The True Story of Take One Magazine (November 1979)

Richard Harbert, Editor & Publisher
Thom W. King, Editor-In-Chief
John M. King, Senior Editor

Contributors: Daryl Sanders, Gary Kanter, Larry Glick, Alis Petit, Scott Perry, Lanny Glick, Rex DeYonker, Nicole Chappin, Bette Blackman, Hunter Harvey

Articles
Nashville’s Take One: The True Story (Thom King)
Summertime Blues (Richard Harbert)
A Letter From The Publisher (Richard Harbert)
Personal Comments From the Staff (Thom King & Richard Harbert)
The Alternative According To Sanders (Daryl Sanders)
Comments From The Staff (Hunter Harvey, John King, Charlie Johnson, Scott Perry, Sharon Bell, Louie Rosenberg

Comments: The out-of-town investor who Thom sold a controlling interest in the magazine to bankrupted Take One by going weekly without an accompanying growth in advertising income to offset the cost of publishing four issues a month instead of one. Thom and Take One editor Richard Harbert published this one-shot, “The True Story of Take One Magazine,” providing transparency to the demise of Nashville’s first alternative publication. King and Harbert would subsequently launch The Nashville Gazette with publisher John Lomax III (see below).  

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Take One: March 1979

Columns
“176 2nd” (Thom King)
Quickies
Leisure (Bob Millard)
Gut Reaction (Kurt Benz)
Top Of The Rock (Scott Perry)
“Offbeat Cartoons” (John Heine)
Performance: Hoyt Axton (Ellen Caldwell)
On Record: The Blues Brothers (Brad Smythe), Larry Jon Wilson (Jan Simmons), Don Bowman (Sharon Bell), Elvis Costello (Brad Smythe), Rod Steward (Bette Blackman), Hall & Oates (Brad Smythe)
Placeboes: Kayak, Eddie Money, Todd Rundgren, Pipedream, Nicolette Larson (Keith A. Gordon)

Articles
Death Row Volunteer, Part Two (Keith A. Gordon)
Mensa: Is Yours Big Enough? (Thom King)
Volunteer Jam V photos (Thom King, John King, Keith A. Gordon)
The Farmer’s Plight (Craig T. Canan)
Music City Song Festival (Sharon Bell)
Pinheads Invade! (Rick Hull)
Earwitness: Nashville Wax For Your Ears (Alan Bernstein)
Going Mobile With Fanta (Sam Borgerson)
Adult Art? Erotica Appears On Second Ave. (Judy Isenhour)
Bar Hopping In Music City (Bette Blackman)

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Take One: November 1978

Columns
“176 2nd” (Thom King)
Quickies
Calendar
Trivia
Culture: Fredrick’s of Hickory Hollow (Judy Isenhour)
Leisure (Bob Millard)
Gut Reaction (Kurt Benz)
Top Of The Rock (Scott Perry)
Rumblings On The Row (Phyllis Martin & Sharon Bell)
Performance: Papa John (Alan Bernstein), John Prine (Sharon Bell), Sammy Hagar & Boston (Keith A. Gordon), Kaz-Fuller & Little Feat (Keith A. Gordon)
Nashville Profile: Colleen Peterson (Sharon Bell)
On Record: Van Morrison (Keith A. Gordon), Eric Carmen (Bette Blackman), “The Muppets Show 2” (Better Blackman), Steve Martin (Brad Smythe)
Placeboes: Moses Jones (Keith A. Gordon), Brian Ferry (Brad Smythe), Neil Young (Sam Borgerson), Johnny “Guitar” Watson (Joe Gramelspacher), City Boy (Keith A. Gordon), Tasty Licks (Keith A. Gordon), Synergy (Keith A. Gordon), Frank Zappa (Keith A. Gordon), Golden Earring (Keith A. Gordon), Devo (Keith A. Gordon),

Articles
A Presidential Visit (Thom King)
Cheap Thrills: Higher Than A Kite (Steve Womack)
$350 Dream Car, Part Two (Thom King)
Seger Live! (Will King)
The Poisoning of America, Part Two (Jerry Shields)
Huell Howser: King of the Jungle (Thom King)
Notes From Huell (Huell Howser)
A New Much Ado (Judy Isenhour)
Winchester Wonder (Judy Isenhour)
On the Air: Sylvia (Bette Blackman)
Byrd Burton: Ace On The Loose (Sam Borgerson)
Cosmic Triggers? (Curtis McGuirt)

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Take One: October 1978

Columns
“176 2nd” (Thom King)
Quickies
Calendar
Trivia
Politics: Catfish Alliance (Alis Pettit)
“Mug Shots” (Take One staff)
The Arts: Musical St. Fair (Judy Isenhour), Alternate Roots (Judy Isenhour), Center Floor (Sam Hughes)
Nashville Profile: Rafe Van Hoy (Sharon Bell), The North Star Band (Sharon Bell)
Top of the Rock (Scott Perry)
Concert Reviews: Yes (Bette Blackman), Dixie Dregs (Keith A. Gordon)
Records: The Who (Sam Borgerson), Sonny Throckmorton (uncredited), Boston (Keith A. Gordon)
Placeboes: Lynyrd Skynyrd (Will King), Gary Toms & Empire (Joe Gramelspacher), Heart (Bette Blackman), Wendy Waldeman (Keith A. Gordon), Rodney Crowell (Keith A. Gordon), Dan Fogelberg & Tim Weisberg (Keith A. Gordon), Talking Heads (Brad Smythe), Faith Band (Brad Smythe), Steve Gibbons Band (Brad Smythe), Moody Blues (Keith A. Gordon), Thin Lizzy (Keith A. Gordon), Crack the Sky (Keith A. Gordon), Lisa Burns (Keith A. Gordon)

Articles
The Poisoning of America (Jerry Shields)
Consumers’ Guide to Health Food Stores (Nicolle Chappin)
The Continuing Saga of My $350 Dream Car (Thom King)
A Nashvillian’s View of Tourist Traps (Doc Crouch & Henriette Rousseau)
In Search of Naz-Dar (Curtis McGuirt)
Keith Moon (Sam Borgerson)
Gene Cotton Update (Sharon Bell)
Jesse Winchester (Sam Borgerson)

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Take One: August 1977 (First Issue)

Columns
Give & Take (Letters To The Editor)
Trivia (Scott Lee, Tom Heath, Robert Corlew, Thom King)
Calendar
Books: In The Mirro District (Scott Newton), Crowned Heads (Sharon Bell)
Records: Neil Young (Derek Fielding), Crosby Stills & Nash (Wil Joyner), Jessi Colter (Daryl Sanders), James Taylor (Karl Frisch)
Recommended: Dixie Dregs, Gregg Allman, The Beatles, The Meters (uncredited)

Articles
A Seedy Store (Cathey Arlt)
Nashville’s Foor Fairs (Greg Gardner)
The Tennessee Constitutional Convention (Chrisopher Edwards)
Spare-A-Dime: Death of A Gentleman (Thom King)
Pathways For Peddlers (Greg Gardner)
Gene Cotton: L.A. or Bust! (Daryl Sanders)
Tulsa On My Mind (Thom King)
The Big Bucks of Rock Concerts (Greg Gardner)
Ted Nugent (Gail Thomas)
What Next? Platinum Gospel! (Daryl Sanders)

Comments: The very first issue of Take One, published in August 1977 and featuring Thom King’s engaging cover story about street person ‘Spare-A-Dime’ as well as articles on singer/songwriter Gene Cotton and the sort of arts and music coverage that the magazine would later become known for throughout its existence.

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Your Nashville Zines Wanted!

This Take One archival site currently has only 15 of the 28 issues of the magazine that were published between 1977 and 1979. If you have copies of the publication that aren't currently featured on the site, I'd be glad to take them off your hands! If you want to donate the zines, I'd be glad to reimburse you for the shipping costs. Ditto if you just want to lend them to us to scan for the site. I'd also be willing to negotiate a price if you'd rather sell your copies (note that we're on a tight budget).

Along with vintage copies of Take One magazine, I'm also interested in getting copies of The Metropolitan Reader and The Nashville Gazette to scan and archive here. We'll also take old copies of Hank magazine to archive on our Anarchy In The Music City! website. Any donated zines will be donated to an archive after scanning, as they'd be better at preserving the decades-old newsprint.

Contact the Reverend with the form above and I'll get back in touch as soon as possible. Thanx!

 

Take One: September 21st, 1979

Columns
Short Takes
Speak Out!
“Star Moods” (Ken Ray)
Calendar
Classifieds
“129 2nd” (Thom King)
Movement (uncredited)
Rumblin’s On the Row (Valerie Ridenour)
Book Review: The Great Shark Hunt (Allen Steele, Jr.)
Album Reviews: Bob Dylan (David Lindsey), Tammy Wynette (Kelly Delaney), Rickie Lee Jones (Phyllis Martin), Roseanne Cash (Ken Ray), REO Speedwagon (Neal Hampton)

Articles
Cockfighting: A Walk On the Illegal Side of A Southern Tradition (Steve Salonsky)
No Juice For the Chair (Carleen Turelli)
The Hots: Can’t You Get It? (Thom King)
Nashville’s Original Alternative Dee Jay (Charles Biderman)
Profile: Michael Smotherman (Sharon Bell)
What ‘Get The Knack’ Means, and Why (John Lomax III)
Nashville Symphony Orchestra: A Concert-Goer’s Delight (Tom Nichol)
Born Again Runners (Judy Isenhour)
Overdoing It (Judy Isenhour)
Excess Edibles Get Canned (Laurie Heise)
Farm Report (Matthew McClure)
Hickory Hollow Hosts Energy Expo (Naomi & Jeffrey Allen)
$5,000 Per Second (Carleen Turelli)
Sliding Into Afternoon Wasteland (Gary Kanter)
Reggie Churchwell: Local Mogul Goes For Boob Tube Mega-Bucks (Valerie Ridenour)

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Take One: July 30th, 1979

Columns
Short Takes
Speak Out!
“Star Moods”
Calendar
Classifieds
“Razz” (Heine)
Movement (Phyllis Martin)
Top Of The Rock (Scott Perry)
Rumblin’ On The Row (Phyliss Martin)
Performance Review: The Kinks (Sam Borgerson)
Book Review: The White Album (Pat Nunally)
Album Reviews: Neil Young, Elton John (Brad Smythe); Queen (Randy Ford)

Articles
No Alternatives In Mayor’s Race (uncredited)
Mayor’s Race Limps Into Home Stretch (Daryl Sanders)
All This For Only A Million Bucks… (John Lomax III)
One Last Shot At The Fast Dance Soiree (Kelly Delaney)
The Return of the Earth Mother (Judy Isenhour)
The Oriental Square, Ah So! (Sarah T. O’Toole & Turrell Twist)
Breaking Away (Scot Haller)
Finally, A Really Good Movie (Scot Haller)
These Are Important Issues (Gary Kanter)

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Take One: July 23rd, 1979

Columns
Short Takes
Speak Out!
“Star Moods”
Calendar
Classifieds
“176 2nd” (Thom King)
“Razz” (Heine)
Movement (Alis Pettit)
Rumblin’ On The Row (Phyliss Martin)
Performance Review: Billy Joe Shaver (Kelly Delaney)
Film Review: Dracula (Talmadge Sherron)
Book Review: Anyone’s Daughter (Talmadge Sherron)
Album Reviews: Devo, Graham Parker (Keith A. Gordon); Joni Mitchell (Bette Blackman & Neal Hampton)

Articles
Mansion Was No Jewel (Derek Fielding)
High Drama From The Oval Office (Daryl Sanders)
LeRoux: White Boys Singing Pretty Vocals (Elizabeth Thiels)
Wet Willie Here For R&R (Scott Perry)
Willie’s Picnic: An American Tradition (Huell Howser)
Doc Cuts Smoking LP (Judy Isenhour)
Couple Exhibit Paintings, Sculpture (Ellen Caldwell)

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More Take One Advertisers

 

More invaluable Take One magazine advertisers! The Villager, a bar in Hillsboro Village, was a favorite hangout of mine during my senior year of high school and afterwards. WKDF-FM was an early supporter of the zine, and this is their ad for the 1979 "One For The Sun" concert they co-promoted. Finally, The Great Escape, which came on board as an advertiser early, after they'd moved from a small house on Division to the much-larger location on Broadway that they subsequently spent decades in. I met Gary Walker, The Great Escape owner, when he was selling comics at the flea market every month at the Fairgrounds. I was an early customer at their Division store, and even worked for the company as a computer consultant, installing their first computer system and training staff members in its usage. Gary's son Greg became a good friend, and he contributed to my The Other Side of Nashville book. Thanx to all these folks for their support!

Take One: July 4th, 1979

Columns
Short Takes
Speak Out!
Star Moods
The Calendar
Classifieds
“Beowulf’s Journal”
Thumbnails (short film reviews)
Rumblin’s On The Row (Phyllis Martin)
LP Shortshots: The Knack, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Mick Taylor (uncredited)

Articles
Sad Times For Happy Huell (Thom King)
Hartsville/Hiroshima Protest (Craig T. Canan)
Galbreath Proposes Preservation Bill (Daryl Sanders)
The Rolling Wonder Revue (Jan Simmons)
Video Disc: Laser Madness In Atlanta
Carp Cause Paper Bag Shortage (Phyllis Martin)
The Super Pickers: From Studio To Center Stage (Sharon Bell)
Reed Waxes Hot & Live At Exit/In (Kelly Delaney)
Natural Nashville: Food Fair Phenomena (Laurie Heise)
Having Fun In Gasless Nashville (Phyllis Martin, photos by John King)
Charles Trois’ Subconscious Exposed (Ellen Caldwell)
Flap-Flop: Nightwing (Talmadge Sherron)
Sunset Unveiled (Anne Ashcraft)
Cilla’s Art (Ellen Caldwell)
Architectural Antiques: Recycling Old Treasures (Katherine Alexander)
Dissenter’s Castle (Patricia Lipman)

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Take One: June 14th-21st, 1979

Columns
Short Takes
Speak Out!
“Star Moods”
Classifieds
“176 2nd” (Thom King)
Movement (Craig T. Canan)
Film Reviews: The In-Laws (Scott Haller), Wanda Nevada (Daryl Sanders), The Drunkard (Tom Patrick)
Thumbnails (short film reviews)
Album Reviews: Kansas, Lou Reed (Brad Smythe); Emmylou Harris (Sam Borgerson)

Articles
Do We Need Hartsville (Craig T. Canan)
Important Questions For Important People: Jimmy Carter, Lamar Alexander, Howard Baker, James Sasser, Bill Boner
Henry Paul: Outlaw On His Own (Scott Perry)
Fan Fair ’79 Wrap-Up (Sharon Bell)
Joe Sun: Old Flames Start A Blaze (Sharon Bell)
“I Got ‘It’ With ISA” (Jan Simmons)
Sinking Creek: Films With Feeling (Daryl Sanders & Talmadge Sherron)

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Take One: June 4th-11th, 1979

Columns
Short Takes
“Star Charts”
Offbeat
Classifieds
“176 2nd” (Thom King)
Movement (Craig T. Canan)
Top of the Rock (Scott Perry)
Film Reviews: The Innocents (Tom Patrick), Beyond The Poseidon Adventure (Talmadge Sherron), Manhattan & Prisoner of Zelda (Daryl Sanders)
Thumbnails (short film reviews)
Book Review: Nathan Pritikin (Charles Biderman)
Performance Reviews: Jerry Lee Lewis (uncredited), Steve Young (Sam Borgerson)
Records: Lee Clayton (Sharon Bell), Oak Ridge Boys (Kelly Delaney)

Articles
Caution: Condos Ahead (Kay Mahan & Pat Nunally)
Poco Last Thursday (Scott Perry)
Dave Perkins Talks (Scott Perry)
Fan Fair ’79 Swarms (Sharon Bell)
Getting “It” With ISA (Jan Simmons)
Making Bread Easy (Charles Biderman)
Peddler Generation (Gary Kanter)
Ten Years After & Black Oak (Thom King)
Alvin Lee: An Interview (Thom King)
All This For Only $175… (Thom King with photos by John King)

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Take One Advertisers

We didn't have a heck of a lot of advertisers back in the Take One days, but a handful of companies were faithful from the first day, running regular ads and paying on time (important for a struggling publication!). Nashville attorney Bart Durham was one such advertiser, who came on board with the third or fourth issue...I remember ol' Bart cruising up to our Second Avenue office in his convertible sports car with payment for his ads. As regular as clockwork, he was...local printer Copies Unlimited was another regular advertiser; I worked there for about three days sometime in the 1980s. For my money, though, our two longest-running and most avid supporters were Mary Jane's on Elliston Place, and New Life Record shop on Charlotte in West Nashville. New Life's Lee Lane even contributed cartoons to the publication in later days. Thanx to both for their invaluable support!

Second Avenue, Then and Now...

176 Second Avenue North, 2019

176 Second Avenue North, 2022

On Christmas Day 2020 a mad bomber set off an explosion on Second Avenue North in Nashville right in front of where the Take One offices once stood. I remember following news reports on my phone that day from my mother-in-law's house, shocked that it had happened, and that it had happened in an area where I had so many great memories. New reports talk a lot about the bomber choosing the spot because of the AT&T facility on the other side of the street, but he may have well planned on taking out Take One's history as well...

During the Bell South strike in 1978, we allowed telephone workers to sit and picket on the sidewalk in front of the office; they used our bathroom, and a few Bell engineers even fixed up and improved our makeshift phone system. Thankfully, nobody was hurt in the Christmas bombing and, yes, Take One magazine was long gone by 2020. Looking at the top photo here, from 2019, you see the building's facade pretty much as it was back in 1977-78...a little shinier, perhaps, and better-dressed than in our day when the building owner was trying to put together cash for a rehab. The second photo, however, from 2022, shows the total destruction of the building that one housed Nashville's first alternative publication (as well as 176 Underground, a cool 1980s-era club that I frequented). 

Take One: December 1978

Columns
Give & Take (Letters To The Editor)
Calendar
Classifieds
Quickies
“176 Second” (Thom King)
Gut Reaction (Kurt Benz)
Leisure (Bob Millard)
Top of the Rock (Scott Perry)
Offbeat (Heine)
Performance: George Benson (Joe Gramelspacher)
On Record: Arlyn Gale, Baby Grand & Tanya Tucker (Brad Smythe); Bill Anderson (Sam Borgerson); Peter Tosh (Joe Gramelspacher); 10cc, George Thorogood & the Destroyers (Keith A. Gordon

Articles
Dungeons & Dragons (Curtis McGuirt)
$350 Dream Car, Part Three (Thom King)
A Nashvillian’s Encounter With the People’s Temple (Sam Borgerson)
Al Jarreau Interview (Alan Bernstein)

Our smallest issue ever, only 12 pages of top quality material. What can I say...money was tight!

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Take One: July 1978

Columns
Give & Take (Letters To The Editor)
Calendar
Classifieds
Quickies
Trivia
“176 Second” (Thom King)
Reelings: ‘Horror Show’ (Laurie Schultz)
On Stage: Miracles of Modern Times (Judy Isenhour)
Nashville/Profiles: Mac McAnally (Sharon Bell), Jack Clement (Phyllis Martin)
Rumblings On the Row (Phyllis Martin)
Sound Sense (Steve Merit)
Leisure (Bob Millard)
Placeboes (Album Reviews): The Rolling Stones, Foreigner, Nantucket, Bob Dylan, Alan Parsons Project, Graham Parker, Michael Stanley Band (Keith ‘Starlight’ Gordon)
Placeboes: Steve Young, Bonnie Tyler, Ronnie Milsap, Janie Fricke, The Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Jeff Walker (Sharon Bell)

Articles
Just Another Pretty Face (Greg Gardner)
Hey Four Eyes…A Consumer’s Guide To Optics (Thom King)
Doctor, there’s a gomer in the pit (Barbara Pinson)
Direct To Disk (George Juodenas)
Reunion: The Class of ’67 Has No Class (Victoria Webb)
Animals and Art (Ellen Caldwell)
Parthenon: New Sights In An Old Setting (Ellen Caldwell)
Center Floor (Sam Hughes)
Balls, Butterflys and Batons (Karen Zimmerman)
Recording Session Showdown: Nashville versus L.A. (Sam Borgerson)
Jazz (Alan Bernstein)
Perceptive Palate (Edna DeKabe)

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Take One: December 1977

Columns
Give & Take (Letters To The Editor)
Calendar
Classifieds
Places: A Woman’s Place To Come To (Victoria Webb)
Books: ‘Kinflicks’ (Mary Etta Cook)
Reelings: ‘First Love’ (Dave Badger), ‘Harvey’ (Harold Parker)
Nashville Profile: Don Schlitz (Sharon Bell), Geof Morgan (Sharon Bell), Karla Bonoff (Greg Gardner)

Articles
From Rocky Top To the Big Apple (Bob Millard)
The Coke Hustlers (Thom King)
Channel 4 News: It’s Not That Lonely At the Top (Bob Wyatt & Greg Gardner)
Gurgling Gourmet (Diane Bartley)
What I Don’t Want For Christmas (Victoria Webb)
Miles and Miles of Heart (Tom Miller)
Louisville Run (Jim Webb)
The Nashville Gospel Show! (Tim O’Connell)
A Family Tree (Will Joyner)

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Take One: October 1977

Columns
Give & Take (Letters To The Editor)
Calendar
Classifieds
Onstage: Equus (Bob Wyatt)
Onstage: A Thurber Carnival (Bob Wyatt)
Reelings: ‘Between the Lines’ (Dave Badger), “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden” (Sharon Bell)
Books: The Unfinished Agenda (Scott Newton), I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (Sharon Bell)
Places: Sam’s Phoenix (Daryl Sanders)
Records: The Rolling Stones (Scott Lee), James Talley (Will Joyner), Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane (Derek Fielding), Oak Ridge Boys (Derek Fielding)

Articles
Here Comes The Sun (Linda Wilson)
Behind The Scenes At TV 5 News (Bob Wyatt & Greg Gardner)
The CIA and the Wonders of Birth (Ruth Pearcy)
Unfurl the Pale Flag (Jim Webb)
Neighborhood Preservation (Greg Gardner)
Dave Loggins: The Evolution of A Romantic (Sharon Bell)
The Changing Musical Face of Music City (Daryl Sanders)
Cartoons: “Olisoop” (Heine)

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Take One: September 1977

Columns
Give & Take (Letters To The Editor)
Calendar
Reelings: Bond Bounces Back (Dave Badger), “The Last Remake of Beau Geste” (Linda Wilson)
Concerts: Yes/Bad Company (Scott Lee)
Records: Roger Daltry (Scott Newton), The Alan Parsons Project (Jim Webb), The Grateful Dead (Scott Lee), Eddie & the Hot Rods (?)
Recommended: Freddie King, Firefall, Bob Marley, Rob Galbraith, Mac MacAnally (Kim Owen)

Articles
The Skateboarder’s Waltz (Greg Gardner)
The Education of A Prisoner (C. Samuel Poarch)
Night Moves In the Devil’s Triangle (Linda Wilson)
Forum: Bail Bond Reform (Doug Johnston)
Media: Waking Up With Steve Henderson (Thom King)
Paul Craft: The Black Sheep (Sharon Bell)
A Legend Passes [Elvis Presley] (Daryl Sanders)
The Appalachian Trail: A Photo Essay (Bobby Schatz)

PDF copy of this issue [BIG! 102mb - Right click and 'save as' to download]