10/15/2024
This fall season marks the 30th anniversary of the Azimuth Records` first releases. The record company I started recorded its first productions in the summer of 1994. I have many great memories of that summer, as it was an exciting time to be working with friends, and professionals in the music business organizing these first recordings.
The recording sessions for what became ``Bone Man Slim A Retrospective`` took place on location at my family’s summer place on Saturna Island. I accompanied the producer Allen Des Noyers, and the labels first signed recording artist Wyndham Thiessen there in July for the first few days getting them settled, and then I left so as to fly down to San Francisco to go to World Cup quarter final match in Palo Alto California.
The marketing, and promotion following ``A Retrospective’s`` release included some fun mystique with Wyndham taking on the persona, and the created mythology, if you will, from the namesake of the title track, implying with title of the album that this album is a compilation of Bone Man Slim’s (aka Wyndham Thiessen) songs. The finished album released first on Cassette ended up being a well received collection of idiosyncratic entertaining songs, which caught the ear of some influential Canadian music industry leaders.
Allen Des Noyers’ ``Sunset Theatre`` recording production took place from the late spring through late summer 1994, at studios in North Vancouver, and Vancouver. A fantastic get for the production, thanks to some ground work by Allen, was acquiring Canadian Juno award winning producer Eugene Martynec to co-helm the Sunset Theatre production with Allen. Gene Martynec was a co-founder, and producer with, what many regard to be the first independent Canadian record label, True North Records. Through the first twenty five years of the label's business Martynec produced many of its releases, including Bruce Cockburn's first 15 albums.
After the great analog tracking of ``Sunset Theatre``, the mix of the album went for premium post production mastering, which I insisted on to be at the industry legend Doug Sax’s The Mastering Lab. This allowed the quality analog recordings made, for Sunset Theatre, to be what is of highest sound reproduction of media playback for the consumer. The following year ``A Retrospective`` also got Sax’s mastering for the CD release. The first of two instrumental tracks from ``Sunset Theatre`` “Basement Suite” debuted, and had rotation for a few months post release on CBCs “Disc Drive”, hosted by the late Jurgen Gothe.
``Sunset Theatre``, and ``Bone Man Slim A Retrospective`` had soft releases in the late fall of 1994, with a focus on sales to a local and familiar audience for Allen and Wyndham, with help from Pacific Theatre. Pacific Theatre allowed Azimuth Records marketing, and direct sales in the theatre foyer during their late fall, and Christmas season plays. Both Allen Des Noyers, and Wyndham Thiessen were involved with the Pacific Theatre productions at this time, so the crossover marketing, and sales of their brand new albums there was very apropos.
For the 30th Anniversary for Azimuth Records, these albums are now posted on a new YouTube channel ``Azimuth Records Est. 1994, Archives``, along with new posted material, and links on the Azimuth Facebook archive page.
Here`s the YouTube links for Azimuth Records first album released 1994.
``Bone Man Slim A Retrospective`` - full album play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFYG2Os7rR8
``Sunset Theatre`` - full album play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FJ-DBQCbg
Bone Man Slim A Retrospective is the first album released on Azimuth Records in the Fall of 1994. This cassette release was followed up in the following year...
