Latest news with #Frith
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Time of India
Emergency alert: Why millions of New Zealanders' phones will buzz loudly this Sunday, even if on silent!
Millions of New Zealanders will hear a loud buzz on their mobile phones: a nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert ( EMA ) system on Sunday, May 25, between 6 and 7 pm. This annual test is conducted by the National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA ), and it ensures the system's readiness to deliver critical information during emergencies. During the test, if your phone is on, capable of receiving alerts, and within range of a targeted cell tower, you will receive the alert. The alert will override silent or do-not-disturb settings, emitting a loud buzz and displaying a message indicating that it is a test. If you prefer not to be disturbed, you can turn off your phone or switch it to flight mode during the test period. "If you get an alert, you should stop and read the message, and take it seriously," NEMA civil defence emergency management director John Price said. "It will tell you what the emergency is, what to do and where to go for more information. NEMA expects "about 5.5 million phones to go beep on Sunday". Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like OMEA Award for Indian Manufacturers ansoim Learn More Undo Understanding the EMA System The EMA system, which was introduced in 2017, sends alerts to capable mobile phones via cell broadcast technology and, unlike traditional text messages, these alerts are broadcast to all phones within a specific area, without the need for phone numbers or personal data. Live Events This method allows for rapid dissemination of information, even when networks are congested during emergencies "Our system does not have any telephone numbers," Frith confirmed. "Once we've transmitted the message from our portal, it then goes to the cell towers." The alerts are designed to inform the public about serious threats to life, health, or property, such as natural disasters, fires, or public health emergencies. They can also be used for test purposes to ensure the system's functionality Why the test matters The annual test serves multiple purposes: It checks the system's performance Evaluates the reach of cell towers Assess mobile devices' ability to receive alerts. Familiarizes the public with the alert system, so they recognize and respond appropriately during actual emergencies. According to NEMA, previous tests have shown that approximately 90% of mobile phones in New Zealand successfully receive the alerts. However, factors such as being outside the targeted area, having an older phone, or lacking mobile reception can affect alert reception Previous events when EMA system was used About 200 alerts have been sent out since they began, many of them regional ones, NEMA communications manager Anthony Frith said. The EMA system has proven invaluable in real-life situations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nationwide alerts provided timely updates on lockdowns and health guidelines. In April 2024, Auckland residents received multiple alerts during severe storms and a recycling plant fire, helping them stay informed and safe. Local authorities, such as the Grey District Council, have also utilized the system for public health notices. In April 2024, an alert was sent out for a boil water notice due to possible contamination, ensuring residents took immediate action to protect their health. NEMA emphasizes the importance of being prepared and staying informed through multiple channels, including media, official websites, and natural warning signs. As NEMA's Civil Defence Emergency Management Director John Price advises, "If you get an alert, you should stop and read the message, and take it seriously. It will tell you what the emergency is, what to do, and where to go for more information."
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A Canadian record shop owner has just unearthed a 15-track version of The Beatles first demo tape
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. You'd be forgiven for thinking that, by now, all of The Beatles 'lost' recordings or hitherto unknown peeks behind the moptop's early 60's curtains were thoroughly out in the open. Well, much like the band's own seemingly limitless and groaning archives, it appears there are still a few jaw-dropping Beatles recordings to be found out in the wild. The latest discovery comes courtesy of Canadian record shop owner Rob Frith who had owned a reel-to-reel tape labeled 'Beatles 60s demos' for a number of years as part of the shop's stock. The enthusiastic collector had presumed that it was simply an early compilation of Beatles tunes that someone had ran to tape for speed and ease. However, with the prospect of being able to finally listen to the tape at a friend's suitably equipped studio, Frith brought along the tape only to be stunned by its contents. And now, via an Instagram post, the word is definitely out. 'I picked up this tape years ago that said Beatles Demos on it,' writes Frith. 'I just figured it was a tape off a bootleg record. After hearing it last night for the first time, it sounds like a master tape. The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have, what sounds like a Beatles 15-song Decca tapes master?' It's a question that many are now asking and the glory of a brand new, pristine original Beatles recording has got all of their following in a flutter. Frith believes that the tape is a rare copy of a famous audition recording from the band's early days. Prior to being signed to Parlophone Records, The Beatles and manager Brian Epstein had, of course, produced a demo tape with which to tout their wares – the tape was famously recorded at Decca Studios in London, 1 January, 1962. Decca would, of course, equally famously, go on to pass on signing (what would soon be) the (biggest) band (in the world) – claiming at the time that "guitar groups are on the way out" – and that audition tape would eventually appear as a much-bootlegged album in its own right throughout the 70s. Thus a tape of that 'album' wouldn't be remarkable, however Frith's tape goes far beyond mere bootleg. Larry Hennessey, owner of the studio in which Frith played the tape, noted that each song on the tape is separated by white, unrecordable, 'leader' tape, meaning that rather than simply being a copy of another tape, is the original songs spliced together to form a single, playable master. As such – potentially the original master tape of The Beatles first ever recording – Frith's find is therefore something special, both in terms of pure rarity and the undiluted pure quality of the original, non-transferred recording that it carries on board. "The way that's wound on the tape, you can see that it separates the tracks. It's not a fast copy or a bootleg," Hennessey explained. Indeed, listening to it, "It seemed like the Beatles were in the room," Frith told CBC Canada. It's therefore potentially an even better quality version of the recording which most recently appeared as part of 1995's Beatles Anthology Volume 1 project, which bore just five of the 15 tracks apparently on Frith's new master. In 2012 a version of the 'master tape' sold to a Japanese collector for £35,000. However, the authenticity of this tape has been debated by experts as it only contains 10 songs. However Frith's new tape would appear to contain the full 15 songs from the session. And thanks to his post and its rapid take-up among Beatles fans, it hasn't taken long for more corroborating evidence and the tape's backstory to come out of the woodwork. Step up one Jack Herschorn. Herschorn was a Canadian record company executive who bought Mushroom Studios in 1971 and, now having left the music business, now lives in Mexico. While on a work trip in London a producer had given Herschorn the tape with the suggestion that he could release it in America and make some money from the up and coming band. "I took it back and I thought about it quite a bit … I didn't want to put it out because I felt – I didn't think it was a totally moral thing to do," Hershorn said. "These guys, they're famous and they deserve to have the right royalties on it … It deserves to come out properly,' he added. And, while wishing that by then world-famous musicians had signed to his label held onto the tape before forgetting all about it. "I should have took it, but it didn't work out that way. You know, I had other things going on. I wasn't thinking about it,' he explained. As to what will happen with the recording now, Frith has a number of options. Claiming that he's in no rush to sell it, Frith has suggested that if Decca wanted to use it to produce a new, definitive clean copy of the recording that he'd gladly give them access to it. Alternatively Frith has proposed that if Paul McCartney were to come to Neptoon Records in person, he'd happily hand it over. "People say it could be really valuable. I don't know. I'm glad it's preserved," he said.
Boston Globe
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A rare Beatles audition tape surfaces in a Vancouver record shop
It was just before midnight on March 11 when they pushed play on the mystery tape. From the opening guitar riff and the intonation of a 21-year-old John Lennon, Frith said he could not believe his ears as he listened to the Beatles performing a cover of the Motown hit 'Money (That's What I Want).' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Right away, we're all kind of looking at each other,' Frith said. 'It seems like the Beatles are in the room. That's how clear it is.' Advertisement Frith said the tape appeared to be a professionally edited recording of the Beatles' New Year's Day 1962 audition for Decca Records in London, a session that notably ended with the band's rejection. The 15 songs -- all but three of them covers -- matched the group's set list from the audition, according to Frith. 'I start Googling to see what it is,' said Doug Schober, 65, a friend and former record shop employee who listened to the tape with Frith and Hennessey. 'By the third song, I say, 'I think this is the Decca demo.'' Advertisement No one in the group dared to declare that they had a master copy of the audition, but it seemed pretty close. While the Beatles officially released five of the songs from the audition on the 'Anthology 1' compilation in 1995, and bootleg recordings of the session have circulated over the years, those familiar with the tape say that its pristine sound quality and appearance point to its uniqueness and potential value. 'The fidelity is astounding,' Hennessey said. The recording was on a reel-to-reel tape -- not the kind that could be popped into a cassette player. To listen to it, Hennessey had to load it onto a Studer A810, a vintage tape player made in Switzerland that he said has a cultlike following among audiophiles. As he was getting it ready, he said, he noticed something distinct about it: Between each song was a buffer of white leader tape, which is used when tapes are spliced or to create space between songs. A bootlegger would not have gone to that trouble, he said. Nor would a bootleg be free of hiss and other noise distortions that usually occur each time a copy is made of a master recording, he said. Something else stood out. The song 'September in the Rain' had six different edits, said Hennessey, who made a digital and a CD copy of the tape. As the men began posting about their discovery on social media, clues about the provenance of the recording began to emerge. Advertisement Jack Herschorn, the former president and founder of Can-Base Records, a Vancouver label, said that a producer at Decca gave him the tape in the early 1970s and suggested that he could use it to make bootleg recordings. But he said he had qualms about doing so. 'I adored the Beatles,' Herschorn said. 'I wasn't going to do anything that was not morally correct in my mind.' Herschorn, who now lives in Mexico, said that he put the tape into storage before leaving the record label, which later went bankrupt. 'Honestly, I hadn't thought about that tape in 40 years,' he said. 'I think there might be some unique things on it. Real fans may enjoy hearing it.' Universal Music Group, which owns Decca Records, did not respond to requests for comment about the tape. The record label's rejection of the Beatles has been widely chronicled -- and mocked -- over the decades, with its top executive telling the band's manager that 'guitar groups are on the way out,' as George Harrison recalled in 'The Beatles Anthology.' At the time, the Beatles were still largely unknown outside their hometown, Liverpool, having honed what would become their signature sound during marathon sets at clubs in Hamburg, Germany. The band, which paid 15 pounds to make the audition tape, had yet to cement its lineup. Pete Best was still on drums; Ringo Starr would not replace him until August 1962. Paul McCartney later said that the band's performance during the audition was underwhelming. 'Listening to the tapes I can understand why we failed the Decca audition,' he said in the 'Anthology' book. 'We weren't that good; though there were some quite interesting and original things.' Advertisement A representative for McCartney did not respond to a request for comment about the tape. In 2012, a safety master tape of the Beatles' Decca audition was sold at auction to a Japanese collector for 35,000 pounds, or over $56,000 at the time, The Telegraph reported. But that recording contained only 10 songs, raising questions about its provenance. Frith said he would consider giving the tape to McCartney and was also thinking about holding a listening event for charity. Otherwise, he said, he planned to keep the tape. To think, just a month ago, he had minimal attachment to it. 'If someone had given me 20 bucks for that tape,' he said, 'I probably would have sold it.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Rare Beatles Audition Tape Surfaces in a Vancouver Record Shop
The tape sat unremarkably on a shelf behind the counter, collecting dust for five, maybe 10 years — so much time that Rob Frith says he lost track. Frith, 69, could not seem to recall how it had found its way to Neptoon Records, his store in Vancouver, British Columbia, which in its 44 years has become a repository for tens of thousands of vinyl records and other musical relics. The label on the cardboard box said it was a Beatles demo tape, but, having heard enough bootleg recordings over the decades, Frith was skeptical until he enlisted a disc jockey friend, Larry Hennessey, to load it onto his vintage tape player a few weeks ago. It was just before midnight on March 11 when they pushed play on the mystery tape. From the opening guitar riff and the intonation of a 21-year-old John Lennon, Frith said he could not believe his ears as he listened to the Beatles performing a cover of the Motown hit 'Money (That's What I Want).' 'Right away, we're all kind of looking at each other,' Frith said. 'It seems like the Beatles are in the room. That's how clear it is.' Frith said the tape appeared to be a professionally edited recording of the Beatles' New Year's Day 1962 audition for Decca Records in London, a session that notably ended with the band's rejection. The 15 songs — all but three of them covers — matched the group's set list from the audition, according to Frith. 'I start Googling to see what it is,' said Doug Schober, 65, a friend and former record shop employee who listened to the tape with Frith and Hennessey. 'By the third song, I say, 'I think this is the Decca demo.'' No one in the group dared to to declare that they had a master copy of the audition, but it seemed pretty close. While the Beatles officially released five of the songs from the audition on the 'Anthology 1' compilation in 1995, and bootleg recordings of the session have circulated over the years, those familiar with the tape say that its pristine sound quality and appearance point to its uniqueness and potential value. 'The fidelity is astounding,' Hennessey said. The recording was on a reel-to-reel tape — not the kind that could be popped into a cassette player. To listen to it, Hennessey had to load it onto a Studer A810, a vintage tape player made in Switzerland that he said has a cultlike following among audiophiles. As he was getting it ready, he said, he noticed something distinct about it: Between each song was a buffer of white leader tape, which is used when tapes are spliced or to create space between songs. A bootlegger would not have gone to that trouble, he said. Nor would a bootleg be free of hiss and other noise distortions that usually occur each time a copy is made of a master recording, he said. Something else stood out. The song 'September in the Rain' had six different edits, said Mr. Hennessey, who made a digital and a CD copy of the tape. As the men began posting about their discovery on social media, clues about the provenance of the recording began to emerge. Jack Herschorn, the former president and founder of Can-Base Records, a Vancouver label, said that a producer at Decca gave him the tape in the early 1970s and suggested that he could use it to make bootleg recordings. But he said he had qualms about doing so. 'I adored the Beatles,' Herschorn said. 'I wasn't going to do anything that was not morally correct in my mind.' Herschorn, who now lives in Mexico, said that he put the tape into storage before leaving the record label, which later went bankrupt. 'Honestly, I hadn't thought about that tape in 40 years,' he said. 'I think there might be some unique things on it. Real fans may enjoy hearing it.' Universal Music Group, which owns Decca Records, did not respond to requests for comment about the tape. The record label's rejection of the Beatles has been widely chronicled — and mocked — over the decades, with its top executive telling the band's manager that 'guitar groups are on the way out,' as George Harrison recalled in 'The Beatles Anthology' book (2000). At the time, the Beatles were still largely unknown outside their hometown, Liverpool, having honed what would become their signature sound during marathon sets at clubs in Hamburg, Germany. The band, which paid 15 pounds to make the audition tape, had yet to cement its lineup. Pete Best was still on drums; Ringo Starr would not replace him until August 1962. Paul McCartney later said that the band's performance during the audition was underwhelming. 'Listening to the tapes I can understand why we failed the Decca audition,' he said in the 'Anthology' book. 'We weren't that good; though there were some quite interesting and original things.' A representative for McCartney did not respond to a request for comment about the tape. In 2012, a safety master tape of the Beatles' Decca audition was sold at auction to a Japanese collector for £35,000, or over $56,000 at the time, The Telegraph reported. But that recording contained only 10 songs, raising questions about its provenance. Frith said he would consider giving the tape to McCartney and was also thinking about holding a listening event for charity. Otherwise, he said, he planned to keep the tape. To think, just a month ago, he had minimal attachment to it. 'If someone had given me 20 bucks for that tape,' he said, 'I probably would have sold it.'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beatles Audition Tape Discovered in Vancouver Record Store
A rare piece of Beatles history has resurfaced in an unexpected place: a small record store in Vancouver. Rob Frith, owner of Neptoon Records, recently stumbled upon what he believed was a run-of-the-mill bootleg labeled Beatles 60s Demos. But after finally playing the reel-to-reel tape—years after acquiring it—Frith realized he may have uncovered a direct copy of the band's original 1962 Decca audition tape. More from Billboard For the 'Win': Tamela Mann Scores Record 12th No. 1 on Gospel Airplay Chart Lady Gaga Announces Dates For North American, International 2025 Mayhem Ball Tour Selena Gomez Hates Feeling a 'Tad Bitter' About Trolls Commenting on Her Weight While 'Nobody Cares' About Those Things With Men 'I just figured it was a tape off a bootleg record,' Frith posted on social media. 'After hearing it last night for the first time, it sounds like a master tape. The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have what sounds like a Beatles 15-song Decca tapes master?' The tape is believed to be a copy of the infamous Jan. 1, 1962 audition session The Beatles recorded at Decca Studios in London. The label famously passed on signing the group—who would instead join Parlophone under George Martin and release their debut album Please Please Me in 1963. Frith, speaking to CBC, said the sound quality was so pristine 'it seemed like the Beatles were in the room.' The tape, wound in what's known as 'leader tape' (used to separate tracks on master recordings), was identified by music preservationist Larry Hennessey as something far more than just a fan-made compilation. Further intrigue came when Frith tracked down the man who brought the tape to Canada: Jack Herschorn, a former Vancouver label executive. According to Herschorn, the tape was given to him by a producer in London during the 1970s with the suggestion to sell copies in North America. But he refused, saying, 'It didn't feel like the moral thing to do. These guys are famous and they deserve to have the right royalties on it… it deserves to come out properly.' Now, more than 60 years after the original session, fans can hear a snippet of the first track—'Money (That's What I Want)'—via Frith's Instagram, where it's quickly gone viral among Beatles devotees. Frith says he has no intention of selling the tape but would gladly offer a copy to Decca or, as he joked, personally hand it to Sir Paul McCartney if he ever stopped by Neptoon Records. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
