Elton John jams with Cher and Joan Rivers in a TV broadcast from 10-12-86. The BetaGems channel also has "Whoopie Goldberg on Joan Rivers Late Show 2-20-87," "Gwar meets Joan Rivers 1990, best copy from commercial master," "Elton John 1-18-80 TV award show performance ," "Elton John 9-7-88 TV award show performance," "Elton John 1-15-88 late night TV performance," "Elton John interview 9-10-86 TV news magazine profile," "1990 Elton John & Paula Abdul Diet Coke TV commercial," "Elton John 4-1-87 1st post-surgery performance," "Sonny & Cher 11-20-69 late night TV performance," "Sonny & Cher 7-8-65 daytime TV performance," "1988 Cher ad Holiday Spa Health Club regional-only commercial," "Cher 9-7-88 TV award show performance," and "Sonny & Cher 6-10-70 TV performance We've Only Just Begun."
BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded between from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on Youtube or online. Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads.
In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.
