30 years ago today in Guns N Roses history....

[Bridge]

The famous NYC Ritz show.
February 2, 1988

I remember watching and taping it when it aired, and I kept my VHS tape of it for many years after.

A true classic and genre-defining for rock n roll at that time.  Shameful that MTV deleted the footage.  They could be making a fortune selling that thing!   

Unfortunately, the fully uncensored version (rare even 20 years ago) is even more rare these days.  Several youtube videos claim to be uncut, but they aren't.  They just remove the bleeps over the curse words, and none of them feature the extra footage found on the uncut version.

[jarmo]

Oh yeah.... I remember taping it too. It was on a Scandinavian channel called TV3.





/jarmo

[AdZ]

Oh yeah.... I remember taping it too. It was on a Scandinavian channel called TV3.





/jarmo

You had 3 whole channels?

[allwaystired]

When was it aired? 1988?

[Lord Stan]

Can't have been live? Around those times there were some concerts aired live in Scandinavia like Madonna and whatnot.

[Lord Stan]

Watching this now, just crazy that speak before Nightrain introducing Slash and his sayings

[jarmo]

Can't have been live? Around those times there were some concerts aired live in Scandinavia like Madonna and whatnot.

No, it wasn't aired live.



/jarmo

[Apple7]

After this show, the history of the band changed for always, In argentina a local channel transmitted this shows in 1989.....I read (i was  2 years old)

[Bridge]

Watching this now, just crazy that speak before Nightrain introducing Slash and his sayings

Yeah, at that spot on the uncensored version, Slash babbled incessantly, dropping about a hundred "F" words, then turned around and said he wasn't gonna say anything offensive so they could make it on television.     Of course, that entire chunk was cut out of the MTV broadcast.   

[Johnnyblood]

When Appetite came out I dismissed it as another Whitesnake type hair band. I was listening to Prince, RUN-DMC, Ice-T, and starting to really groove on the Stones and whatever other classic rock I could lay my hands on. I heard Jungle on the radio and thought it was a bad imitation of AC/DC. Over the next few months I kept hearing Jungle, then PC, eventually SCOM. The difference between these guys and the other hair bands (who, by the way, aren?t that bad in retrospect) eventually became impossible to ignore. But the Ritz was the fourth ace, the thing that closed the deal for me. Start to finish not one second fails to blow you away, both visually and of course the playing. Still my favorite live show by anyone ever. Could sit down and watch it straight through any time day or night. Would be great to see the unedited version?is that online somewhere?

[Bridge]

Would be great to see the unedited version?is that online somewhere?

It's extremely hard to find these days.  You used to be able to purchase it on ebay, which is where I got it, but then ebay banned sales of bootleg recordings.  I did end up selling my DVD-R of it for $70.00 though!     Since it's so rare now, I kinda wish I'd kept it.   

Trading circles out there somewhere might be your only hope nowadays.  YouTube versions are NOT uncut even though they frequently advertise themselves as such.

[allwaystired]

Would be great to see the unedited version?is that online somewhere?

It's extremely hard to find these days.  You used to be able to purchase it on ebay, which is where I got it, but then ebay banned sales of bootleg recordings.  I did end up selling my DVD-R of it for $70.00 though!     Since it's so rare now, I kinda wish I'd kept it.   

Trading circles out there somewhere might be your only hope nowadays.  YouTube versions are NOT uncut even though they frequently advertise themselves as such.

This seems available- but I guess there is no way of knowing if it is really 'uncensored'?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guns-Roses-New-York-Uncensored/dp/B016OMVZHO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1517946522&sr=8-3&keywords=guns+n+roses+ritz

[Bridge]

This seems available- but I guess there is no way of knowing if it is really 'uncensored'?

Yeah, that one review seems to indicate such, but somebody would have to just take a chance and buy it to really know.

[Johnnyblood]

I?ll be that somebody. Just ordered. 

[Bridge]

I?ll be that somebody. Just ordered. 

Yeah, let us know!

The phony uncut version on youtube just remove the bleeps over the curse words to make the edits less obvious.

Things to look for in the true uncut version:

In the unedited version, Slash delivers a barrage of "F" words right before he says "okay, I'm not gonna say anything offensive to make it on television".  The MTV version edits that chunk out and cuts straight to the part about making it on TV.

I believe "Mama Kin" is on the uncensored version.  It was left out of the MTV broadcast.

At the very end, Steven Adler comes out and tells the fans, "you fucking rock my world man!"  This entire bit is cut from the MTV version.

[Johnnyblood]

I?ll come back with an update. It?s shipping from the UK so it might be a week or so. I feel like I heard, if not the whole show, at least an unedited KOHD on the (back in the 80s) local hard rock station. It was the whole ?sloppiest band in the world but I really don?t give a fuck.? And I feel like they broadcast the whole show. We shall see. Hopefully I didn?t pay 28 USD for something I can see on youtube.

[Johnnyblood]

So the video I received is some sort hacked together version of the ?uncensored? show. It?s kind of weird. First of all, I forgot the band somewhat censored themselves?Axl sang the naughty words a little quieter, I assume to make it easier for MTV to edit them out. But you can definitely hear the fucks and shits. What?s disappointing is that whoever is bootlegging this thing chose for some mysterious reason, with a couple of the prominent swear words, like ?I personally don?t need that shit? before OTGM, they like did some kind of weird voice modulation, so the word is way louder than the basic mix, but is like this weird distorted Darth Vader voice. It?s extremely odd sounding and totally pointless. Another strange thing is that they completely removed Axls Todd Crew dedication before KOHD. I can?t imagine why they took that out. I always liked that part, and I?m disappointed that my $30 didn?t didn?t include it. All in all, I?d stick with the free YouTube versions.

[Bridge]

Sorry to hear that johnny, though I can't say I am surprised.  Hell, I would ask for a refund for false advertising!

On the true unedited version, the cursing isn't quiet, it's actually really blatant.  All of the hacked up versions remove the bleeps and superimpose curse words culled from some other source, and it definitely sounds like shit.

I'm also guessing the version you bought didn't have Slash's profanity-ridden tirade nor Steven Adler's "you fucking rock my world!" farewell either.

[Johnnyblood]

Ah crap, I should?ve known simply ordering it off amazon was too easy. So weird that the original footage must exist in more than one place, but it can?t be found anywhere... while the virtually identical content, minutes relatively insignificant swearing and talking, is all over the internet.

[Bridge]

FULL UNCUT VERSION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9o9ukva2co

Johnny, you still after this one?