I founded Beserkley Records, so I could produce the recordings I liked with some musicians here in Berkeley.
We had national and international hit records, and an awful lot of fun.
Chartbusters,
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers,
Ed Haynes sings Ed Haynes
Spitballs
When I saw the WWW I got encouraged.
So I founded Fun Fun Fun Media, to make more recordings with artists I like:
The Bay Area’s preeminent Ska Band – The Uptones: Uptones.com
The Fashion Slaves
Stiff Richards
HOBO
Sex 4 Moderns
REPULSA
Linda Brady
MP3 Jackpot Winners
Is there an mp3 available of the Beserkley gang performing the Ballad of Yukon Pete? I think I stil have the 45 and booklet around here somewhere, but I no longer have a turntable. Thanks.
Hi Mike, thanks for the interest. you can find an mp3 @
http://archive.org/details/TheSagaOfYukonPete
Hi, Mr. Kaufman,
SFGate mentioned your new site Public Domain 4U and I had to check it out. I agree with you, the Internet Archive has an amazing collection and I appreciate your efforts to pick out highlights from it. I also know that the IA likes having other people create search interfaces for the collection. I was a little confused about your setup and found one sentence on your About page misleading: “We listened to thousands of songs and posted the ones we thought were worthy of hosting.” This implies that you are paying to store the music files, even though your links go directly to the Internet Archive. Typo? Clearer way to say it? I’ll happily support both organizations; I would just like some clarification about who is doing what. Thanks.
Hi Justine, We host the site publicdomain4u.com and post information and links to music we’ve found at the Archive, which I agree is an amazing resource.
matthew
was hoping you might consider talking with me about jonathan richman for my current book project. details below.
best,
marc
Hi,
My name is Marc Spitz. I’m a New York City-based journalist and author (We Got The Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of LA Punk, Random House, 2001), How Soon Is Never: A Novel (Random House, 2003), Jagger: Rebel, Rock Star, Rambler, Rogue, (Penguin, 2011) and the upcoming memoir Poseur (Da Capo Press, 2013). My writing on rock and roll and pop culture has appeared in Spin, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, New York, Nylon, Maxim and Uncut (UK).
For my next project, which It/Harper Collins will be publishing, I’ve decided to attempt to define and contextualize one of the most durable and discussed youth movements of our modern age. The “movement” goes by many names, some of them pejorative. For example, Esquire recently dubbed it “the whimsical arts,” its heroes either “fey” or “twee.” Others, myself included, have simply always called it “Indie,” as the aesthetic has always been about a protection of personal values, taste and purity of execution. While I don’t want to simply aggregate a dozen or more unique artists from the worlds of film, music, fashion, visual art, etc. under one umbrella term, I do hope to tell their stories, and create a biography of this shared “indie” sensibility, one which has now, improbably, become mainstream. How did a sweeter but still dark and ironic humor, for example, become our go to attitude? How did a reverence for retro come to feel so modern? How does a dedication to slow food and hand crafted goods deliver such a sense of urgency and intensity? And, above all, how did a style driven by a need to reconnect with the innocence of childhood come to feel so progressive and adult? “Indie,” “twee,” whatever you call it, it’s now a culture-force as powerful as punk or hip hop. The book will explore how it developed and examine what it is about this sensibility that has so captivated the current generation?
I am writing in the hopes that you will take the time to discuss these ideas with me, either in person or via telephone. I hope to talk to you about your career, creative process, and the experiences you’ve had connecting with your fans and other artists. I am looking to complete all interviews for this book within the next 90 days (roughly by the end of 2012) and am generally flexible as far as days/times. If you have any questions, I can be reached at Markyspin@aol.com or at 917-226-0546. I would also be happy to send over some of my books, or some clips. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Yours,
Marc
Hi Marc, Will do.
Hi Matthew,
What every happened to Wally Heider and Fantasy recording studios where most of the my favorite Greg Kihn Band albums were recorded. Do they still exists or under a new name, or out of business. Also which was your favorite Greg Kihn album you produced? I was a teenager playing guitar and the Rockihnroll album was a major game changer for me personally and musically being very inspiring for me to want to play professionally as a musician. Thanks for the great body of work!
– Chris
Hi Chris, Thanks. I’m not sure about Wally Heider’s, The Break-up Song is my favorite.
I want to use some of the music on your website
http://publicdomain4u.com/public-domain-top-ten-songs
in an amateur film. Are these songs legaly free to be reproduced in film under Creative Commons or some other legal public domain act?
thanks
Hi Phil, I’m afraid you must do your own research. Every song is different
Hi Mike..I’m working with Radio Sultanate of Oman in Muscat…My Boss Mr. Sultan Al Aisary would like to know if you can provide us with the widest range of copywrited classical music for our classic fm radio. Hope you can communicate with us as soon as possible through salimgamari56@hotmail.com (Mr Salim).
Looking forward.
Thanks
Frank
Hi Frank, You might be better served by someone else for this request.
Hi, I found a song on your website that I’d like to use in a film. Where do I look and how do I prove it is in the public domain?
Hi Jay, which song?
Hello mathew,
I hope this mail finds you in good health.
I came across an old Beserkley flyer in a 33 album and thought of the time you and Steve shared my unit on Telegraph Ave ( early eighties). We did meet up again on 4th st in Berkley some time later and mentioned Steve moved to the LA area. By chance have you kept in touch and know of his whereabouts ? Reading some of your blogs it sounds like your still involved with your passion.
If you care to catch up my number in the Bay Area is 510 682 3721
And if by chance you might have Steve’s e mail I would appreciate it.
Hope this year brings you more joy!,,,
Regards Ronnie
Hi Ronnie, 33 1/3 album, What’s that?
Good to hear from you. Steve is in Puerto Escondido. I’m still active in music, and having fun working with The Uptones and The Fashion Slaves, and several sites on Internet, Publicdomain4u.com, opensourcemusic.com, mp34u.com, soundcloud4u.com, and youtubemusic4u.com.
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for reply. 33 (old English coming out) Large vinyl 33 speed …….So Steve has become an ex patriot, if you are still in contact, please give him my e-mail…….
I’m going to check out the Uptones etc, they sound fun
Regards Ronnie
will do
oy! soooo – whats new Matthew ? LOL! occasionaly writing / producing for Modern Dance and film . . . happy valentine’s day 2014! love
Hi Leroy!
An amazing story. Thanks a lot!
ur welcome
You, my new friend, are a beautiful human being and your website is absolutely wonderful!!! PLEASE keep up the great work!!!
Feel free to use the above as “public domain” for anything that can help you promote this great idea. Much love ✌️
thx, i returned as Comeback Pete check out my site http://www.comebackpete.org
Hi Matt. I knew you back in Baltimore in the early 60’s. You, me and Charles Fineblum used to hangout together. I’m in Florida now. I have been collecting music since the mid Sixties. I lost track of you after high school. Love to hear from you.
Hi Matthew, I am a huge fan of the Beserkely stuff, I have all the Jonathan, Greg Kihn and Rubinoos stuff. My question is whatever happened to Linda Brady? I love that album. Thank you for everything!
she felt neglected. After making the cd she sued me. lmk if you find her
Hey Mathew king Kaufman. I have a box of old bezerkeley vinyl and misc stuff from that era. Live show tapes. Is it worth anything to you?
Louie Barrere
Hi Mathew,
Kindly excuse this roundabout form of approach (though I note that my fellow author Marc Spitz used it years ago). My name is Jonathan Gould and I’m a music historian who lives in New York. My last book, “Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life,” was published by Crown in 2017. I’m also the author of “Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain & America,” which was published in 2007. Both are deeply-researched musical biographies that seek to place their subjects’ lives and their work in the social and cultural context of their times.
My current project, to be published by HarperCollins in 2023, is a biography of Talking Heads, whom I regard as the most original, aesthetically ambitious, and musically compelling American rock band of their era. Previous books about them have failed to do justice to the group’s musical achievements, tending instead to get bogged down in the rather fraught personal relationships between the band members. My goal is to focus instead on the group’s musical development and their emergence as representative figures of a broader shift in the cultural geography and sensibility of New York City in the late 70s and early 80s.
I’m writing you know because I would be very grateful for the chance to speak with you about your interactions with Talking Heads during the first half of 1976, when they were performing mainly at CBGBs and were being courted by a number of record companies and record men, including Seymour Stein at Sire, Mark Spector at Columbia, and yourself. Any light you can shed on your impressions of the the band and the demo session that they did for Berserkley would be extremely helpful to me. Is there a chance that we could talk about this on the phone or by email? If so, I’d be very grateful. I can be reached at jonathanrgould@gmail.com. All best wishes, Jonathan
Hi Matthew:
Did I hear your name provided as a podcast producer for the Chronicle’s “Fifth and Mission” podcast?
If so, it’s nice to connect the dots between Spitballs and the home of “The Little Man”
Hi Matthew,
I am a huge fan of your work. I am a musician from Rochester, NY, and I had a question for you regarding your recording techniques. One of my favorite albums that you produced is “Rock ‘n’ Roll with The Modern Lovers.” Jonathan is my favorite musician and the sound on this album is so open and spacious. It’s also incredibly intimate as if they are performing in the room you’re in. I was wondering what recording techniques allowed you to obtain this sound? I would love to keep this type of sonic experience alive and appreciate any tips you have. Thank you for all of your incredible work.
All the best
Les Clarke
I can be reached at Clarke.les@yahoo.com.
Thank you again.
Hi Matthew!
I was the mailman for the office building at 2054 University Ave in Berkeley from 1981 – 1986 when Beserkley Records was on the 4th floor. I met Greg Kihn on the elevator in 1981 while I was listening to a cassette of ROCKIHNROLL on my Walkman headphones. He couldn’t have been more humble. He was amazed that the mailman was listening to his band and he autographed my cassette cover. I lost it, but you made up for it a couple of years later by getting the whole band to sign my 12” vinyl copy of “Jeopardy.” I will never lose such a treasure this time. I will always remember the month of May 1983, when I would deliver the weekly copy of Billboard Magazine to the Beserkley Records office and we would watch Jeopardy rise up the charts, all the way to #2 behind “Billie Jean.” I will also always “Remember” Greg Kihn. RIP.
I was also your mailman at your home during the 1990s. Hope you and yours are well, Matthew. Thanks for everything.
– William Smith.
Hi Matthew,
Couldn’t find a direct email address so posting a comment here, hope that’s ok! We’re in the process of editing and finalizing an indie film, The Big Break. We’d love to use “The Breakup Song” by the Greg Kih Band for the end credits of the movie. Would it be possible to discuss this? We’re looking to submit “The Big Break” to film festivals over the next couple weeks so are looking to work quickly on this if possible. Thank you in advance for your consideration and time!
Best,
Tanya Basu
producer, The Big Break