Led Zeppelin/Video the Collection

Condor (or TOASTED) was a CD label that was all the rage from 1989 to 1990.It was developed by Ken Douglas, who was a leader in the bootleg world with TMOQ and TAKRL, during the CD era (the label name itself was already used on LPs). At the same time, he ended his long career as a bootlegger. For many enthusiasts, speaking of Condor, the soundboard recordings of Led Zeppelin’s 1980 and 1973 tours come to mind. Furthermore, the Beatles and Guns created masterpieces at the time, and the CD version of Blueberry Hill released under the name NATURAL ZONE attracted a lot of attention for its improved sound quality, which was only possible because of the founder of TMOQ. It was a skill, wasn’t it? However, Condor is not limited to CD items, they have actually released about three VHS items as well. One of them is ZEP’s rare video collection “THE COLLECTION”. However, even though they were under the name ZEP, the only footage of the group during their original activities was an 8mm video from Chicago in 1975, and the rest was edited in a rather sloppy way (lol), with only footage related to the 40th anniversary event of Atlantic Records in 1988. The video of the Chicago 75, which can now be seen on the ZEP official account with a pitch close to normal (but still high), was a shocking discovery at the time. The problem of the pitch being so high didn’t bother me at the time, as I was captivated by the small, yet surprisingly easy-to-see angle. And the image quality itself is good. Among them, Plant’s glamorous stage action and the surprise of discovering that Page was still wearing the blue-and-red henley neck shirt he had been wearing since 1969 were quite surprising. At that time, there were not many live footage of ZEP, and filling more than half of the hour with footage of Atlantic Records was a desperate measure at the time. However, the scenery of practicing “Misty Mountain Hop” at rehearsal and the dressing room footage before Atlantic’s performance were both leaked private video footage owned by Jason Bonham, which was also valuable at the time. Especially in the dressing room, the sight of Jason having so much fun that it’s hard to believe it’s before the actual performance (he’s so innocent and fluffy! LOL), and the sight of executives wandering around the dressing room around ZEP, as if it were a record company event, are precious scenes. Of course, the actual version includes the American broadcast version, but the real flaw is that there is some TV reception noise in the beginning, and most of all, the TOASTED logo disappears from the screen when the actual version starts. Even the palliative design is now funny. On the contrary, as far as I remember, there were even more copies of this VHS on sale in Nishi-Shinjuku back then. To begin with, I think there are quite a few enthusiasts who have forgotten (or don’t even know) that Condor even released VHS. The film concludes with “Coming Soon” hinting at the release of Knebworth and Earl’s Court videos, but putting the former aside, it will be more than 10 years before the full-length version of the latter appears. I never even dreamed of that at the time (lol). Taken from The Video “The Collection” (Toasted Video International) Live at Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL, USA 21st January 1975 1. No Quarter 2. Trampled Underfoot 3. Moby Dick 4. Dazed And Confused 5. Whole Lotta Love 6. Black Dog Jimmy Page (12 years old) Huw Wheldon Show 1957 7. Mama Don’t Allow No Skiffle No More Atlantic Reunion Rehearsal 11th May 1988 8. Tuning And Warming Up 9. Misty Mountain Hop (several takes) 10. Pre-Show and Backstage (14th May 1988) Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Live at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA 14th May 1988 11. Kashmir 12. Heartbreaker 13. Whole Lotta Love 14. Misty Mountain Hop 15. Stairway To Heaven COLOR NTSC Approx .59min.