Update June 2007: Five years after it's release, Opti Buk has now been deleted and is no longer commerically available. ZTT have a limited amount of copies left at the very low price of GBP 6.00. Price includes postage and packing to all countries.

Order the DVD
FAQ
Introduction
Updates (progress of DVD production)
Compiled fan input (4 sections)

Order the DVD now! Some recommended sites:

• amazon.co.uk
• eil.com (esprit)
• hmv.co.uk
• play.com
• sendit.com (formerly blackstar)
• ztt.com

Q: Is the DVD multi-region?
A: No, the DVD only plays regions 2 - 6, thus everywhere except Northern America / Canada.

Q: Will the DVD get a release in North America (region 1)?
A: ZTT's deal with Universal is now terminated. ZTT are currently talking to new licensors but they don't forsee a release until 2003 (if ever!) in the US. Another option if you live in region 1 would be to purchase a region free player. See codefreedvd.com.

Q: What is the meaning of the name Opti buk?
A: The first 808 State VHS / Laser Disc was called Optical. Optibuk is a sort of optical (Opti) book (buk) of 808's career. Guessed correctly by Mark.

Q: What is the release date?
A: Released: 28 January 2002. Advance copies for journalists were sent out on 14 January 2002. Before it was decided to include a bonus CD, the orginal release date was going to be September 2001.

In March 2001 808state.com announced that ZTT are undertaking an 808State DVD. Fans were asked to actively decide on the content. Ideas of what should be on the 808 DVD and what should not were collected and compiled by Markus Arnold. In April 2001 the results were published on this page and submitted to 808 State who passed the info on to ZTT.

24 August 2001:
Confirmation reaches us that the DVD will contain a bonus CD featuring 8 unreleased tracks!! Not initially planned, the decision was taken after tweaking some previously unsatisfactory mixes from the 1997 PWL sessions. The package is now said to include:

• 17 videos
• 15 minute G-Mex segment (music, interviews, back stage, etc - never seen before)
• 15 minute home movie section (never seen before)
• discography
• bonus CD featuring 8 unreleased tracks from between 1994 and 1998 (some of which have been played live since 1997):

Relay
Long Orange
Kong King
The Ten Ten
Cassius
Hooked
Fuzz Nasty
Villains And Nerds

808 are considering to call the bonus CD 'State 2 State 2 (808 archives)'. The DVD itself is titled Optibuk. Release date has been pushed back to end of October.

July 2001:
Sound quality of the G:Mex gig tapes is not very good, so actual music footage will be short. Andy was not involved in animation after all due to time constraints.

27 June 2001:
808 have been editing the G:Mex footage. It's a bit like a 15 minute documentary featuring interviews with punters, Bjork and some live footage. Another 20 minute section features stuff from 808s own camera, some making of Don Solaris and some Castlefield gig footage. At this point it looks like the Morley interview mentioned earlier will be dropped. Andy has been working on the animation.

7 June 2001:
Good news: The rest of the missing Gmex footage has been found! The DVD will hopefully feature around 15 minutes of gig footage and 15 minutes of studio stuff.

27 May 2001:
808 have completed the DVD interviews with Paul Morley (who no longer works for ZTT). One of the Gmex Turbo Rave tapes has been recovered so far! The DVD release has been pencilled in for September 2001.

10 May 2001:
Unfortunately it will not be possible to license TV footage (e.g. TOTP). 808 do hope to do some 5.1 surround mixes if ZTT gives them a budget.

The promo videos in chronological order. An asterisk (*) denotes important, as these videos are unique (not on Optical video and do not 'recycle' other clips). In case there is a DVD capacity limit, some tracks have been denoted with 'not necessarily'. Note: Title of video (and name of director) should appear before clip starts (not at end of video as on Optical).

• Pacific promo clip and if possible Top of the Pops appearance + Live performance of 1993
• Ancodia promo clip not necessarily as it only recycles Pacific…
• Cobra Bora Ibiza live clip as it’s the Call the Cops mix
• Only Rhyme that bytes promo clip
• Tunes Splits the atom promo clip
• Olympic promo clip
• Cubic Ibiza live clip as the promo clip only recycles Olympic
• Primary Rhyming promo clip
• In yer face Ibiza live clip? (Should all 3 Ibiza tracks be on, as they were already on Optical?)
• * Ooops promo clip
• Ooops Mellow birds remix promo clip (live at GMex, important if GMex footage isn't recovered).
• * Lift promo clip
• Timebomb promo clip not necessarily as it only recycles Ibiza clips
• * 1 in 10 promo clip
• * Plan 9 promo clip
• * 10 x 10 promo clip
• Is there a Bombadin promo clip???
• * Bond promo clip
• * Azura promo clip
• * Lopez promo clip
• Pacific:98 not necessarily as it only recycles old video clips

Other: The MTV Partyzone Massive vs 808 State: State to State Megamix video (featuring Gmex footage).

These are obviously just ideas and wishes and it is up to 808 and ZTT what they can make of it:

• Interviews and footage of collaborators e.g. Bjork (Iceland footage & together with Massey on The White Room), Bernard Sumner, Robert Owens (Gimme Shelter footage), Tony Wilson (Hacienda footage), Howard Walmsley (videos), Ian McCullogh (Moses Live), Johnson & Panas (sleeve artwork), original members: Martin Price & Gerald Simpson, MC Tunes, live band musicians, dancers (Eric), the girl who operates the laser show etc.
• Studio footage of how tracks are created, footage of actual recording / mixing at a recording studio.
• Unreleased live footage, e.g. Gmex (very important, as probably ‘largest’ 808 gig ever!), Great British Music Weekend etc.
• Hyperlink to www.808state.com.
• TV appearances e.g. TOTP and interviews on Rapido, 01 for London, The Beat etc., Madchester documentaries.
• Possibly private life footage (family & kids). Mandy should be in there! (e.g. day at the office).
• Footage of the videos that are projected during live gigs could be used.
• Eastern Bloc record shop documentary (footage of the old shop preferred over new shop!).
• Picture gallery of records sleeves & t-shirts etc (but should not be boring, should have background sound. Make it so you can step through them with a menu like on a laser disc.
• Comment on certain collaborations and remixes. From a ZTT point of view it would be interesting to talk about the 808 remix of Two Tribes etc.

Fans seem divided into two camps: DVD fans who think DVD should be of superior technical quality (hard to achieve with years old promo clips) and hardcore 808 fans who think it should have killer content (unreleased material). Personally I can forgive imperfect quality if there is unreleased and live footage to compensate. If the video clips could be re-mastered or polished in some way, it would be a bonus. Some general ideas:

• The DVD could be in documentary style (BBC like) covering history of the band. However should only be used if already existing from a TV show, don't just go out and shoot something real quick for the DVD (like the FGTH disc).
• DVD could include Lyrics (DVD subtitle feature), exclusive & unreleased tracks on audio section or hard-to-find vinyl-only tracks such as Sure is Pure mix of Joyrider.
• DVD should have good navigation menu (e.g. 90 fish swimming around)
• DVD should at least feature promo video clips previously not available commercially
• DVD could be a DVD Plus, which would be DVD on one side, and regular audio CD on other side (with unreleased tracks).

808 talking about the current state or the future of dance music!

In addition, here's a selection of comments about the FGTH DVD from Frankie fans:

• Only region code 2 (not available in USA!). 808 DVD should be region free or released separately per region.
• Poor quality (picture and sound); not re-mastered. Lack of use of the DVD medium. Apparently good examples for use of DVD technology are Underworld’s Everything DVD and Bjork’s Volumen DVD.
• ZTT asked fans for input but for example didn’t include the 12" video version of Two Tribes ('Destructo Mix') although ZTT knew that the fans wanted it.
• Boring interview with some A&R guy.