Talmy and The Who later parted on bitter terms over creative differences. Author Marsh quotes the group's leader, Peter Townshend, as saying Talmy "was a great believer in making groups who were nothing into stars. He was also a great believer in pretending the group didn't exist when they were in a recording studio."
Talmy looks back with some bitterness as well. "There is nothing a band won't do for you before they become a hit and nothing they will do for you afterward," he said.
Strassner, by contrast, came to Hollywood in the mid-1970s after directing programs for a UHF station near Miami. His credits include editing and field directing on such programs as "Entertainment Tonight" and the short-lived talk show "America."
Although Superscan faces the perils of new technology's wiping out part of their business, Bunnie Strassner, 37, a Superscan director and Norman Strassner's wife, remains upbeat.
She said large companies who can afford to buy scanning systems often find it easier to use a service bureau rather than to bother hiring enough people to run and maintain the machines.
"There will be a certain amount of business lost as prices for scanners come down," she said. "But there will always be a market for scanning services. Companies are subcontracting out as much of the work as they can."
