Description
This groundbreaking TV show featured an incredible array of the greatest musicians of the 1970s and early 80s. Back when lip-syncing was the norm, Burt Sugarman s THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL stands alone in the history of rock n roll as the first ever, late-night live concert show on TV, capturing the spirit of a time when rock was exploding in so many new, exciting directions.

For nine thrilling years, THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL brought audiences the very best LIVE music from every genre rare performances right into homes every week, complete with the intimacy of close-ups and multiple camera angles that placed viewers there with the on-stage action. It was an exciting time, and it s now been restored and re-mastered in this exclusives series. So kick back, relax and enjoy the show... from the best seat in the house.

This 11-DVD collection contains almost ten hours of incredible performances featuring 130 songs, PLUS we ve added almost five hours of bonus features including brand-new interviews and exclusive featurettes highlighting the history and the legacy of this pioneering TV show.

PERFORMANCES BY: Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, Jim Croce, Heart, John Denver, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, The Doobie Brothers, Peter Frampton, Hall & Oates, ELO, Alice Cooper, The Cars, America, LaBelle, Golden Earring, Rufus, Barry White, Olivia Newton-John, The Village People, Blondie, Gordon Lightfoot, Charlie Rich, Dobie Gray, War, Robert Palmer, Bonnie Tyler, The Hollies, Eddie Money, Bread, The O Jays, Ted Nugent, Sammy Hagar, The Kinks, REO Speedwagon, Barry Manilow, Elvin Bishop, Van Morrison, George Benson, Carlos Santana, Dolly Parton, Christopher Cross, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Donna Summer, Frankie Valli, Natalie Cole, Steely Dan, The Spinners, Earth Wind and Fire, Seals and Crofts, Wild Cherry, Marvin Gaye, Eddie Rabbit, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Helen Reddy, Neil Sedaka, KC & The Sunshine Band, Curtis Mayfield, Loggins & Messina, Gary Wright, Sly & The Family Stone and many more!

Time Life (Sep 09, 2014)
http://www.timelife.com/products/midnight-special

Amazon (Oct 06, 2015)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0131RBZ0W/?tag=imwan-20

I bought many of these used at my indie. Nice comps and more for nostalgic than anything these days for me.

Rick A.

Price is way down. The original Gunthy-Renker set (TV marketer) was well over $100. Apparently G-R lost the rights.

http://www.midnightspecial.com/discontinued/

I am doing some guessing based on Amazon, but it appears there were 9 discs in the original release.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FINGGA/?tag=imwan-20

The comedy disc in the new version was included in the original 9 disc edition; usually 2 comedians per disc. Discs 10 & 11 do appear new, but they also fall under "why bother" for me. I used to sell the GR's for big $'s when I found them. I ASSUME this will drive their value down.

I have seen most of them. Good quality, but I usually only liked 1/3 - 1/2 of the artists.

I want an official release of the David Bowie show (though there are now great quality boots of it on both cd & dvd with tons of out-takes)

They ought to do a SD Blu ray of this material with the audio in Hi res[24/96 stereo'd be nice].

They'd have to do a remix. Tony DeFries released 1 remixed track from the Bowie show (Time) that sounded excellent. It was a totally different mix than the ones made for TV broadcast. The sound on the Gunthy-Renkers was OK for a 70's era Dolby DVD, but nowhere near hi-res territory. The good news is the original audio multitracks existed for at least the Bowie show 9aka "1980 Floor Show") 15-20 years ago, so hopefully they all still exist.

My copy of the 11-disc set arrived yesterday. I watched the first disc last night. They appear to be heavily edited. I don't know what the running time was on the original episodes, but the ones on this set are each various lengths. One episode is only two songs! One of the featurettes has some footage of John Denver from the pilot that wasn't included in the actual episode (in the set). I'm glad to have the performances (which are the most important parts), but for those of us too young to remember the original run it would have been nice to experience this series as it was originally broadcast. A bit disappointed. Would have went with the 7-disc Costco edition for less than half the price had I known.

Bump: As expected, the 11DVD set is getting a general release a year later, for the 2015 holiday season.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0131RBZ0W/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon's initial pre-order price, not yet discounted, is already $20 less than what Time Life is charging.

(Note that Time Life is also now offering an exclusive 20-disc "Collector's Edition" at twice the price. It doesn't include any additional material from the original series, though -- all of the extra discs are simply Time Life's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Live 9DVD set from a few years ago.)

Hopefully in another year, it will get down to $40 on the overstock market. This is the 3rd release of this material.

Amazon has reduced the price by a further $31, down to $68.99:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0131RBZ0W/?tag=imwan-20

(That's $50 less than getting it directly from Time Life.)