Originally Written in 2019
Back in 2008, there was a huge fire on the Universal Studios backlot. At the time it was found that there was a minimal amount of damage to the Hill Valley set from Back To The Future as well as Colonial Street where Leave It To Beaver and The Burbs were filmed. Nothing more than that though
Fast Forward to 2019
New evidence has come to light that there was a lot more damage than first met the eye back in 2008. Universal Music Group has assessed that the master tapes of a good chunk of our musical heritage had perished in that fire due to a vault building where they stored master recordings being one of the casualties. Here some of the many artists who have been affected by this catastrophe:
- 38 Special
- 50 Cent
- Colonel Abrams
- Johnny Ace
- Bryan Adams
- Aerosmith
- The Andrews Sisters
- Paul Anka
- Adam Ant
- Louis Armstrong
- Asia
- Asleep at the Wheel
- Audioslave
- Patti Austin
- Average White Band
- Hoyt Axton
- Burt Bacharach
- Joan Baez
- Hank Ballard
- Count Basie
- Fontella Bass
- Beck
- Captain Beefheart
- George Benson
- Berlin
- Elmer Bernstein and His Orchestra
- Chuck Berry
- Blackstreet
- Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland
- Mary J. Blige
- Blink 182
- Blues Traveler
- Pat Boone
- Boston
- Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
- Bobby Brown
- Jimmy Buffett
- Carol Burnett
- Busta Rhymes
- Cab Calloway
- Glen Campbell
- Captain and Tennille
- Irene Cara
- Belinda Carlisle
- Eric Carmen
- Hoagy Carmichael
- Kim Carnes
- The Carpenters
- The Carter Family
- Ray Charles
- Chubby Checker
- Cheech & Chong
- Cher
- Eric Clapton
- Petula Clark
- Roy Clark
- Gene Clark
- Patsy Cline
- Rosemary Clooney
- Joe Cocker
- John Coltrane
- Rita Coolidge
- Stewart Copeland
- The Corsairs
- Crosby & Nash
- Johnny Cougar (aka John Cougar Mellencamp)
- Counting Crows
- Coverdale•Page
- Deborah Cox
- The Crew-Cuts
- David Crosby
- Bing Crosby
- Sheryl Crow
- Xavier Cugat
- Tim Curry
- Danny & the Juniors
- Rodney Dangerfield
- Bobby Darin
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Chris de Burgh
- The Dells
- The Dell-Vikings
- Dennis DeYoung
- Neil Diamond
- Bo Diddley
- Fats Domino
- Lee Dorsey
- Jimmy Durante
- The Eagles
- Steve Earle
- Danny Elfman
- Yvonne Elliman
- Duke Ellington
- Cass Elliott
- John Entwistle
- Eminem
- Extreme
- Harold Faltermeyer
- Donna Fargo
- Freddie Fender
- The Fifth Dimension
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Five Blind Boys Of Alabama
- The Fixx
- The Flamingos
- The Flying Burrito Brothers
- John Fogerty
- The Four Aces
- The Four Tops
- Peter Frampton
- Aretha Franklin
- Glenn Frey
- Nelly Furtado
- Judy Garland
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Gin Blossoms
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Golden Earring
- Lesley Gore
- Grand Funk Railroad
- Amy Grant
- The Grass Roots
- Dobie Gray
- Al Green
- Guns N’ Roses
- Buddy Guy
- Merle Haggard
- Bill Haley and His Comets
- Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
- Marvin Hamlisch
- Jan Hammer
- Richie Havens
- Head East
- Don Henley
- Clarence “Frogman” Henry
- Roger Hodgson
- Hole
- Billie Holiday
- Buddy Holly
- John Lee Hooker
- Thelma Houston
- Humble Pie
- Engelbert Humperdinck
- Brian Hyland
- Iron Butterfly
- Burl Ives
- Janet Jackson
- Joe Jackson
- Etta James
- James Gang
- Jimmy Eat World
- The Joe Perry Project
- Elton John
- Al Jolson
- Booker T. & The MG’s
- George Jones
- Quincy Jones
- Tom Jones
- Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five
- The Jordanaires
- Jurassic 5
- Kansas
- Boris Karloff
- Toby Keith
- Gene Kelly
- Chaka Khan
- B.B. King
- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
- The Kingsmen
- The Kingston Trio
- Eartha Kitt
- Gladys Knight and the Pips
- Patti LaBelle
- Frankie Laine
- Brenda Lee
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Jerry Lewis
- Liberace
- Lifehouse
- Limp Bizkit
- Lisa Loeb
- Little River Band
- Lobo
- Loretta Lynn
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Moms Mabley
- The Mamas and the Papas
- Melissa Manchester
- Barbara Mandrell
- Chuck Mangione
- Wink Martindale
- Van McCoy
- Reba McEntire
- Duff McKagan
- Meat Loaf
- Roger Miller
- Liza Minnelli
- Joni Mitchell
- Bill Monroe
- The Moody Blues
- Ennio Morricone
- Johnny Nash
- Nazareth
- Nelson
- Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band
- Ricky Nelson
- Aaron Neville
- New Edition
- Olivia Newton-John
- Night Ranger
- Leonard Nimoy
- Nine Inch Nails
- Nirvana
- The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
- No Doubt
- Ric Ocasek
- Oingo Boingo
- The O’Jays
- Orleans
- The Outfield
- Pablo Cruise
- Ray Parker Jr.
- Dolly Parton
- Les Paul
- Freda Payne
- Peaches & Herb
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- Poco
- The Pointer Sisters
- The Police
- Iggy Pop
- Billy Preston
- Lloyd Price
- Primus
- The Pussycat Dolls
- Queen Latifah
- Gerry Rafferty
- Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
- R.E.M.
- Debbie Reynolds
- Riders in the Sky
- Stan Ridgway
- Chris Rock
- The Roots
- Rose Royce
- Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
- Buffy Sainte-Marie
- Tom Scott
- Neil Sedaka
- Tupac Shakur
- Dinah Shore
- Ashlee Simpson
- The Simpsons
- Patti Smyth
- Snoop Dogg
- Sonic Youth
- Sonny and Cher
- Soundgarden
- Spinal Tap
- Squeeze
- Stealers Wheel
- Steely Dan
- Gwen Stefani
- Steppenwolf
- Cat Stevens
- Sting
- George Strait
- Strawberry Alarm Clock
- The Strawbs
- Styx
- Sublime
- Supertramp
- The Surfaris
- Temple of the Dog
- Robin Thicke
- B.J. Thomas
- Three Dog Night
- The Three Stooges
- Tiffany
- Mel Tillis
- Mel Tormé
- The Tragically Hip
- The Trapp Family Singers
- Ernest Tubb
- The Tubes
- Tanya Tucker
- Conway Twitty
- Leroy Van Dyke
- Gino Vannelli
- Billy Vaughan
- Suzanne Vega
- Veruca Salt
- Bobby Vinton
- Rufus Wainwright
- The Wallflowers
- Joe Walsh
- Wang Chung
- War
- Muddy Waters
- Weezer
- Lawrence Welk
- Barry White
- Whitesnake
- White Zombie
- The Who
- Kim Wilde
- Don Williams
- John Williams
- Sonny Boy Williamson
- Johnny Winter
- Howlin’ Wolf
- Lee Ann Womack
- Neil Young
- Rob Zombie
Singer/Songwriter Sheryl Crow Tweeted her reaction to the news
Oh my Lord…this makes me sick to my stomach. Why???? …and shame on those involved in the coverup.
— Sheryl Crow (@SherylCrow) June 12, 2019
Massive fire at UMG 11 years ago, and we’re just hearing about this now??https://t.co/ifpVnNnPhp
As did Geoffrey Downes, the keyboardist for the English prog-rock group ASIA
This might explain why nobody can find the original Asia album masters. Very sad, and UMG have kept it quiet for more than 10 years. https://t.co/eWMaEcoBRC
— Geoffrey Downes (@asiageoff) June 11, 2019
Pop Superstars Smash Mouth was one of the few acts whose masters were spared
We would like to thank @UMG @UME @Interscope for securing our master recordings. They just informed us our masters were not destroyed in that very unfortunate fire. #grateful
— Smash Mouth (@smashmouth) September 12, 2019
If this doesn’t clue people in to the severity of this fire and how the big wigs at Universal managed to keep it hush hush for so long, then we’ve got bigger problems than I anticipated…
For A Complete List Of The Artists Affected Check This Out:
