emulatorII-list

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, Wayne Griffin
<ingsoc_1979@...> wrote:
>
> who are Syco?

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug00/articles/emuretro.htm

Only Available In London  	 
  	
Few people ever realised that the EII almost didn't see the light of
day. When the smiling Californian demonstrators from Emu Systems
premiered the prototypes to such enthusiastic reception at the
Frankfurt show in February 1984, the company was actually on the brink
of financial collapse. They didn't even have the money to build the
first production run of machines. As a result, a deal was struck with
Syco Systems, the company Peter Gabriel had founded with his cousin
Stephen Paine to distribute the Fairlight in the UK (and which also
handled Emu), whereby they agreed to pay upfront for the first 25
machines. But as a consequence, some fairly rigid legal restrictions
were placed on Emu to make sure that all of the first 25 machines came
to the UK. I have heard stories of Santa Cruz lawyers checking serial
numbers and units on the production line to make sure that not even
one machine slipped out for delivery to US dealers or stars until
Emu's obligation to the bacon-saving Syco was fulfilled.

As a result, some fairly famous American names were left waiting high
and dry for this machine they had heard so much about (the Summer NAMM
show in Chicago had let the cat out of the bag in Emu's home country
as well). When it was clearly explained to them that the first units
had all been shipped to the UK, they did what any self-respecting star
would do -- they got on planes and came to London. Which is how I came
to see Stevie Wonder coming out of the Syco demo room with his
entourage while I was waiting to go in, and (literally) ran into Steve
Porcaro and David Paich of Toto coming in as I left. I was keeping
fine company indeed, and even though I personally hadn't a snowball's
chance in hell of coming up with the 10 grand plus VAT needed to buy
my own EII, I still felt like I was walking with giants. Both, I
believe, bought EIIs from Syco that day.