Yeah, that's it. :)

Just how many short lived theatrical audio formats were there back then? I was aware of "Sound 360" and "Megasound", but this was a new one to me.

I wonder if any prints ever had a Vistasonic credit? Every version of Popeye I've seen didn't even have a Dolby Stereo credit. I actually thought the movie was mono for many years, having only seen it on tv.

Well, I'm stumped. This second disc has every indication of being the remaster. Bar code, Paramount 75th anniversary logo on the label, and chapter stops. Yet no digital sound. :(

On the plus side, no laser rot, and the sound seems much better.

Tell me about it. ;)

The mint numbers don't match any of those. The earlier disc has hand etched numbers by comparison. I'll try to find a match on the LDDB later.

It gets stranger with the CX. I can't turn it on with my 704, which seems like an opposite of the "auto CX" encoding some discs had to turn it on automatically in modern players. My older player would ignore such things though.

There's enough info to ask a seller now and avoid the earliest pressing at this point. The only other alternative would be to seek out a sealed pre-1998 VHS Hi-Fi copy. It seems like the movie was never really out of print even when the 20th anniversary rolled around.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261023146570?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320881141221?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Note the back of the VHS is easier to tell apart from the 20th Anniversary tapes.

Found another Ebay seller who's also selling some players, so they ought to be able to check the soundtrack for me.

Did a transfer of disc number two overnight. Sounds really good for analog. Will try to put up a song or two by this weekend.

Summer Nights

http://www.sendspace.com/file/gphe3u

Hopelessly devoted to you

http://www.sendspace.com/file/cne7px

You're the one that I want

http://www.sendspace.com/file/573aku

Came up dry with that Ebay seller. They were very nice in taking the time to check the Laserdisc they were selling though.

Has anyone listened to the songs I captured off the analog sound LD yet?

If anyone still cares about this, I've got the Japanese Grease LD with digital sound on the way. Might be there already, but I'm on vacation. ;)

And they sent me the wrong freaking disc. It's not like you can't tell the Japanese pressings apart. :(

This may not be a total disaster, as this does have CX encoding. This is still starting to bug me.

Either that or it's this guy...

This Japanese LD actually sounds like mono! The curse continues...

I have been able to I.D. the mid to late 90's catalog VHS Hi-Fi release that was out right before the 20th anniversary reissue. (Not easy with Paramount's constant recycling of cover art with minor changes.) I'm in the process of getting a sealed copy on Ebay. Keep your fingers crossed!

Got the VHS today. Minty fresh, original version, and no tracking problems so far. Best of all, apparently no macrovision, so I don't have to pipe in another video signal to get the DVD recorder to play nice.

Unlike the other older video masters, the opening and closing credits are letterboxed.

No worries. :)

No one could have anticipated Paramount slapping new labels on old stock. (Or that LDDB seller needing their eyes checked.) It was a crapshoot whether the VHS was going to be the 20th anniversary version on the tape, and there were no obvious tracking issues. It could have even been Grease 2 on there. ;)

Factory sealed or not, this tape is over a decade old.

I've had a few "tapes from hell" where the Hi-Fi track drops out every few minutes.

It may have been someone forgot to flip a switch at the dubbing facility.

Not every studio used it as it did cause video problems for some people. Fox videos were the worst offenders in my experience.