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WCA #571 with Don Setaro –DEEP DIVE - Gary Young Hospital For The Chemically Insane

November 24, 2025·1 hr 1 min·4 clips

Dan Johnson and his wife ran a 50-tape study proving isopropyl alcohol damages tape oxide while Ronsonol lighter fluid does not.

The premise is practical, not flashy. Matt frames the conversation around an out-of-print Gary Young album and the hands-on work of getting it ready again. Don comes back with the kind of detail that only shows up when someone has actually handled the tapes. The project involves Gary's material, Gary's widow, label partners, and other people around the release. Then the sorting begins. Don talks through how he listened for Gary's voice, playing style, and recording habits. Some calls were simple. If someone was singing only in Spanish, that helped separate the material from Gary's songs. Other tapes needed time. The process came down to experience, repeated listening, and staying with uncertain material until it started to make sense. Don drove tapes down himself. Shipping cost too much, there were a lot of reels, and the tapes were nowhere near perfect. Gary's recording style sounds loose, more like putting up tape and going than building a careful studio plan. The tapes carried that history too. Some had dried beer or whiskey on them, leaving sticky residue that had to be cleaned before playback. Matt keeps asking plain questions, which lets the technical details land without turning stiff. Ronsonol lighter fluid, Q-tips, and foam paintbrushes all get their moment. Cleaning two-inch tape with a foam paintbrush is not romantic. It is exactly the kind of problem reissue work can hand you. Under it all, the episode is about preservation: careful ears, physical cleanup, detective work, and respect for messy source material.

As heard by us

A steady reissue story centered on the hands-on work of bringing Hospital for the Chemist back.

Don Sitaro returns to Working Class Audio with a close look at the reissue work behind Gary Young's out-of-print Hospital for the Chemist. The conversation gives credit where it is due, pointing to Don and his label partner, with help from Gary before his death, Jerry Young,…

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Why you'd press play

You want the reissue-process story behind Gary Young's Hospital for the Chemist.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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