Akai GX-280D-SS Reel to Reel
Quadraphonic Discography
Rumored Unreleased Recordings
9-16-2017 VERSION 1.5


   This is a list of titles that are rumored to have been mixed for a
Quadraphonic recording and where never issued.
   If you have any knowledge of these rumors and can confirm or deny
any of this information, please pass on the info (or a copy of the
recording!).
   A list of recordings that were advertised but not issued can be 
found in the NOT ISSUED discography. 
   A list of the Columbia "Underground" Quad reels from the Mike Robin
collection can be found here.


Please send any additions or corrections to this list to :

  *        /|\               *     Mark Anderson
          / | \     *              multichannel AT cox DOT net
 *       /  |  \                   
  ------/   |   \---------------        
       /    |    \                 
            |		
	
This list can be accessed from :
http://www.surrounddiscography.com/
Contents:
ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
1. List compiled & Copyright by: Mark Anderson
A ATLANTA RYTHEM SECTION * Just doing some google searching and came across an interesting mention on an online US law archive/portal about a lawsuit between the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Polygram Records. This was the pertinent bit about their contract: Delivery under the agreement required BBP to "deliver completed, edited and fully mixed master tapes in accordance with the Company's reasonable instructions" comprising a two-track stereo and a discrete quadraphonic master tape for each Master recorded hereunder together with a "reference lacquer" therefor, which tape shall be fully edited, mixed and leadered prior to delivery to Company [Polygram] so that they are in proper form for the production of parts necessary for the *250 manufacture of commercial Phonograph Records. Now Polygram obviously didn't put anything out in quad, but it makes you wonder if this was standard wording/a standard requirement in record contracts, and how many of their artists may have prepared quad mixes that were never released. It's sort of complex sorting out which companies owned which labels, but during the quad era it appears that PolygGram owned Polydor, Phillips, Verve, Mercury, MGM, Casablanca, and others. Intriguing to think about anyway... QQ Forum, steelydave 07-23-2017 http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?23653-Atlanta-Rhythm-Section-possible-quad-masters&p=340594&viewfull=1#post340594
B BEATLES Rock And Roll Music. {Years ago, I was in correspondence with a guy who had a box full of otherwise unknown quad LPs, discards apparently, which he obtained from a friend who'd worked at CBS' black rock headquarters. They were apparently promo stamped as quad, He made me a quad reel dub of some of the stuff...a few songs, not full albums...Not sure what I ever did with that...I went back to my old email correspondence, and it jolted my memory. Among other quad stuff the guy had were some acetates or test pressings, from the same box. These included, supposedly, a quad mix of the Beatles Rock and Roll Music. He included one track from RnRM on a reel he made for me--Back in the USSR--and it DEFINITELY sounded like a quad mix, with the jet sounds circling the room and whatnot. SHM forum, kwadguy, Mar 9, 2010} Sgt. Pepper. {The MFSL Beatles Box tape box photo for Sgt. Pepper indicates that there was a quad mix done. SHM forum, aarsonbet, Mar 9, 2010} {That was a photo of the stereo master tape, which was checked out for a "quadraphonic remix" in September 1973. It's not clear how that stereo tape was used, either to make a fake quad mix, or to use as a reference for balancing a new quad mix. There are reliable reports that an SQ test pressing of "Pepper" resides in the catacombs of Capitol. SHM forum, Lord Hawthorne, Mar 9, 2010} {Recently, I was sent a DVD-A containing a Sgt. Pepper 5.1 presentation. I can safely say it 'might' have come from the multi's as there is some actual separation going on and it really doesn't seem like it's just the stereo tracks run through a DPL II box or something like that. But, as other's have pointed out - with the tracking layout of the multi's, very few of the songs actually sound good. There's just not enough to play with. DiscoKat, Mar 9, 2010} {Notations on the box from the master reels only list "Quad remix" on the side 1 (ar 8568/17079a) of Sgt. Pepper on "25/9/73" or Sept. 25, 1973. There is NO corresponding listing on the box for the master reel of side 2 (ar8569/17079b.) Other "dates/operations /initials" on the logs are listed on both reels. Being unreleased, does anyone have an inkling if this was an oversight, or if, in fact, only the tracks on side 1 were mixed for quad? The master tape box photos were included on the sleeve of my copy of Sgt. Pepper (disc 8) in my "the Beatles-the Collection" Mobile Fi LP box. QQ Forum, Quad Linda, 07-14-2011} * Hollywood Bowl. {Renowned Beatles author Chip Madinger (see www.lennonology.com) comes to us with a great story. While researching for the excellent Strange Days Indeed, the first in a series of books on John Lennon, Madinger discovered documentation that both the August 29th (Sunday) and August 30th (Monday) 1965 shows from the 1965 Hollywood Bowl concerts had been mixed and mastered for both stereo and Quad at Record Plant (Project #623) in July 1971. both a Quad and a stereo (presumably a collapsed version of the Quad) LP master were prepared at 15 ips and taken away. WWW.http://wogew.blogspot.com/2016/07/hollywood-bowl-mixed-for-quad.html, The Daily Beatle 07-21-2016} BOSTON - Boston. {Many on this board know that I regularly pine about hearing this album in its unreleased quad mix. Rumored for many years, I confirmed the rumor with Brad Delp, lead singer a while back. Some quaddies have claimed to have actually heard an SQ test pressing, but I have yet to confirm that, actually they seem to be just stories. Sound and Vision two years ago claimed that Boston was to be one of the first SACD m/c releases. QQ Forum, deepsky4565, 01-07-2003} {Someone I was in contact with for a while with close ties to CBS in NYC swore to me that in the mid '70s CBS had created quad mixes of the first Boston album. SHM forum, kwadguy, Jan 13, 2004} {Was set to come out in early '77-quad was dead. SHM forum, Drawer L, Mar 7, 2010} {There is supposedly a quad mix of the first Boston album that made it to the test pressing / internal use stage. SHM forum, kwadguy, Mar 7, 2010} {Was mixed, and made it to test SQ pressing. No one has actually produced one of these LPs yet. I confirmed this info with Brad Delp a few years ago. This was also listed in I think Stereo Review as an upcoming MCH SACD to replace the stereo only version. That didn't happen. SHM forum, deepsky4565, Mar 9, 2010} {Years ago, I was in correspondence with a guy who had a box full of otherwise unknown quad LPs, discards apparently, which he obtained from a friend who'd worked at CBS' black rock headquarters. They were apparently promo stamped as quad, and included the first Boston album. SHM forum, kwadguy, Mar 9, 2010} JIMMY BUFFET - A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean. {A special album made by ABC for the Koss company and their Phase 4+4 Headphones, Perspectives ABC album KQD-75 included a portion of the Jimmy Buffett song, "They Don't Dance Like Carmen No More". Buffett was another ABC recording artist who may have been slated for Quadraphonic release} DAVID BOWIE - Stage. {live set - recorded in 78, according to Tony Visconti it was set up for Quad specifically. Everything was also arranged to be sure the right performances were acquired, and indeed during one track on the release it starts from one city, the middle section is from another & the end reverts to the first again. QQ Forum, neil wilkes, 03-22-2013}
C CAPITOL RECORDS - - On August 9th, 1975 Billboard magazine reported - DOZEN SANSUI QS's ISSUED BY CAPITOL Capitol Records has quietly joined the rank of labels releasing Quad product in the Sansui QS matrix system. Among a total of 12 albums released a little over a month ago without any notice was Pink Floyds - Dark Side of the Moon. First indication of the Quadraphonic release was in New York during the recent 7th annual International Radio Programming Forum. The album, bearing only a stereo label and no indication that it was Quad, was demonstrated in a suite operated by Sansui. A spokesman for Capitol Records said last week that the release consisted of remixed product; the spokesman was unaware that no announcement had been made or that the product bore "Stereo" instead of "Quadraphonic". Capitol previously released a few sampler albums in Columbia Records SQ matrix system. A few weeks ago in an exclusive billboard story, Ryosuke Ito, manager of product development for Sansui's QS 4-channel project and Motohisa Miyake, director of merchandising development and industrial designing for Sansui, said that Sansui QS product was being released in the U.S. with only a Stereo label. Miyake felt that labels were doing this as protection and that they feared the matrix quad albums might not be compatible with existing stereo playback equipment. Miyake of course pointed out that a Sansui matrix recording is totally compatible. RY COODER - * Unknown Album {So I came across this little nugget from the August 4th, 1973 issue of Billboard magazine, in an article talking about labels educating their producers about quad mixing. I was shocked to see Van Morrison's (and Ry Cooder's) name mentioned amongst all the others, because the rest of them were released. I'm less familiar with Ry Cooder's output from that period but judging from discogs it looks like he was recording about 2 albums a year for WB at that point so who knows what they mixed for quad from him.QQ Forum, steelydave, 03-11-2017}
D DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON (Classical Recordings) * Unknown Albums {Thomas Mowrey produced his all 1970s recordings for Deutsche Grammophon with quadraphonic tapes. Seiji Ozawa and his Boston Symphony Orchestra worked with Mr. Mowrey and their first efforts together are already available. And I'm not sure but I think that Claudio Abbado's analogue recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony (1980) was recorded in quad as well. Talk Classical forum, Luukas, 03-01-2016, http://www.talkclassical.com/41449-quadraphonic-4-channel-classical.html#post1046483}
E ELO - ELO II. {Quad mixes were done of the first two ELO albums. The quad mix for the second album (ELO 2) continues gather dust in the EMI vaults. SHM Forum, John Carsell, Jan 14, 2004} {It seems they only mixed two or three songs on ELO II for quad and quit. SHM Forum, Lord Hawthorne, Mar 8, 2010} EMI (Classical Recordings) SLS951 (SQ) WAGNER: Die Meistersinger Von Nurembourg (Karajan) (England) {EMI literature states that the above was recorded in "state of the art quadraphonic sound". The Quadraphonic Record Center Catalog - 2nd Ed., published by Beggers Banquet/London 1976 Mentions "Credit must be given to EMI who are issuing all their new classical recordings in SQ. From the view point of public acceptance of quadro, however, they are maintaining a low profile on this and many retailers stocking EMI classics are unaware that they are stocking SQ records". Some quad collectors think this might be an unmarked Quad recording after close examination of the record grooves and using a quad display scope and a Tate II SQ decoder for as good as a verification you are going to get without documentation from EMI.} A quad collector has some interesting comments about this
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J JETHRO TULL - * Minstrel In The Gallery. {I actually cut masters and we did test pressings on a CD-4 release of "Minstrel In The Gallery" at JVC Cutting Center. I have lacquer ref disc and test pressing in my library. Though it was near the end of the Quad era this was one of the most enjoyable mastering projects for me. I had mastered two other CD-4 releases for Tull and this time Ian Anderson came to the studio for the cutting. Minstrel has a great sounding quad mix and is a unique concept album that I truly liked which made it even more exciting. : QQ Forum, DarrellJ, 03-21-2016} ELTON JOHN - Madman Across The Water. {I've stumbled across a couple of references to an unofficial Elton John release called the "The Alternate Madman Across The Water", which claims to include a quad mix of the album: QQ Forum, Neb-Maat-Re , 01-23-2013} {Two discs serve up both the quadraphonic mix of the album, and the special mono version. ELTON JOHN-The Alternate Madman Across The Water REVIEW, Dave Thompson} {While it's true that MCA never announced nor actually released a single US quad, I have it on good authority (second hand) from a record company source in the 70's that every single Elton John release up until 1975 was in fact mixed in quad, possibly as a hedge against an unexpected rebound in quad's fortunes. It is likely that these mixes were subsequently destroyed to wash away the stink of failure the format was then thought to have. QQ Forum, Bidkat, 01-26-2013} {it seems Quadraphonic mixes of Elton's albums were planned, according to this article, which just emerged as a feature in the new eltonjohn.com website makeover today. QQ Forum, fredblue 03-21-2013} {"it was originally meant to be a place where Gus could re-mix Elton's albums for quadrophonic release, but that project never materialized." http://www.eltonjohn.com/about/GusDudgeon/} {this time from recording engineer Stuart Epps (Producer Gus Dudgeon's right-hand -man) backing up the Elton Quad story. QQ Forum, fredblue 04-01-2013} {The studio was being built for Quadraphonic, surround sound you would call it now. The idea was to re-mix all Elton’s albums in Quad. http://www.stuartepps.co.uk/eltontheearlyyears.htm}
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L KENNY LOGGINS - Alive (1982). Pioneer MP058-22MP (Laserdisc, CX Noise) [Japan], Pioneer PA-82-019 (Laserdisc, CX Noise) {I don't know why Pioneer didn't include the Tate/SQ Encoding blurb on the LD releases of Dolly In London and Bowie Serious Moonlight - but SQ encoded they are! I "think" Kenny Loggins Alive! (Coked up?) is also SQ Encoded, but I'm not sure. AVS Forum, Disclord March 3, 2008}
M MAMA'S AND THE PAPPA'S - 16 Greatest Hits. {I believe the story is: a quad Mamas & Papas project, most likely the '16 Greatest Hits' album was proposed, and work was started on it. But instead of pulling ALL of the multis at once, they pulled only a handful of them, started to do the quad mixes, and when they went back for more, the infamous "Let's dump all the multitracks and mono masters purge" had already occurred. So the handful of multis they had pulled are the only surviving ones today (If, of course, they survived the fire at Universal, they nobody wants to talk about...)--And it appears that the Grass Roots multis that survived are because they were elsewhere being mixed to quad when the big purge happened. Another couple days later & they would've been lost. SHM forum, Drawer L, Mar 7, 2010} PAUL McCARTNEY - Ram. {Someone I was in contact with for a while with close ties to CBS in NYC swore to me that in the mid '70s CBS had created quad mixes of Ram, mixed to quad at CBS (for McCartney/EMI, obviously), but again, never released. SHM forum, kwadguy, Jan 13, 2004} JONI MITCHELL - Blue. {Mixed to quad in 1971 according to an article in Billboard in the fall of 1971. SHM forum, Lord Hawthorne, Mar 6, 2010} VAN MORRISON - * Hard Nose The Highway {So I came across this little nugget from the August 4th, 1973 issue of Billboard magazine, in an article talking about labels educating their producers about quad mixing. I was shocked to see Van Morrison's (and Ry Cooder's) name mentioned amongst all the others, because the rest of them were released. The 'latest album' from Van Morrison at that point would've been Hard Nose The Highway, but what is interesting is that Ted Templeman also produced or did the stereo mixes for the two albums that preceded that one, St. Dominic's Preview (1972) and Tupelo Honey (1971). QQ Forum, steelydave, 03-11-2017}
N LAURA NERO - Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. {another Jim Reeves mix. QQ Forum, Q-Eight 11-11-2013}
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P PINK FLOYD - * Meddle. {In the book "Shine On", page 33 mentions "21st - 26th September. Recording sessions at Command studios for quad mix. With the release of "The Early Years" Box Set it was learned that the song Echoes was the only song mised in quad for the album} Wish You Were Here. {A CD-4 test pressing was supposidly pressed for technical evaluation at the JVC quad cutting lab that was located in the RCA building in Hollywood, one floor above the L.A. office for Fantasy Records. Fantasy employee 2010} PYE - STEREO 4D SERIES Some of the Pye Stereo 4D series Vinyl recordings that do not list quad on the recording are thought to be QS encoded. The Pye recordings that are listed in the classical, popular and sampler discography's all have some indication of quad either on the front or back cover or record label. A list of Pye recordings has been created indicating which titles list quad and variations in other countries that could be verified at the time. Any additions or corrections are appreciated. Pye 4D Series Discography A Quad collector did an evaluation of the titles that do not list quad {Pye may have released a couple of full price albums in Quad (I have a New Zealand pressing of Tony Hatch's "Hits Symphonic" QUAD 1016) but I also have a stereo white label of "The Amazing Grace of Sounds Orchestral" NSPL 18395 with the intriguing note on its typewritten tracklisting that it was to have been issed as QUAD 1010 but that the release had been cancelled. All subsequent "Stereo 4D" releases were simply stereo. There are noticeable phase differences in the Quad pressings. SHM forum, TonyCurrie, Oct 3, 2012} {LS: You released several albums on the Pye 4D imprint, although only a few of this series are actually quadraphonic – do you have any insight as to what the strategy was with those releases? Tony Hatch: Anything labelled Quad should have been four dimensional. Originally Quad was only recommended for classical music especially symphony orchestras where a big natural spacious effect could be achieved. Then the industry decided to include lighter 'pop' albums. I had great problems mixing down to quad compatible stereo. All to do with phasing! Individual sounds could be cancelled out so, whilst the quad mix was OK, in stereo you could have too much reverb, say, on the strings because the primary signal had disappeared. Do another mix and monitor in stereo then the quad effect would be lost. I'm glad the whole idea was finally 'phased out'. http://www.licoricesoul.co.uk/lsd008.php}
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R TODD RUNDGREN - Something/Anything? {A unoffical 4 channel DTS cd exists but it is unclear from what source}
S BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Born To Run. {Someone I was in contact with for a while with close ties to CBS in NYC swore to me that in the mid '70s CBS had created quad mixes of Born To Run. SHM forum, kwadguy, Jan 13, 2004} {There is supposedly a quad mix, made it to the test pressing / internal use stage. SHM forum, kwadguy, Mar 7, 2010} {Years ago, I was in correspondence with a guy who had a box full of otherwise unknown quad LPs, discards apparently, which he obtained from a friend who'd worked at CBS' black rock headquarters. They were apparently promo stamped as quad, and included Springsteen's Born to Run. SHM forum, kwadguy, Mar 9, 2010} SIMON & GARFUNKEL - Bookends. {the engineer Jim Reeves claims to have mixed this one. QQ Forum, Q-Eight 11-11-2013} STYX - * The Grand Illusion. A&M QU-54637 {A listing at Discogs with the quad catalog number indicates 2 owners of the LP, The photo is of the compact disc version. https://www.discogs.com/Styx-The-Grand-Illusion/release/7913289}
T THREE DOG NIGHT - Three Dog Night. {Quad master that found its way onto eBay a few years ago. It had DO NOT USE in big red letters all over the box. QQ Forum, Q-Eight 01-07-2010}
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W DENNIS WILSON - Quad Symphony. {I think this was one of the first quad recordings ever made and was used as a demo in a seminar for the Audio Engineering Society in Hollywood by Steve Desper. SHM forum, dumangl, Mar 7, 2010} THE WHO - Quadrophenia. {A quad mix was made, it was intended to be released in quad only, but stereo- compatible in the SQ mode for LP. When they played a test pressing on a stereo system to check for compatibility, it came out sounding mono, or virtually mono. Disheartened, it was remixed for stereo, and the quad mix never saw the light of day. Pete Townsend tells this story in an interview from about ten years ago. They could have released both mixes, like all other releases mixed for both markets. SHM forum, Lord Hawthorne, Jan 1, 2011} {For what it's worth, I just thought it was worth mentioning here that Quadrophenia actually did have a legitimate catalog number for the quad version back then. It really was listed in the Shwann catalog at the time and I remember trying to hunt one down for a while until I finally figured it just wasn't going to happen. SHM forum, H-Man, Apr 4, 2011} {Pete Townshend: "The whole conception of Quadrophenia was geared to quadraphonic, We spent months mixing it and then found out that MCA was using the CBS quad system and ... you might as well forget it. So our engineer remixed it in the same manner that it was mixed in stereo. http://www.thewho.net/linernotes/Quad.htm} Tommy. {Polydor (U.K.) have the regular release of the Who-Tommy and the Who-Quadrophenia in unmarked QS matrix format created by Sansui. The Quadraphonic Record Center Catalog - 2nd Edition, published by Beggars Banquet Record store in Earl's Court, London, summer of 1977}
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Acknowledgments : This page would like to thank the following folks who have passed on information with additions, comments and corrections to this list : Kristian Ron Brain


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