the date ...

This is a reasonable problem.  I am still, on occasion, guilty of this taping "misdemeanor." I am, however, always trying to make corrections.

If you have a tape that is of questionable origin (i.e., unsure of the date, venue or source), there are places where you can go to try to find answers to the mysteries presented by such an item.  Does the artist have a website, official or fan-based, that is fairly authoritative?  Does it list concert dates and venues?  Is there a trader out there who concentrates heavily on that artist?  Perhaps their list can be a source of info for you.

One example of a common tape suffering from an identity crisis is that of a 1968 Doors concert. Traders have listed one particular show as being from Westfield (or Westwood), CT. and Westbury, NY.?  Which is correct?  This confounded fans for a while, and bootleg CD and vinyl releases bearing each date and city didn't help the matter.  Now that a definitive book on the Doors concert performances is available, I trust that the question will be answered once and for all.

A few things to note:

- If seven collectors have Elton John as appearing at Madison Square Garden on July 21, 1984, and a tape in your collection that's dated the same night has him in Des Moines ... well, I'd guess that majority rules.  But if you know for a fact that the venue is, indeed, Des Moines (your sister taped it!), then you may have a very nice piece in your collection that other traders would love to get copies of.  Make a point, though, of checking a few E.J. web sites (I'd suggest "Cornflakes and Classics"), or an authoritative book on the man, to find the true date of the Des Moines show.

- The Who did not reunite for one show in 1986.  What I'm trying to say is that if you have a date that is way off base, don't add it to your list.

- If you don't know the track list, or an artist's song titles, don't make things up or "guesstimate".  It's easier and kinder to tell your fellow trader that you are uncertain of a tape's songlist or a song title than to get him or her excited over the fact that Elton John performed a song called "Ooh Se Ma La"  for the first and only time during a show that you have in your collection. (And yes, a collector did try to promote a tape to me bearing that very creative name for Elton's song "Bad Side of the Moon.")

- When you hear audible "snips," dramatic changes in sound quality, or severe variations from what you know to be an artist's usual set from a tour, consider that you may have an incomplete, partial or composite tape.  Then again ... you could be holding a really nice gem as well.  Chant with me, "Always try ... to identify."