Argent 'Quadraphonic Tour' of the UK - November/December '74

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steelydave

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If you've done keyword searches for 'quadraphonic' on eBay you may have come across magazine clippings like these:

argent_quad_tour_ad_2pg.jpg


It's a 2 page ad from the New Musical Express promoting the tour, and as you can see the word 'Quadraphonic' is very prominent. I always wondered if this was just a kind of marketing ploy, to throw in a 'buzz word du jour' sort of like how Quadraphonic Studios in Nashville named themselves that and barely did any quad mixing at all (only Joan Baez Come From the Shadows and New Riders of the Purple Sage Panama Red, as far as I can tell, but I digress...) but recently a ticket stub also showed up on eBay that promotes the gig as being 'in Quadrophonic sound':

argent_guildhall_preston_9_dec_1974_quad_sound.jpg


So, did any of our UK members happen to attend this tour? I know @DuncanS has some history with the band, maybe he could shed some light on it?

It also raises the question as to whether any of Argent's albums after In Deep were mixed for quad but never released, like Nexus (the 1974 studio album that followed In Deep) or Encore, which is being promoted in the advertisement above. In Deep has a fabulous quad mix, and I think the albums that followed it (Nexus, Circus, and Counterpoints) are so instrumentally dense that they'd really open up nicely in a well done quad mix. I don't know what the commercial prospects would be like, but I think the band's legacy would see a real reappraisal if they were subject to the Steven Wilson 5.1 Blu-Ray remix treatment like Gentle Giant have been recently.
 

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If you've done keyword searches for 'quadraphonic' on eBay you may have come across magazine clippings like these:

View attachment 34218

It's a 2 page ad from the New Musical Express promoting the tour, and as you can see the word 'Quadraphonic' is very prominent. I always wondered if this was just a kind of marketing ploy, to throw in a 'buzz word du jour' sort of like how Quadraphonic Studios in Nashville named themselves that and barely did any quad mixing at all (only Joan Baez Come From the Shadows and New Riders of the Purple Sage Panama Red, as far as I can tell, but I digress...) but recently a ticket stub also showed up on eBay that promotes the gig as being 'in Quadrophonic sound':

View attachment 34216

So, did any of our UK members happen to attend this tour? I know @DuncanS has some history with the band, maybe he could shed some light on it?

It also raises the question as to whether any of Argent's albums after In Deep were mixed for quad but never released, like Nexus (the 1974 studio album that followed In Deep) or Encore, which is being promoted in the advertisement above. In Deep has a fabulous quad mix, and I think the albums that followed it (Nexus, Circus, and Counterpoints) are so instrumentally dense that they'd really open up nicely in a well done quad mix. I don't know what the commercial prospects would be like, but I think the band's legacy would see a real reappraisal if they were subject to the Steven Wilson 5.1 Blu-Ray remix treatment like Gentle Giant have been recently.

Argent definitely did some Quadraphonic concerts at St. Albans City Hall, I was at the sound check for one, and went to another and at the back stage party (Rod Argent let off a fire extinguisher in the dressing rooms, the last person you'd have expected to!), but I can't remember exactly when, but it was 1974-1975.
 
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