OTHER TECH

Do you occasionally watch at home with your wife and kids, just to relax?

Yeah. But I don't go to the movie theater much either. I just got out of the habit. The kids don't really see too many movies. My son watches them on his laptop, actually. That way, he's got privacy, and he can manipulate them however he wants.

How about concert DVDs? Do you watch those?

Yeah. I watched, for instance, Eric Clapton's tribute to George Harrison [A Concert for George]. Beautiful - and it's beautiful to be able to hear that on this system. Another classic DVD that I like is the Stones' Rock and Roll Circus. You know, I don't have 5.1 here, but I have it in my apartment in the city.

Did you do that because you were working on the British Invasion DVD at the time, or because you just wanted to have a surround sound setup?

I didn't get it in time to use it in the mixing of the DVD. So I had to rely on the mixing engineer to educate me as to how it's done. And I just went with his concept, which was to not overdo what's coming out of the back speakers at all and have just a hall presence behind you. When I now play the DVD on the system in my apartment, I do like the mix. But I might have put a little more information in the rear, had I done it, and had I had a speaker system to go home and listen to it on. Anyway, I'm not yet happy with my 5.1 system.

. . . and now during his Late Show days.

For any reason you can put your finger on?

Because I've gotten used to hearing these Eggleston speakers.

Are you happy with how the British Invasion DVD turned out?

Yes. Because, as Billy J. Kramer says at the beginning of his set, it reminds him of one of those all-nighters at the Cavern Club. Well, that's exactly what we were going for. It wasn't meant to sound like we were the Eagles with the incredible sound system that they bring, because we were in a club. It's a very live mix. And it is what it is. There was a little bit of post-production, of course, but not much. We're pretty honest. And we didn't have the budget where you could go nuts and end up replacing every instrument, as you hear on so many live concert recordings where things sound perfect.

How did the DVD come about?

My wife asked me to go see Mike Smith with her when he played at B.B. King's club here in New York, and he was just terrific. And then, as you see at the beginning of the DVD, the very next week I got a chance to guest-host the Letterman show. So I said, "I wonder if Mike's still in town? We could have him do the keyboard spot, my spot." And he was, and he did it, and the band played all of his songs. And then he had that horrible accident that paralyzed him. He became a paraplegic. Steven Van Zandt, who is a big fan of his, was also there at B.B. King's that night, and he and I started speaking about doing a benefit. But then Steve, through no fault of his own, just got too busy and had to do his [Sirius] radio show and go on tour. But my wife kept encouraging me: "You should really do something for Mike." And Margo Lewis, who was Mike's agent and who represents a lot of acts from that time, called me and said, "You know, the Zombies have a free date." And then it all fell together.