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Original 1979 two-track tape copy of Paul McCartney’s unreleased song ‘Did We Meet Somewhere Before?’ wound on a 10.5˝ metal EMITAPE reel and housed in its original EMITAPE professional recording tape box. The back of the box bears EMI’s printed tape log, filled out by hand: “Copy of 22087-Z master,” with the artist and producer both listed as “Paul McCartney,” the client as “MPL,” and the title “Did We Meet Somewhere Before.” It also notes "First band = stereo, second band = mono" and "No Dolby." The tape log is marked for 2T mode, NAB curve, and 15 ips, with job number "IND 83081" and the date "20th March 1979." The spine is annotated: "New World, RHRH.S., Did We Meet Somewhere Before, Music.” The box is in very good to fine condition, with old tape strips and residue to both sides, surface loss, and small tears.
Accompanied by a USB flash drive containing a digital transfer of the tape, and two signed letters of provenance. The first is from Ed Stasium, the Ramones’ longtime engineer and producer, in part: "This letter is to authenticate a reel to reel master tape of Paul McCartney’s unreleased song ‘Did We Meet Sometime [sic] Before’, used briefly in the 1979 movie Rock and Roll High School. As the Ramones engineer and producer, I organized much of the music for the film. We were able to license this song for use in the film, but much as we tried, Paul McCartney’s camp refused to license it to us for use on the soundtrack album."
The second is from Deborah Brock, writer and director of the sequel Rock ’n’ Roll High School Forever, in part: "I found the box of ‘Rock ’N’ Roll High School’ music reel-to-reel tapes in Concord/New Horizon’s trash dumpster at the company’s studio at 600 S. Main Street, Venice, Ca in 1990…I had previously been an employee of Concord/New Horizons but at the time had just finished directing the sequel…so I was very interested in the music from the original movie and concerned that the Ramones music was going to be dumped into a landfill."
McCartney wrote ‘Did We Meet Somewhere Before?’ at Warren Beatty’s request for his 1978 film Heaven Can Wait, but the song was not used in the finished picture. It found a home the following year in New World Pictures’ Rock ’n’ Roll High School, directed by Allan Arkush and built around the Ramones. Eight days after the date on this tape copy, Variety reported on March 28, 1979, that McCartney’s song would appear in the film. The recording plays twice in the finished picture, which credits its performance to Paul McCartney & Wings, but it was omitted from the soundtrack album, a distinction explained in Stasium’s letter.
From the Mark Erbach Collection.
