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From the Editor: this week's Record Collector Newsletter

If you want the full, unedited version of the R.C. Weekly Newsletter in your mailbox every week, then contact [email protected]

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New issue of Record Collector hits the shops today or tomorrow: Pink Floyd on the front... I saw that the Invictus Games put on a huge gig for its closing ceremony on Sunday. The event is for disabled ex-service personnel and is a tribute to their fortitude. Clearly they have suffered a lot and have come through it stronger. So why should they have to endure some bands at the end of it? I've got nothing against Foo Fighters – the band Nirvana could have been, if they'd taken happier drugs – and I'm obliged to be nice about Ryan Adams because I sit next to one of the world's No 1 collectors of his records (a more complex venture than the uninitiated would imagine, with all manner of obscure releases emanating from his bolt hole in North Oh Carolina). But yunno, James Blunt? I know Mr Blunt served, but my dad was in the Navy and I wouldn't want anyone to have had to sit through him singing about the farmer with a sow, a song he used to specialise in, complete with sound effects. A more imaginative choice for the closing ceremony would have been artists associated with the Invictus label: Chairmen Of The Board, The 8th Day perhaps, and the wonderful Scherrie Payne, if you want something with that singer-and-piano-type vibe with a serious lyric that you might not have fully absorbed from The Supremes' version. Now that would have made for a distinctive final party. And anyway, aren't the achievements of these remarkable human beings enough? Do we have to add bands at the end of everything?

Grumble over. As you can probably tell, I am going through a bit of a soul music period at present, with recent purchases that include Marvin Gaye & His Girls; The Marvelettes' In Full Bloom, a couple of albums by James Brown, plus a version of La la Means I Love You by The UFOs which needs to be about three minutes longer than it is. This music is a bottomless pit: there's no chance of my collecting all the UK Motown albums, because I don't have that long left to live or the cash to fund such a lunatic pursuit; I long ago abandoned gathering all James Brown's works although I got some way into his US catalogue so maybe I ought to have carried on; I don't know that I'm actually collecting any soul artist at all, unless you count De La Soul. What I am doing, however, is buying what I like and enjoying it when I do. Which is really what record buying ought to be about – but frequently isn't.

By now you should be in possession of the new RC, details of which are below. We are grafting hard to create the next one, which features a big piece about debut albums; there's also an interview with Frankie Valli, that man who walked the thin line between R&B and pop with some aplomb; you'll also find a story about Chicago House rarities, and something about the Aphex Twin, which at least proves that we do notice that music didn't end in 1990. I interviewed Aphex many years ago, and he talked to me about making buzzing noises by touching audio cables and turning this into music. In that case my hi-fi is a musician, because it's buzzing. Anyone know how to stop a Garrard 4HF from rumbling?

Thank you for reading RC and this newsletter; it's much appreciated. Should you be voting in the Scottish election, I hope the outcome works for you when the dust settles.

Best wishes,

Ian McCann, Editor (25 per cent Scot; 100 per cent undecided)

 

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

991.com brings you excerpts from the R.C. Weekly Newsletter. If yuo want to receive the full unedited version with new, reviews, latest releases, competitions and prizes then email: [email protected]

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Spent the weekend creeping across the open fields of East Anglia searching for vinyl in the hedgerows and byways, and generally making a nuisance of myself. Even better, greatly enjoyed catching up with official Friend Of Record Collector, Ian Clark, Northern soul face (despite possessing southern physiognomy) and DJ extraordinaire. Mr Clark eats, breathes and, er, plays vinyl, and I availed myself of his considerable record-finding services with a copy of Lou Donaldson’s Say It Loud and several handsome soul albums (his website doesn’t tell you the half of it, but is still packed with gems). I already have Lou’s album on CD, but buying the full-sized item had such an effect on me that I had a dream about the soul sisters on the sleeve – just a friendly encounter, you understand, nothing untoward. (Sometimes I think I may be just a little too obsessed with records.) Anyway, Mr Clark informs me he is well into the second section of his Northern trilogy that began with his piece in RC 417. If it’s half as good as the first one, it’ll be well worth the wait. Speaking of matters northerly and soulful, I’ve just heard tell about a second copy of the Darrell Banks record (ta-dah!) that has so foxed us all. I’ve yet to see the visual evidence, but we’ll bring it to you should it surface. Those of you who have no idea what I’m droning on about (no change there, then) can consult page 10 of the current issue of RC and my slightly daft riposte on page 15, should you feel that way inclined.

Prompted by last week’s newsletter’s musings about the right tune at the right time sending me into a state of ecstasy, reader Gareth Kitching has kindly written to suggest that it’s not just complete pieces of music that can turn you into a ray of light, but simply guitar riffs. He offers these examples: Leviathan’s Flames from our own Unleashed album (sold out now, sorry), Magical Mist’s Time Out To Fly, and Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth, which I actually prefer in a different version with another hypnotic guitar riff and which has filled floors for me on occasion (presumably the record sold zilch in the UK because my copy is the same demo pressing). I think for me it’s not so much riffs but musical atmosphere or perhaps the entire package that might send me higher, baby. It can also be location; for example, country music, if you are in a tower block in London, might not do very much for you. But hear it while zipping along a back road in Texas and it makes sense. Maybe it’s the right tune at the right time and the right place that matters. I’d love to read your thoughts about what sends you floating away like a music-powered balloon, and why you think it happens.

So K8 Bsh has aksed fns to turn off their fones and tblets B cs she don wan em 2 txt during her gigs, innit. Will this prevent her shows appearing on YouTube, as distorted as Dali’s clock, seconds after they are finished? I doubt it. Maybe Kate should hold her next gigs on a jet, or at a surgery, both places where people tend to observe the (probably pointless) orders to switch ’em off. I’ve got some sympathy with her, however: I’m intending to sing along with every note of Them Heavy People at full blast ’cos I like a bit of reggae, and the last thing I want is someone spoiling my enjoyment with their lousy mobile phone beeping.

Better go: Pink Floyd, Brit mod-soul, female metal, punk and hip-hop collectables and Sunn O))) are calling me – in a metaphorical sense, not on my moby. I’d best get on with putting these stories on the pages for you… many thanks for reading this newsletter, and Record Collector magazine.

Have a great week,
Best wishes
Ian McCann,

Editor 

Celebrating Record Collectors

BBC Radio 6 Music

Steve Lamacq starts the week of looking at collectors and collections, with recordings from the Independent Label Market which took place at London's Spitalfields. We'll hear from the stall holders, who are manned by the world's leading Independent Record labels, selling their wares; including 4AD, Bella Union, Domino and Heavenly. Steve will also speak to a second hand music shop to hear about their most prized collections.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0499n2s

Monday's Top Three including Smashing Pumpkins, Rolling Stones & Cannonball Adderley

SMASHING PUMPKINS Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (Rare UK limited edition 30-track triple vinyl LP with picture labels, featuring Tonight, Tonight, Tales Of A Scorched Earth, 1979 and Infinite Sadness. Housed in a numbered gatefold picture sleeve with fabulous artwork and complete with 12-page illustrated lyric booklet. This album is now incredibly hard to find in this format and captures the band in one of their best periods. The sleeve shows virtually no wear and the vinyl is immaculate HUTTLP30)

ROLLING STONES I-Con.tact (Deluxe limited edition UK Genesis Publications 208-page 18" x 12" spiral-bound hardback book, featuring the entire black & white photographic archive of celebrated Stones photographer Gered Mankowitz, taken between 1965 & 1968, reproduced as 12" x 16" contact sheets. This unique art volume is produced to the very highest standards, printed on 200gsm matt art paper with red acetate title page. This is one of 100 only editions [number 36], individually numbered, signed & bound with full leather boards and an exclusive signed/mounted print of Brian Jones, housed in a solander box with magnifying glass)
**See More Info for further details**

CANNONBALL ADDERLEY Somethin' Else (Very rare circa 1959 issue of the 1958 US 5-track deep groove mono LP on the 'West 63rd - NYC' address label, with 'INC' & 'R' lettering, raised edge, 'RVG' stampers & 'ear' markings in the run-outs,housed in a heavy duty pasted laminate sleeve with 'West 61st' address on rear. One of many Blue Note classics, this is a particular standout as it includes not only Cannonball's but some of Miles Davis' best work, who appears here along withHank Jones, Sam Jones & Art Blakey. Autumn Leaves & Love For Sale are among the most beautiful & contemporary renditions ever recorded! A simply must-own for the jazz fan, see 'more info' for further details... BLP1595)

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

Hello, how’s your July going? Records worth buying seem a bit thin on the ground this summer. But life could be a lot worse: at least I didn’t go to Glasto. I know I’m a moany old git, but the very idea of standing in a field with the sun beating down while Dolly Parton is playing the Benny Hill theme on a weeny saxophone to a rapturous reception gives me the creeps. Is this any better than what passes for music on Britain’s Got Talent? No doubt I’ve missed something here. I am sure Ms Parton was marvellous, and that Metallica’s triumph was well deserved, blah blah, but if I want to go to a festival, I’ll go to a harvest festival. Or even a Harvest festival, if such a thing exists, but not Glastonbury. I used to work at NME and from springtime onwards you were plagued by new best friends, because they thought you could get them tickets for Glastonbury. Believe me, if I’d had any, they could have had them. It’s just too big, too epic, too obvious, too ritualistic. Surely it’s like spending a weekend with a radio which is playing rubbish most of the time, yet you can’t turn it off.  

I was sorry to hear that Bobby Womack passed away last Friday. Womack was a touchstone to generations, and not just those who got into him in the early 70s, when he was in his prime. Before I was given licence to write down any old cobblers that happened to ping into my head, I used to work in engineering. At lunchtimes I’d wander the streets of Islington looking for vinyl; junk shops on Upper Street, and Exmouth Market before the poshos moved in; the record shop on Chapel Street where a friendly Rasta called Cornelius dispensed lovers rock and disdained pickpockets; Vintage Record Centre on Roman Way if I had my bike with me, which I often did; later on, Reckless near Screen On The Green. A pile of unplayed Blue Beat 45s, a few Northern singles, In Memory Of Don Drummond, and no doubt a fair amount of trash that my selective memory has chosen to ignore; all came into the office to brighten up an afternoon (old habits die hard). One lunchtime I bought a copy of Bobby Womack’s Communication and left it on the desk. A colleague made a beeline for it. “I didn’t know you liked this sort of music,” she said. “Are you a soul boy?” Yes, I said, a lie at that point, though I was freewheeling downhill in that direction with no brakes. “This is a great album,” she said. “I love his version of Close To You.” Well, there are better tracks on the album, although I didn’t know this at the time, having not taken this copy home yet. And I never would. “Can I have it?” my chum asked, batting lengthy eyelashes eagerly. “I really love it.” I told her I wanted it, but she persisted. “Oh, go on Ian. I haven’t heard it for years.” What the hell. It was only a quid, so I let her have it. A month or so later I found another, and was surprised to find her at my desk again: “Can I have that for my mate?” No eyelashes are long enough to get hold of two copies of that LP.

A few short years later, Bobby Womack was making one of his periodic comebacks. While the music press had barely noticed, his The Poet album was a runaway success on the indie Beverly Glen label in 1981 and copies were being snapped up in the UK as fast as they could be imported – this was before Motown belatedly picked it up here. I took my future wife to see him at the Hammersmith Odeon for the Poet II tour in 1984; she came up on the train from Devon to see it. The underrated Alltrinna Grayson was singing Patti Labelle’s duet parts. Stevie Wonder was in the audience and Womack called him up on stage to deliver an impromptu duet of Donny Hathaway’s Someday We’ll All Be Free. The band played a gentle vamp while Stevie was led to the mic to tumultuous cheers, and he started to speak. “When you are an artist it’s really wonderful…” purred Stevie, opening a monologue, apparently of no specific content. After maybe five minutes of this,  a bemused Bobby grabbed the mic and said “Hey Stevie, I thought this was my show,” and gestured for the band to start playing the song proper. Stevie opened his mouth to sing, then cracked up with laughter: “I don’t know the words!”

At the time I was making my overconfident break into music journalism and pretty much took it for granted when two years later I was interviewing Mr Womack for Melody Maker. He’d signed to MCA and for reasons I can barely imagine, was shooting a lousy promo video in a recreation ground about 500 yards from the squat I was living in at Leyton, East London. I had about 30 minutes with him while the crew was setting up. Womack was a decent interviewee, better than his inexperienced interrogator, but had a butterfly mind. More than once, a disbelieving female fan would realise that here was a soul legend in the grim little park she cut through every day, and the second she walked up to him and asked, “Are you Bobby Womack?”, the singer would say “Why, yes, baby,” and shift into full love man mode. He’d then stroll across the park with her, having genuinely forgotten what he was doing, while his exasperated PR and I were trying to keep his mind on the job rather than, er, on the job. I guess it goes with the territory. Anyway, goodbye Bobby Womack, you lit up lots of lives while living your own chaotic one. You will be missed.

We’re currently wrestling with the next issue. Three falls or a submission will bring you Kate Bush, Dutch prog, Cannonball Adderley, Joe Strummer on telly, The Vibrators, the great Chip Taylor, CSNY and Morrissey reviews and the chance to pick up an album which returns to the roots of this entire record collecting schmozzle. But like I say, the fight goes on. I’d better knuckle down to it. Thank you for reading this newsletter and the mag. Keep Your Soul Together, as someone once said…

Have a great week,

Best wishes
Ian McCann (Editor)

Monday's Top Three including David Bowie, Rolling Stones & John Lennon

DAVID BOWIE The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars (Rare 1972/73 Japanese 2nd issue 11-track vinyl LP including fold out Japanese/lyric insert, picture sleeve & complete with legendary red & white 'Glam Rock' obi-strip. This copy remains in beautiful near 'as new' MINT condition - a stunning copy!)

ROLLING STONES The Rolling Stones (Amazing 2014 'Edition 100' limited edition A0 841mm x 1189mm [33.1" by 46.8"] art print enlargement of a photograph of the band in rehearsal in Mexico City in 1995 by celebrated rock photographer Fernando Aceves. Printed onto 308gm fine art matt archival paper using archival ink, the white bordered image has the embossed Rock Archive logo and is individually hand titled & numbered just SEVEN out of one hundred in the bottom left & signed bythe photographer in the bottom right. This mint condition print has been stored flat and is available to you here at a saving of £900 on the current retail price!)

JOHN LENNON John Lennon 1940-80 (Rare 1981 set of Six BBC Transcription Service radio library vinyl LPs celebrating the life of John Lennon. The discs feature John and Yoko in the now legendary in-depth interview with Andy Peebles in New York in December 1980, just before his untimely death, in which John talks about his life and career, including a single sided LP of 'National Spot For The Gap' commercials. The interview is punctuated by many of his classic hits and the set comes complete with full cue sheets CN3756/S)

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

Want the full unedited version with news, reviews, prizes and gig info?  Contact: [email protected]

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Well, it’s that time of year again. Summer is almost on us, and it’s hotter in London than Rio. And talking of former West Ham United players, their greatest supporter (after Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris), our esteemed editor, is unfortunately out of action as we speak, taken crook just as the World Cup starts. Of course, conspiracy theorists will have their own view about that, but he really must be very poorly indeed to miss out on the arrival of the new issue at RC Towers today, not to mention his latest 116 LPs purchased from eBay.

We’ve poured blood, sweat and beers into issue 429 (not a formation you’ll see in Brazil, I’ll warrant). Well, wine, actually. RC Investigates rock star vintages on your behalf, concluding that limited-run wines always appreciate in value, as long as you keep them in the bottle. Not likely with the footy on, whether you’re a fan of the beautiful game or a football widow. Mind you, if you’re the better half of a record-collector, you’ll know that feeling. Which got us thinking about the ‘Jeanine Effect’ (after the infamous girlfriend/manager in This Is Spinal Tap). We wondered what effect a new wife/divorce has on rock stars, and whether their spouse’s demands lead to what doctors call ‘Rock Star Panic’ (most often evidenced by wild, staring eyes, cold sweats and loss of speech), resulting in immediate interest in reissues, the dusting off of long-forgotten out-takes for Deluxe Edition packages, and even, steady on, the reunion/‘final tour’. Does anyone have an inside track on this affliction? If so, send us your non-libellous anecdotes to [email protected].

Other balls in this new issue (out 19 June to non-subscribers) includes a Q&A with lead singer of Echo & The Bunnymen, Ian McCulloch, who, as far as we can tell, still hasn’t replied to the sadly-departed Rik Mayall, and it’s a bit bloody late now. Barsted! Among others who speak are Scotland’s favourite funk-rockers, Average White Band, who have not put a million quid into either the Yes Or No campaign for Scottish independence, though we’d be interested to know what other Scottish rockers think about all the Hue & Cry north of the border. Will the Bay City Rollers declare a Free State in Fife, are Capercaillie in favour of a referendum for an independent Kingdom Of The Isles and, if the isles break away and take the oil with them, will Scotland’s main source of revenue be continuous Simple Minds tours? All questions for Joey Barton.

Other Scottish themes in the new issue include that great soul-singing dart-player Jackie Wilson, and our cover feature on the legendary Track Records (by way of a tenuous link through Big Country, who were on the revived Track), which included among its roster another of this month’s interviewees, crazy-man Arthur Brown. Fire of another kind is provided by arguably Britain’s most influential axe-man, Hank Marvin, and as we approach rock-picnic season, there’s a spotlight on festival fixture and folk luminary, Ashley Hutchings. Add in our 40-yard, looping round-the-wall curveball of Musicals (we said he’s ill), and you’ve got at least one good reason not to watch every game for the next four weeks. Result!

Tim Jones

News Editor

Thursday's Top Three Including Depeche Mode, Quentin Tarantino, REM

DEPECHE MODE Touring The Angel: Live In Milan (2006 UK 3-disc 2DVD/CD set comprising of live performance footage from their 'Playing The Angel' tour which was one of the most successful, highly grossing and critically acclaimed tours of 2005/06 and featuring hit single and definitive classics and a host ofBonus Extras including a documentary directed by Anton Corbijn who also created the 5 stage screens, 'Playing The Angel' EPK and more plus BONUS CDfeaturing 8 liverecordings!. Presented in fold-out digipak sleeve with picture slipcase DMDVD5)

QUENTIN TARANTINO Pulp Fiction Posters (This is a lot of three official movie posters from 1994, depicting John Travolta, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis as their cast characters: The Hitman, The Wolf & The Boxer respectively. If ever there was a modern cult film, this is it and these posters are the perfect depiction of a movie that received worldwide critique and acclaim. Each measures 24" x 34" in size and is in nearly new condition with no sellotape, pinholes, glue or tears)

REM Single Action Green (Rare 1989 US limited edition box set comtaining the singles for Orange Crush, Pop Song 89, Get Up and Stand, each in their own picture sleeve & a huge fold out colour poster, all housed in a 7" picture box)

 

Monday's Top Three including Freddie Hubbard, The Doors & Tears For Fears

FREDDIE HUBBARD Goin' Up (Rare 1960 original US 6-track deep groove mono LP, on the 'West 63rd' address Blue Note label with 'RVG' stampers and 'ear' etchings in the run-out. Beautifully recorded by Van Gelder during the golden age of American jazz, this all-star date features Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Paul Chambers & Philly Joe Jones at the top of their game, heavy duty pasted laminate sleeve with 'West 61st' address on rear & period company catalogue inner. See 'more info'forcondition details... BLP4056)

THE DOORS Infinite (2012 US limited edition SIX audiophile Hybrid SA-CD box set, containing every Electra Doors album, remastered and remixed for surround sound and stereo by Doug Sax & Bruce Botnick. The surround sound originates from96K, 24-bit files that were mixed and mastered from the original one-inch, eight track, 15-ips analog master tapes by Bruce Botnick for Elektra's 2006 DVD Audio release 'Perception'. For the SACDs, those files were then up-sampled without filters to DSD using the Weiss Saracon format converter and authored by Gus Skinas at the Super Audio Center. To complete this lavish release, there is an 11½" square 24-page full colour booklet with extensive notes on each album, nineteen photographs and a 2,700-word essay by The Doors biographer Ben Fong-Torres, esteemed rock journalist and former Rolling Stone editor. Sitting nicely in an oversize 13" magnetically sealed box, each copy individually numbered. The box shows just a little stressing at the corners, probably caused during original transit, and all contents are immaculate. The ultimate Doors CD experience! CAPPDOORSSA)

TEARS FOR FEARS Songs From The Big Chair (Official RIAA Certified US Gold Award issued to commemorate American album sales in excess of 500,000 copies of the LP & cassette. This award was presented to Woolhall Recording Facility, the historic building tucked away in the Somerset countryside some ten miles south of Bath & converted into a recording studio by Tears For Fears back in the day. The band were frequent visitors to the nearby pub and gave this award to the landlady, who kept it ever since... until now. Nicely framed & measuring 17" x 21", it features a gold LP & cassette mounted above a miniature of the album artwork & custom engraved dedication plaque in matching gold with stunning RIAA 'seal' hologram logo. Very nice indeed!)

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

Here's this weeks excerpts from the R.C. Weekly Newsletter.  Sign up for the full unedited edition by contacting: [email protected]

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As the magazine hurtles towards press day like a cheese bagel down a greased Cresta Run, we are busy making last-minute adjustments and shouting at each other, with occasional fights breaking out. I have worked at many mags over the years and it’s always the same. I saw a sub-editor get nailgunned to a wall at Impractical Woodworker; at What Raptor?, a news reporter was covered in sardines and locked in a room with a half-starved fish eagle, and on Oi I’m Pregnant, Not Obese, an irritating secretary was made to do a taste test – of nappies. Bullying? Perish the thought. It’s part of the fun of magazine publishing. Here at RC, the ways we combat stress are more subtle. I might drag a sharpened fingernail across one of Ian Shirley’s tax-dodge albums – without telling him which one it was out of the 5,123 he owns. Tim Jones will play the same Foreigner album track 15 times in a row. And our admirable adman, Bill, will recite the entire lyrics of Sandinista over and over as a calming mantra until we all chuck fruit at him. Ah stress, we laugh in your tense, wrinkled face. All the way to the Priory!

Actually this issue is looking very tasty, although regrettably not as advertised. We’ve not been able to bring you the story about The Cure owing to an issue beyond our control, but it will appear in the near future. We’ve got a Fabulous (Music – gettit? Thought not) feature about Track Records; plus an Arthur Brown interview, and a lovely reminiscence about the ongoing career of a true Tyger.  We learn what musicals have done for us (though I still loathe them), hear from the self-effacing Ian McCulloch, and meet Hank Marvin and try not to think about rhyming slang. Plus we have a tribute to the mighty Jackie Wilson (some things are never forgotten)to celebrate what would have been his 80th birthday.

Away from the hard graft, we’ve been enjoying throwing highly valuable Track goodies around the office in a game of dares. I bought a record I’ve owned since 1979, just because of the sleeve; last time it cost £3, this time it was, uh, substantially more. At home at the weekend, I had a Bob James afternoon, a nostalgia fest for me because I remember being a teenager in my mate’s Vauxhall Viva while he was playing a cassette of this on the way to a pub in the Old Kent Road. At the door: “Yes, of course I’m 21, mate; I’m 23 as it goes.” On the way home at 2am in reflective mood, he’d play this because he was on the buses and so was my dad. Anyway, back then Bob James meant classy music with some thought in it, and to me, it still does.

Hope you have a good week. And remember to keep away from deadlines…

Best wishes,
Ian McCann

Editor

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

I know you think that my life is all about lying on a bed of vinyl and drinking warm fermented panda milk through a straw, but nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who owns a record shop will be fully aware of just how, er, unusual certain customers are. Stuck behind the counter, you can become a sitting duck for every dodgy obsessive in the area – and sometimes International Agents Of Dodgy Obsession fly in just to finger your stock and seek a different audience for their deep knowledge of Iraqi picture disc pressings of Sonia on the Saddamophone label. This is, of course, why a few – just a very few – record shop staff develop a case-hardened personality: they know how dangerous it can be to show the caring side of their nature. Well, it is like that in here. Except the obsessives in this instance are not the readers, who are to a man (and it is usually a man) far more polite and pleasant than I could ever be. No, the trouble comes from our staff, who are sometimes so bananas that it makes me wonder what it says about me that I work for Record Collector.

This week, I have been asked if badgers are edible, whether I think Nigel Farage is a Genesis man or into jazz, and if Harold Faltermeyer’s Axel F was a tribute to, or possibly an aggressive act towards, Axl Rose. The maddest question of all was whether I watched Later With Jools Holland. No, I did not, but Beverley Knight wasn’t on it, apparently. I am expecting more strange talk when Ian Shirley resurfaces from his climactic hand-sanding of the next edition of the Rare Record Price Guide, which is due to be sent to the printer in about last week’s time. Anyone know if badgers are edible? I would say yes, because virtually anything can be eaten, although that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be ill as a result. Blimey, now I am trying to answer a bonkers question. What does that make me?

Regular unfortunate victims, sorry, readers, of this newsletter intro will be aware that I was waiting for my De La Soul/Dilla album, which eventually arrived intact and sealed from America. I am now too nervous to open it, although I’ve heard a soundfile. I’m now waiting for a dub LP and wondering if I should have gone to Canada to collect it personally (yeah, sure). Meanwhile, in the motor, I’ve been playing Tee-Set’s Ma Belle Amie CD, where Nederbeat meets prog with beat-ballad cheese for leavening, courtesy of the remarkable Pseudonym label, and Colour My World: The Songs Of Tony Hatch from Ace, which is more highway friendly than you might expect. I’ve got The Vogues’ You’re The One on the UK King LP Meet The Vogues but I hadn’t really twigged it was a Hatch opus until now. Ah yes, driving up High Road Stamford Hill with Petula Clark blaring… I am so ghetto.

Well, that’s it from me for now. Hope you have a great week and thank you for reading this newsletter and Record Collector.

Ian McCann (Editor) 

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter. For the full unedited version with news, reviews, offers and deals contact [email protected]

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Being a modern kinda guy who cares about the animals providing they stay way over there in that field, and who frets about what we are leaving behind for our children’s children, which in my case is a teetering pile of polyvinyl chloride that will not break down in landfill, at the weekend I visited some homes with eco credentials. You know; solar panels, water butt showers, real insulation – anything to stop the utility companies bleeding us dry is a good thing, I reckon. And from my brief unscientific survey, I can tell you that people who fit green improvements to their homes are partial to music. There was evidence of musical activity in several of the homes: keyboards were spotted in two; a guitar; bongos in another. Bongo drums? Don’t go thinking these folk were crusties; they were respectable middle-class folk, as concerned about school catchment areas as the rest of us. (Which I am not – my beloved kids have been through school. They’d put up with me as a parent, so how bad could any school be?) But there was a further manifestation of musical life in some of these homes I was lucky enough to be admitted to. They too are partial to a pile of non-biodegradable musical plastic.

I am sure this letter has previously mulled over the topic of vinyl and the environment. And it has come to a few conclusions: is it better that I accumulate it, saving it filling the land, and avoid buying newly-manufactured vinyl (as if!); or would it be better that I gathered MP3s, played on modern devices made of rare, possibly toxic elements plundered from the planet at who knows what cost, and designed to be obsolete within months? Anyway, I am not concerned with that here. What I am concerned with is another deeply vital issue: how rude is it to march into a stranger’s home and pore over their albums?

Don’t tell me you haven’t been there: I know you’ve felt the agony. You’ve walked into someone’s home for one reason, but once you were in there, you saw records. Your host is talking to you: “Oh, and the sink is blocked, could you please take a look?”, or “Ooh, you’re a big strong fella, aren’t you? Why don’t you come over here and show me just how big?” but they might as well be speaking a duplicated Western European language, because you can’t concentrate; you can’t take your eyes off the record collection. They could be offering you unfettered passion, legs quivering, lips pouting, eyes infinite pools of desire, but all you are thinking is: “I wonder what’s on that shelf? 60s, 70s, 80s? Maybe there’s a Mighty Baby on Blue Horizon? I think I can see a Motown logo, wonder if there’s any reggae too? I must look. But how? When? Must concentrate on what’s being said… is that an Elvis 78?”

It’s a collector’s dilemma. You can come straight out and say: “Oi, shut up, I wanna look at the records,” or you can fake hoarseness, ask for a cup of tea and make a lightning swoop through the Ikea Expedit while the owner’s brewing up in the kitchen. Then that slow-to-rouse-itself thing called reason finally wakes up in your head. Bide your time, it purrs. Those records aren’t going anywhere. Follow social convention. Make love, slurp Gold Blend or fix the cistern; whatever it is you were meant to be doing. Then afterwards, casually ask if you could have a gander at the records, they look marvellous. If they say “yes”, get stuck in. If it’s a “no”, they either own some fabulous albums they are worried that you might nick, or they have sussed out that your wham bam thank you ma’am technique was not because you found them so exciting, it was because you wanted to get it over with so you could paw their collection, like, in about 30 seconds.

I’m an old hand at this. In my case, reason always wins in this situation. Once, in the dead of a rainy night, I saw a charity shop outside which some thoughtless soul had dumped boxes of vinyl, and I walked past it, figuring that theft is theft and if someone was going to do it, it wasn’t going to be me. I have a modicum of control. So at the weekend, I didn’t flick through my hosts’ vinyl, though I did spot some Supremes from afar. I remained polite and decent. Besides which, the records I want are in the hands of other collectors, some of whom I can name. The chances of my finding a 12” of Barry Brown’s Release The Chains on a random shelf are pretty remote. If I thought it would be there, reason could take a hike! Here are some shelves I probably couldn’t resist looking through…

A quick mention for a fascinating venture: The Record Deck is a roving vinyl shop on a canal boat. Find out more here and here.

The new Record Collector is in the shops about NOW: see below for a pic. Hope you like it. Thank you for reading this newsletter and RC. Have a great week.

Best wishes
Ian McCann
Editor

Thursday's Top Three Including Mariah Carey, Foals, Suede.

MARIAH CAREY Mariah's Own Pair Of Brown Leather Stage Shoes (Fantastic pair of brown leather designer shoes which were personally worn by Mariah Carey during her 'Charmbracelet' Tour in 2003. Manufactured by Sergio Rossi, these beautiful open-toe shoes have a 4.5" stilleto heel and secure around the ankle with a buckle. These were worn onstage on Tour in America and Japan by Mariah and do show signs of wear. It goes without saying that it is virtually impossible to obtain Mariah's ownitems!)
Please See Further Info For More Details**

FOALS Live At The Royal Albert Hall (Official 2013 UK Warner Bros. label advance promotional all region NTSC DVD-R, featuring a live performance by the English indie band, performing a selection of tracks from throughout their career includingSpanish Sahara, Inhaler, My Number and Late Night. Custom printed stickered disc housed in a custom 7½" x 5½" gatefold custom picture sleeve)

SUEDE Let Go (Rare 1999 Swedish-only 5-track CD single including Can't Get Enough, Since You Went Away, Situations and Read My Mind, unique glossy black & white picture sleeve EPC6685382)

Wednesday's Top Three Including Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Oasis

PAUL MCCARTNEY New - Mood Cube (Rare 2013 UK promotional 3" mood cube, issued to independent record stores promoting the release of the 'New' album, printed with a facsimile signature and the album title logo on one side. At the centre of thecube are battery powered fibre optics which, with the push of a button, can illuminate the cube to a solid colour or automatically cycle though the colours in a non stop loop, a really cool little item. This would make an ideal ornament for any festive period!)

RADIOHEAD The Daily Mail / Staircase (Official 2011 UK Ticker Tape Ltd/Warner label 2-track promotional only CD-R featuring the two previously unavailable songs recorded as part of the 'From The Basement' session, originally released asadownload only songs in WAV and MP3 formats and finally released on 'The King of Limbs – From the Basement'. Custom printed disc housed in a custom card wallet picture sleeve)

OASIS Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants (Scarce 2000 UK 10-track vinyl LP including Go Let It Out & Who Feels Love, custom stickered gatefold picture sleeve. This copy remains factory sealed from new & is therefore still mint & unplayed! RKIDLP002)

Tuesday's Top Three Including The Zombies, Harry Potter, The Beatles

THE ZOMBIES Odessey & Oracle (Incredibly rare original 1968 UK 12-track stereo LP on the smooth & plain CBS orange label, with A2/B2 matrices & beautiful front laminated psychedelic picture sleeve with gold stereo sticker on the back & die-cutcompany catalogue inner. Overlooked on first release & now regarded as one of the finest English pop/psych albums of the era, this is a staggeringly handsome archive copy & a one previous owner example) 
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J.K. ROWLING Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix (Extremely Rare 2003 Bloomsbury FIRST edition hardbook book with dust jacket. If that wasn't rare enough, this copy has been signed by JK Rowling in blue pen on the title page. This was obtained at the midnight launch of the book on the 20th June 2003 in Edingburgh, Scotland. This is in a fantastic 'near as new' as you will find with clean tight binding and appears unread, with only minimal wear to the dust cover. A superb collectable, your chance to own part of the phenomenom that is Mr Potter!!)

THE BEATLES The Beatles (1968 Apple 30-track stereo double vinyl LP with 'Sold in UK' label text, fully laminated, internal flipback, top opening, individually numbered, embossed gatefold sleeve with black inners, complete with large fold outlyric poster and four glossy 11" x 8" photos PCS7067-8) 
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Monday's Top Three including Family, Jimi Hendrix & Herbie Hancock

FAMILY Music In A Doll's House (1968 US first issue 15-track stereo LP, pasted picture sleeve. This copy has amazingly remained factory sealed from new, uncut, and is therefore still mint & unplayed over forty five years later RS6312)

JIMI HENDRIX Band Of Gypsys 2 (Rare 1986 US-only 7-track vinyl LP containing live performances from Fillmore East and Atlanta Pop Festival among others, gold promo stamped picture sleeve. This LP is supposed to contain six tracks, however side two plays completely different tracks to the ones listed on the label and sleeve, replacing Voodoo Chile, Stone Free & Ezy Rider with Ezy Rider, Hey Joe, Hey Baby & Lover Man! This copy also retains the original opened factory shrink)
See 'More Info' for further details on this stunning rarity...

HERBIE HANCOCK Head Hunters (All time classic 1973 first US issue 4-track LP, including Chameleon, an updated Watermelon Man & the jazz-dancer's favourite Sly, what a band! This remarkable timewarp copy remains factory sealed over 40 years on, with no cuts or markings, & still in the original song hype stickered shrink. The cherry on the cake is that the original US retail price sticker is still preserved. Worthy of framing & a true investment piece in years to come, will there ever be an album to break the mould like this again? KC32731)

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

Excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter brought to you by 991.com

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I know it’s not my place to be writing about TV – I am supposed to be a top rock critic. You know what I mean by that: “Hey, band, you are new and therefore fantastic. Hey, band, you are two months out of fashion, never darken my door again. Hey, band, welcome back, where have you been?, five stars out of five, always loved you.” But there ain’t half a lot of pony on telly at the moment. At my age, the TV is a constant companion. All my fantasies are played out through it. Breakfast telly presenters are now the most attractive women I’ve seen in years – even the men. You spend Sunday nights, when you are not cursing eBay on a tatty laptop, staring blankly at Countryfile and longing for the return of Jack Hargreaves. As a record collector, you are disappointed by Vertigo Roadtrip when you discover it’s about a phobia, not 70s prog. And you grimace at Britain’s Probably Got Talent But We Prefer Sob Stories And Mocking The Afflicted. 

Yes, I watched Britain’s Got Talent, and Britain’s Got More Talent. The horror, the horror. But I have an excuse. My friend texted me and told me she was on one or the other. If I’d known which, I might have saved some of my Saturday night. But she didn’t know, so I saw all of BGT, then switched to its disturbed twin when my friend wasn’t on it. She wasn’t on that either, and now languishes on the cutting-room floor. How crummy is the show? How disturbing that X million people watch it every week and hang on every word Ant & Dec say. Why? They seem hilarious, but have they ever said anything funny? I think they are like the nation’s kids; every parent thinks their children are hilarious and clever, even when the rest of the world knows better. And that’s how it is for Ant & Dec: they’re kinda cute to their fans. But to the rest of the country… shrug. As for the talent, when there was someone on the show who could sing, they performed something awful. Sometimes they wrote their own awfulness, but mostly it was awfulness copied from someone else. Possibly Mariah Carey.  

But at least I managed to sit through Britain’s Probably Got Talent. The show I could not have sat through, in fact could not even bear to see its trailers, was When Corden Met Barlow. I am not a violent person, thanks to the monthly chemical cosh injections. But I found myself fighting an urge to kill every time the BBC plugged the programme. Surely something could have averted this catastrophe of misplaced mutual admiration? Couldn’t a knife have been slipped into each celeb’s hand at the moment they slapped each other on the back? No? Well, whoever invented the TV remote control, you saved me from running amok. And just as I don’t get why Ant & Dec are so beloved, I don’t get why Gary Barlow is a national treasure. Inspector Barlow, yes. But Gary?

I did do some musical stuff this week. I am still suffering the long dark night of the De La Soul – ie, my stupidly expensive album hasn’t turned up yet. But I went to see them in London, earplugs inserted, and they were good, although my right ear is still giving me gyp a week later, which is why I don’t go to gigs. (I know what you are thinking: he slags off Gary Barlow, yet likes De La Soul… what gives?) The worrying thing was, someone I didn’t know came over and told me how great it was that I was dancing at the gig because “I looked so bored”. Bored? That was my ecstatic face! But the person meant well: she was glad I was enjoying myself and I was glad she was enjoying herself. Everybody wins.

At the weekend I bought a few other records that I am also waiting for stop yeah wait a minute Mr Postman to brighten my day with. While buying vinyl online often means you get stuff you never find elsewhere, it also means you have to wait. I am not patient. I would much rather see the record somewhere, buy it and take it home to my lair, fondling it pathetically on the way. Hence it is with some envy that I must inform you that our furry friends at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have another record stall at their Spring Fair on Saturday 17 May from 10am till 12 noon at Ruddington Village Hall in Nottingham. I am jealous because they promise lots of tasty vinyl goodies and I won’t be there to buy or fondle. If you go, and spot anything I am looking for, let me know… it’s all in a good cause.  

It’s been a bit of a rant, this one, hasn’t it? Apologies. Thank you for reading it, and Record Collector. And remember to stay away from the telly. Have a great week,

Ian McCann
Editor

http://recordcollectormag.com

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter

991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter. Sign up the full edition here and don't forget to mention 991.

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You don’t need me to tell you that vinyl is fashionable. You’ve only got to look at the ads that still feature it; plus when you look at your own record racks, your albums are all wearing fancy designer labels and spend their nights at exclusive London nightclubs where they rub shoulders with Prince Harry and get off with premiership footballers. There’s nothing as cool and youthful as a swanky sheet of vinyl, winking its eye at you and saying, come on baby, fancy laying your stylus in my groove? No wonder the youths all wanna get their hungry hands all over it, even though they don’t own a record player. Yet.

So, the kids like vinyl albums: but which ones? We know they’re mad for Arctic Monkeys and Muse on vinyl; Radiohead always sell well on plastic. But what of the oldies? This week we got a mail from our chum Mick in Hartlepool, who runs a vintage shop called Trash In The Attic, which stocks plenty of used vinyl. He says the kids are looking for albums by Bowie. We are not sure if this is prompted by a perception that Bowie represents classic music you need on LP, or whether they believe Bowie is fashionable again and therefore they are too if they own his records. But he’s the man, it appears.

Does this mean that students now plaster their walls with posters of Ziggy instead of the inevitable tired Bob Marley spliffing-up poster? I tried to conduct research into this, using a pair of binoculars, but was arrested beneath the yew tree I fell out of. “But officer, I’m not a peeping tom. I’m conducting a survey into the décor in halls of residence.” “You’re nicked, sunshine. You must think we were born yesterday. Heveryone knows that students can no longer hafford to live in ’alls of residence. And anyway, this is a nurses’ dormitory…” Sorry, I said I’d drop the dodgy fantasies, didn’t I? And in reality, that behaviour is a nightmare.  

I know that many of you were concerned about my needing the 100-copy De La Soul album, because I heard you all sniggering. You can rest at ease because one has been reserved for me by a kind seller. It only cost me an arm and a leg… and my wallet. But that’s my problem, isn’t it? I don’t like buying into these kinds of panics and I wouldn’t recommend that you do so. But we record collectors are all foolish human beings. The exception is Nipper from HMV: he’s a dog.

Very sorry to hear about the death of Bob Hoskins as I write this. I think we’ve linked to this theme before, but it’s worth hearing again.

We’re working on the next issue: Melvins, a Great British guitarist few people have heard of, Blossom Toes… it’s gonna be a goodie, but it’s some way off yet.

Hope all is well and you are lucky enough to be able to enjoy your bank holiday next Monday. Have a great week; thank you for reading this newsletter and our humble lil’ mag.

Best wishes

Ian McCann, Editor 

Saturday's Top Three Including Bad Finger, The Who, Supertramp

BADFINGER Straight Up (Rare 1971 original US 12-track stereo LP produced by Todd Rundgren & George Harrison, pasted picture sleeve. This copy has remained factory sealed from new, free from cuts or holes, in the original shrinkwrap with customsonghype/title sticker & is therefore still mint & unplayed, just as you would have purchased it in all those years ago ST-3387) 
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THE WHO Sell Out (1967 US 13-track stereo vinyl LP on the Decca rainbow label, their third album, which graced us with the staple Who classic 'I Can See For Miles', pasted picture sleeve. This miracle copy has remained factory sealed from newin the original custom song hype stickered shrink & is therefore still mint & unplayed over forty five years on! DL74950) 
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SUPERTRAMP / VARIOUS The London School Of Economics Q4 1970 (Rare 1970 original UK 36" by 25" psychedelic gig poster featuring amazing artwork by an unknown artist, cleverly coloured with an expressive three colour print, blending red, blue & yellow toproduce all colours of the rainbow. This rare poster advertises the forthcoming attractions at the College for the fourth quarter of the year, including If and Mighty Baby on 3rd October, Quintessence, Spear & The Westbrook Quintet on 17th October, East Of Eden on 31st October, Principal Edwards, Everyone & Supertramp on November 28th & The Radio Geronimo Benefit on December 12th. Each of these wondrous looking gigs started at 8PM with Andy Dunkley as resident DJ & the Exploding Spectrum light show. Possibly one of the earliest Supertramp poster references that you're likely to find, as well as a snapshot of the slow and steady movement from the Sixties to the Seventies)
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Friday's Top Three Including P.I.L. , Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd

P.I.L. Death Disco (2014 UK Record Store Day exclusive limited edition 2-track 12" vinyl single featuring 1979 Monitor Mix 9:24 and 1989 Warrior [Extended Dorrell Mix] 9:39. Housed in a NUMBER STICKERED picture sleeve - still sealed)
***Limited to 2400 copies only***

 

PAUL MCCARTNEY Save Us - Radio Single (Official 2014 US Hear Music/Concord label 1-track advance CD-R issued exclusively to reviewers and radio stations. The third single and opening track for Macca's 'New' album. Custom printed disc with a picture sleeve and back insert, printed with the catalogue number PRO-HM-0597)

PINK FLOYD The Dark Side Of The Moon (1979 Mexican second issue 10-track LP on the green Capitol label with 'EMI Capitol de Mexico' perimeter text, hardcover gatefold picture sleeve with Capitol & EMI logo on the front. The sleeve is strictlygraded VG/VG+, with some minor shelfwear mostly on the edges. The vinyl remains a beautiful EX-/EX with just a few light surface marks, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality SLEM-451)