I love this performance by Diana Ross in the torrential rain that became a giant thunderstorm. I was in NYC that day and actually took a walk in Central Park for the only time. We had just arrived from Niagara Falls and the weather was very hot and sticky. A storm was coming; you could tell ... and it did!
Above is a photo from the Empire State Building on the next day, looking towards Central Park. The stage would still hsve been there for the second day's concert.
The view in the opposite direction has the Twin Towers and also the Statue of Liberty (far right).
OB-6s now have SEQUENTIAL on the back! And of course, Tom's very stylish signature on the front and back. Wonder if they will put the Oberheim on it too, now he has got the trademark back from Gibson? There's room for it in the top middle of the rear panel (just!)
More treats on YouTube! Yes live 1978/79. If the footage is 1979 then it might be a Rev 1, depends on the time of year (video was from Philadelphia Spectrum 21 June 1979); but the sound is 28 September 1978 so a Rev 1 is guaranteed, if Rick was using it. He seems to be on the '79 footage. You can see it here on Siberian Khatru at 7m 40s. This show had amazing performances of Awaken, The Silent Wings of Freedom, Heart of the Sunrise, Roundabout and the medley including The Fish, Perpetual Change and Soon from The Gates of Delirium is also fabulous playing. Why this is not on a live album I could never understand. You really have a group here at the height of their playing abilities, pretty much unmatched even though they are not my completely favourite band, they were awesome here, truly.
OK, so I saw this and decided that I need to post on this page everything I see of Rev 1 Prophet-5s on YouTube or other videos of performances on this page. I have seen them with Rick Wakeman, Peter Gabriel and now Sky and David Bowie! I've seen other too and I can't remember who. If/when I find them again, they are going on here. My preference is for real, live performances on video. Also for photos of early Prophet-5s on stage keyboard rigs and for music videos (but you never know for sure if that is the actual instrument used) or photos/videos of musicians' studios. Any real use of the Revision one Prophet really. I saw this one tonight: Sky Toccata. One of the first synth sounds that got me going was actually a Rev 1 Prophet-5 according to this! (Caveat: in another video, that time of a live performance, the keyboards player used an ARP Quadra on stage). As I update this on 5 July, someone on the DSI instruments forum suggested that I should look at David Bowie videos from that time. And here is one! 1978 David, Prophet-5 Rev1 (in a mirror) in the first minute of the video! Here they are David Bowie Live 1978. The Rev 1 Prophet-5 is visible in the first minute and audible very shortly after that! This video has actually now been been removed by a useless and petty organisation that gets its money from an unjustified monopoly and should be privatised immediately: https://youtu.be/Y9pKUSTsxIU
OK here is a snippet which shows the P-5 Rev 1 on the first track Sense of Doubt. I love the bell sounds coming from that RMI synth! It sounds so 1980s:
Peter Gabriel - Rockpalast 1978 (full show): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amxDkP_0gxs&t=9m48s I can't see the red front panel light on the videos but it can be seen clearly on stage photos (see below) but it has to be a Rev 1 because it's 1978 and Pete and/or Larry Fast had at least one Prophet-5 between them then. Best to watch this video and then check out 9m48s, 34m22s, 39m34s and 42m53s to avoid the stupid advert at the start of the video playback, or just watch the whole thing! This is what I was really looking for: an original original Prophet-5 being actually played live. It had to be with Gabriel, an innovator in so many ways (well his keyboards guy Larry Fast!):
Found this on a boring night in hopeless England in 2018, what a find! Drfum free Humdrum with Prophet-5 and Polymoog (most likely 1978): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcpAV4dITwo
Then there is the wonderful Peter Gabriel South Bank Show documentary for the recording of the PG4 or "Security" album. It looks like he has a Rev 1 and a Rev 3 in the studio. The Rev 1 is here I think:
Excellent picture of Larry Fast's studio from 1978 with Rev 1 Prophet-5 easily recognisable by the power switch on the front panel: http://sonic.net/mjones/archive/synergy/studio78.html "A simple but powerful array of gear - Moog 15, 360 Systems Frequency Shifter, 2 Oberheim Mini-Sequencers and SEM, Mini-Moog, not sure about the 2 white boxes or switch matrix to the right (might be DIY stuff), Oberheim Digital Sequencer (with LED "2" showing), Paia Phlanger and Stringz n Thingz, and original Rev 1 Prophet 5. (I think. Going from faded memory here. ;-) )" Same pic here:
Great view of Larry Fast's keyboard setup with Rev 1 P5 and one of Gabriel's more interesting early songs, fab brass sound may come from the P5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlEaR6L7wWI&t=0m34s "Peter Gabriel performing White Shadow live at the Bottom Line in New York City, 04 October 1978. Photos from that year are also included"
The recording is probably from the bootleg "Some Old Some New."
You can see the P-5 on the monochrome photo 3/4 down the page. Nice photo, labelled "That's Anderson in the background and White at right in Tulsa back in 1978." http://www.thelope.com/2009/02/yes-co-founder-takes-ill.html The article itself refers to the late and great bassist Chris Squire.
YouTube Video from 1979 (Rev 1 therefore not guaranteed, could be a Rev 2.0 perhaps but there is a P5 in his keyboards rig at his upper right - the Minimoogs are at upper left): Yes - Philadelphia, PA 6/21/1979 21 June 79. You can see the P-5 on this video at 41m41s and also earlier in the first song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eE1KPwzAzA&t=1502s&t=41m41s
More treats on YouTube! Yes live 1978/79. If the footage is 1979 then it might be a Rev 1, depends on the time of year; but the sound is 28 September 1978 so Rev 1 is guaranteed. You can see it here on Siberian Khatru
Here are three short videos showing my old Prophet-5 revision 2 which I have now exchanged (it was in need of repair for the past 10 years). The pictures were taken days before I let it go and the music is from years ago in 1999, on old tape recordings, played on my hi-fi using a lovely Denon cassette deck that I bought from the local BHF charity shop a year ago for 10 GBP. The video shows the P5's front panel and rear panels, including MIDI connections and cassette interface (both retrofits on such an early instrument, one of the first 400 made). It shows the ultra mellow sound that could be got from the SSM sound generation microcircuits that made the early Prophets happily sound to good and also be so hard to repair, sadly. The Prophet-VS is also broken now after 18 years of fun playing.
Prophet-5 Revision 2 front panel & gratuitous filter sweeps jam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKSMWd4U7AU
Prophet-5 Revision 2.0 strummed acoustic instrument sound with purring cat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbXibOyxgKw
Prophet-5 Revision 2 acoustic instrument type sound Jam from 1999. Revision 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22F-nVNtWXA&t=56s
Description for the videos:
Prophet-5 Revision 2 front panel & gratuitous filter sweeps and other jams from tapes recorded around 1999.
Front panel sections: modulation, oscillators, mixer, filter, amplifier.
Thanks to Dave Smith for developing such an amazing instrument. I had always wanted to own one; now I have let it go. I enjoyed making sounds on this more than on anything else, even when they were rough and even when it went out of tune. It was the instrument where you would just play the same note gratuitously again and again just to hear it again and wait for it to fade away.
Other synths arpeggiated in the background are the Roland JP-8000 (Arctic E-knows sound on cat video) and Korg Prophecy (guitar sound on cat video). Prophet-5 is the jamming instrument that sounds alive with the presence. Rough jam recorded to cassette tape in 1999, so playing is rough, totally live, just tinkering with the sound.
This was the day I let go of the P-5 (now broken, hopefully going to be restored by someone else) - and while clearing up, I found the old tape recording the previous day in a box.
Video file P1300052.
All music and videos copyright David Bellamy 2017 (as if anybody is gonna steal it!)
