Not on vinyl?

Earlier, I ruminated about whether or not EMI (anywhere in the world) was going to make a vinyl version of the ’06 release by The Beatles, “Love”. If they do not, then it will be the first high profile Bealtes release to not be released in a vinyl edition. Somehow, I think they have to. The last studio album by The Rolling Stones “A Bigger Bang” was an unwieldy 4LPset, the ’06 Who release “Wire & Glass” was an LP package, too. Pete Townshend’s “Scoop 3” was a mail-order only multiple LP set – but it exists!

Going from vinyl to CD’s and back to vinyl – did some stuff get lost in the shuffle? I’ve never seen a vinyl version of the ’94 Traffic re-union album, “Far From Home”; I’ve never seen or heard of a vinyl version of Townshend’s “Psychoderelict”. 1994 seems to be the cut-off point – when things absolutely didn’t get an ‘automatic’ vinyl release. I remember working in a record store in the mid-90’s, and I always got requests for LP versions of popular (and not so popular) artists’ new works. I remember being surprised that a special order for Bob Dylan “Biograph” (1985) as a vinyl package actually arrived!

Another iffy title in the vinyl universe – “Tales of the Brothers Gibb” – the venerable Bee Gees’ boxed set. I am told it exists, but…I do not have one, never seen one…

Seems like the ‘new vinyl’ phenomena is tapering off for me – last one I can remember buying was 1994’s “Chasm” by Ryuichi Sakamoto or “It’s all Around You” (2004) by Tortoise (their recent boxed set didn’t come on vinyl, did it?).

The Beatles - Love

The Beatles – Love (Capitol US CD)

I was prepared for the ’06 release by Capitol Records of the CD “Love” by The Beatles – a band inactive since 1970. I knew that EMI UK was thinking about tinkering with the sound of the original Beatles’ records – and, in fact, they had already done so – with the “Yellow Submarine Songtrack” title from ’99.

It was always my assumption that the “Yellow Submarine Songtrack” was the first high profile “messing with” the original recordings of The Beatles, as it was a title that not many people would argue with. I still think that they would have a hard time “Remixing” the entirety of “Sgt. Peppers” and not rile many long-time Beatles fans.

Well, “Love” is a whole new animal – a soundtrack for a Las Vegas stage show. Given the brief that they only use audio material found on original Beatles’ recordings – Sir George Martin (and his son) fashioned together an amusing, listenable collection (and mash-ups) of mostly easy-to-identify Beatles’ tracks. Many of the combinations of tracks (to backing tracks) I would call ingenious. Geek trainspotting alert! Can you name where all the components come from?

Nuts & bolts: It is the first Beatles release (since the digital era) to not be released as vinyl! It has two separate packages readily available in the US & Europe, a regular CD and a version with a bonus DVD-A 5.1 mix. But no vinyl. I did not check to see if the same configurations are available in Japan (what I would consider to be a prime Beatles’ market). “Let It Be…Naked”, “Yellow Submarine Songtrack” – both available as vinyl (YS was an ugly yellow color, and from England / Europe; LIB-N – was that a Japan-only LP set?)

So, we all wait for EMI to internationally delete all Beatles titles on CD – ostensibly to re-issue them (copy-guarded and at a higher price point, no doubt). But will they remix everything – or simply make expensive un-copyable CD’s that are a tad louder, perhaps with slightly nicer packaging?

EMI can milk us with DVD issues of “Let It Be”, “Help!” and even “Magical Mystery Tour”, I suspect – so that’s 3 more Beatles’ albums they would essentially have the ‘license’ to remix (a second time, in the case of LIB!). I bet they could get us all to pay for stereo mixes of the first four albums, eh? So that only really leave the EMI catalog ‘holy grail’: “Rubber Soul”, “Revolver”, “Sgt. Peppers” and the double white album – all of which are records that I think people would feel strongly about being remixed, re-edited. Will they do it?

But – for goodness’ sake! Let Toshiba Japan be the people who get to make kami sleeves (little paper albums covers) of the next batch of Beatles’ CD re-issues! They’ll do it right! And are they really not going to do a vinyl version of “Love”?

Music Videos

As some of you may know, I spent the better part of the 80's playing with music on videotape. I am presently examining the collection, and dubbing down (up?) the small portion of it that I am interested in preserving / conserving. I started this project in the fall of '05, and it is in the status of ongoing concern.

MV-09 February 26, 2007

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & THE MAGIC BAND – Ice Cream For Crow (‘82)
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART – David Letterman interview, ‘82
THE SLITS – Spend Spend (’79)
ROCKPILE – Teacher Teacher (’80?) Nick Lowe
DAVE EDMUNDS – Almost Saturday Night (’81)
LOVE & MONEY – Candybar Express (’86)
GRACE JONES – Honda TV Commercial #1 (’85?)
THE BEAT – Too Nice To Talk To (’80)
GRACE JONES – Honda TV Commercial #2 (’85?)
RICK JAMES – Give It To Me Baby (’81)
THE BUGGLES – I Am A Camera (’81)
ART OF NOISE – Moments In Love (’83)
SHRINK – Valid Or Void (’79)
IT BITES – Calling All The Heroes (’86) Francis Dunnery
JIM BLASHFIELD – Suspicious Circumstances (’85?)
MASAMI TSUCHIYA – Tokyo Ballet (’85) Ipppu-Do
THINKMAN – The Formula (’86) Rupert Hine
THINKMAN – Best Adventures (’86) Rupert Hine
VIRGINE ICARD – Kalas (’84?) Roland Bocquet
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO / THOMAS DOLBY – Field Work (’85)

Then, excited, I made:

MV-10 February 26, 2007

PHILIP GLASS – Saturday Night Live, 3/22/86, 2 songs
LAURIE ANDERSON – Saturday Night Live, ’86?, 2 songs (stereo)
KATE BUSH – Saturday Night Live, ’78? (Them Heavy People; The Man With The Child In His Eyes) mono

TOTP reel - nearly all are 'lipsynchs' ( = L/S )

JAPAN – Quiet Life (9/81)
HEAVEN 17 – Play To Win (9/81)
XTC – Senses Working Overtime (2/82)
MIKE BERRY – The Sunshine Of Your Smile (’80)
GRACE JONES – Private Life (’80)
KIM WILDE – Kids In America (’81)
THE PASSIONS – (I’m In Love With A) German Film Star (’81)
MADNESS – Return of the Las Palmas 7 (’81) instrumental
FREEEZ – Southern Freeez (’81)
JOHN FOXX – Europe After The Rain (9/81)
SQUEEZE – Pulling Muscles From A Shell (5/80)
ROXY MUSIC – Over You (5/80)
THE BEAT – Mirror In The Bathroom (5/80)
PETER GABRIEL – No Self Control (5/80)
TEARS FOR FEARS – Mad World (11/82)
BLANCMANGE – Living On The Ceiling (11/82)
MADNESS – Night Boat To Cairo (4/80)
BARBARA DICKSON – January February (4/80)
DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS – Geno (4/80)
THE SELECTER – Missing Words (4/80)
B.A. ROBERTSON – Kool In The Kaftan (4/80)

- Ron

Yard list 2-25-07

Trying not to spend too much money on records before our trip to Japan this coming summer!

BEE GEES – IDEA, POLYDOR DE LP
German 60’s Polydor original – the 3^rd UK Bee Gees album, with “I Started A Joke” – and one track different from the US version (“Such A Shame” replaces “I’ve Just Gotta Get A Message To You”)

FULLER, GIL / JAMES MOODY – NIGHT FLIGHT, PACIFIC JAZZ US LP
Looks to be a late 60’s jazz/blues LP – with “Our Man Flint”, “Sweets For My Sweet” etc.

HADJIDAKIS, MANOS / V.A. – DANCING ON SUNDAY, U.A. GREECE 10”
Looks to be the follow-up to the “Never On Sunday” O.S.T. album of ’61

PANTER, GARY – PRAY FOR SMURPH, OVERHEAT JPN LP
’83 Japanese-pressed LP that features the members of the Residents, and Gary Panter artwork!

POPP, ANDRE – PASSEPORT POUR PICCOLO, SAXO ET COMPAGNIE, PHILIPS FR 10”
Fold-out sleeve from the French easy listening maestro who composed “Love Is Blue”

VAN TIEGHEM, DAVID – THESE THINGS HAPPEN, WARNER US 12” W/PS ‘84
Been seeing his videos lately, so synchronicity found me this 12” single – NYC percussionist

V.A. – MCA: COLLECTOR'S SERIES #11, MCA US LP
Oldies, mostly in stereo – incl. “See You Later Alligator” (Bill Haley & The Comets), “Boss” (The
Rumblers) etc.

V.A. – MCA: COLLECTOR'S SERIES #13, MCA US LP
Oldies, mostly in stereo – incl. “Rock me” (Steppenwolf), “Dedicated To The One I Love” (Mamas & Papas) etc.

V.A. – MCA: COLLECTOR'S SERIES #20, MCA US LP
Oldies, mostly in stereo – incl. “Incense and Peppermints” (Strawberry Alarm Clock, “Hang On Sloopy” (Ramsay Lewis Trio) etc.

WILLIAMS, LES / ORCH. – COLLECTED WORKS OF DONOVAN, IMPERIAL US LP
Believe it or not, this is the third easy listening LP of the songs of Donovan that I’ve found!

- Ron

Playlist #23

Playlist #23 – February 22, 2007

1. CROSS & ROSS – Peace In The End
2. MAINHORSE – More Tea, Vicar?
3. DAVID BOWIE – Black Country Rock
4. ALVIN LEE / TEN YEARS LATER – Baby Don’t You Cry Anymore
5. ALAN PRICE – I Know When I’ve Had Enough
6. HOME – Schooldays
7. SEVENTH WAVE – Return To Foreverland
8. EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – Eviction
9. MICHAEL CHAPMAN – An Old Man Remembers
10. ROY HARPER – Watford Gap
11. DALEK I – The World (Single version)
12. THE LONG HELLO – Brain Seizure
13. MICK KARN – Trust Me
14. JIMMY HIBBERT – Mr. Wonderful
15. MIKE HARRISON – Here Comes The Queen
16. ROBERT CALVERT – Work Song
17. FRAZIER CHORUS – Sloppy Heart (4AD version)
18. SHRIEKBACK – Nerve
19. FUN BOY THREE – Funrama 2
20. HUMAN LEAGUE – Zero As A Limit

Adrift in my own record collection – trying to play cuts from albums that I do not usually play.

Dalek I Love You

So, thinking about Dalek I Love You this morning. Last weekend, I found two more singles by this Liverpool band - and it got me to thinking about their discography. I never knew that they had singles on Vertigo, before Back Door, I never knew that Phonogram England made a CD of their debut album (with those singles added to it).

Of course - being from Liverpool - the Daleks are tied up with Orchestral Manoeuvres and Teardrop Explodes. I wonder if DILY's Andy Gill was in the band when I saw TDE at the Whisky A-go-go in Hollywood, once upon a time? There's a page up on the internet that pretty much gives a lot of DILY details...I was surprised to find that I still had the EP by a band called "Godot", a 10" record. I do not think I knew it was DILY members - presumably I kept it for 25+ years because of a very tenuous connection to OMD?

The pictured DILY sleeve was the first record by them I ever got - and it is probably my favorite track. I will definitely be playing their two LP's this week sometime. Nope, I do not think I have any videos by them.

- Ron

Music Videos

I watched both of these tonight...

* mono

MV-07 February, 2007

SANDII & THE SUNSETZ – Alive / Heat Scale

THE PLASTICS – Top Secret Man ('97 version)

BOURGEOIS TAGG – I Don’t Mind At All

PINK FLOYD – Learning To Fly

YES – Love Will Find A Way

JOE JACKSON – Real Men

ROGER WATERS – The Pros & Cons Of Hitch-Hiking

MI-SEX – Castaway *

MONTE VIDEO – Shoop Shoop Diddy Wop Cumma Cumma Wang Dang *

LAID BACK – White Horse

M + M – Black Stations White Stations

JOE JACKSON – Breaking Us In Two

PHILIP GLASS – The Photographer (Act III)

TIM FINN – Staring At The Embers

TRACEY ULLMAN – Breakaway *

DAVID VAN TIEGHEM – These Things Happen

THE MUPPETS – I’m Gonna Always Love You

DAVE EDMUNDS – Information

THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS – Sister Europe *

THE COASTERS – Saturday Night Fish Fry *

DALI’S CAR – The Judgement Is The Mirror

JAPAN – Life In Tokyo

PROPAGANDA – P-Machinery

= = =

MV-08 February, 2007

* mono

THE FOLKSMEN (SNL, 1984) Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer *

LEN CELLA – Moron Movies (from "The Johnny Carson Show") *

THE FIRM – Star Trekkin’

XTC – All You Pretty Girls ( + interviews)

DAVID BOWIE – 1987 TV Commercial

ROGER DALTREY – Free Me *; Walking In My Sleep *; After The Fire; Let Me Down Easy; Quicksilver Lightning

CAPTAIN SENSIBLE – Glad It’s All Over

MENTAL AS ANYTHING – Live It Up

NEIL (Nigel Planer) – Hole In My Shoe (TOTP) *

DAVID VAN TIEGHEM – Search

PETE SHELLEY – Homosapien *

CLASSIX NOUVEAU – Guilty

EDDY GRANT – Electric Avenue

FINGERPRINTZ – Shadows *

WALLY BADAROU – Chief Inspector

TALK TALK – Life’s What You Make It

IPPPU-DO – Cosmic Cycle (incl. Time Of The Season and Magic Box)

- Ron

Yard List 2-19-07

Yard List 2-19-07

CD’s:

JOHN, ELTON – CARIBOU, ROCKET US CD re; “The Bitch Is Back”
MONTY PYTHON – ANOTHER MONTY PYTHON RECORD, VIRGIN US CD re
The “Spam” album, with a few extra tracks
MOVE, THE – SHAZAM, REPERTOIRE DE CD with the famous rare Live EP
NYMAN, MICHAEL – CLAIM, THE (O.S.T.), VIRGIN US CD
SLADE – PLAY IT LOUD, POLYDOR DE CD ’70 debut album as “Slade” – previous album was as “Ambrose Slade”

Singles:

CHICAGO – FREE, COLUMBIA US 7” promo
DALEK I – THE WORLD, VERTIGO UK 7” W/PS ’79
DALEK I LOVE YOU – HORRORSCOPE, KOROVA UK 7” W/PS ’83
FIFTH DIMENSION – AQUARIUS – LET THE SUN SHINE IN, SOUL CITY US 7” W/PS
MILES, BUDDY – THEM CHANGES, MERCURY US 7” re-issue
SIMON & GARFUNKEL – THE BOXER, COLUMBIA US 7” W/PS b/w “Baby Driver”
SLADE – MY FRIEND STAN, POLYDOR UK 7” b/w “My Town” ’73
WATERS, ROGER – SUNSET STRIP, COLUMBIA US 7” W/PS b/w “Money” ’87
WINWOOD, STEVE – STILL IN THE GAME, ISLAND UK 7”

LP’s:

CAGLE, BUDDY – THROUGH A CRACK IN A BOXCAR DOOR, IMPERIAL US LP C&W
JENNINGS, WAYLON – LONESOME, ON'RY & MEAN, RCA US LP C&W ’73
KNIGHT SINGERS, PETER – VOICES IN THE NIGHT, DERAM US LP EZ hits
MANN SINGERS, JOHNNY – AT OUR BEST, SUNSET US LP EZ hits
NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS – BIG HITS FROM 'CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG', COLUMBIA US LP with Arthur Treacher
PIERCE, WEBB – ROAD SHOW, DECCA US LP with “Koko” The Country Clown, C&W
THOMPSON, HANK – ON TAP, IN THE CAN, OR IN THE BOTTLE, DOT US LP C&W

- Ron

Michael O'Donoghue

This is the book I am currently reading. I used to read The National Lampoon in the early 70's, and a friend sent me the "Mr. Mike Mondo Video" recently.

What do you think?

The Nice - Five Bridges

The Nice – Five Bridges (Charisma UK, 1970)

I recently got a CD of The Nice “Five Bridges” – my first CD by The Nice. I guess I’d never really noticed that Side One is about the bridges that lead in and out of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. It was also nice to see some British jazz guys present: Kenny Wheeler, Chris Pyne etc. (Frankly, I wish there was more ‘jazz’ on this LP!) Listening anew to this work, I notice that Lee Jackson’s vocals sound a tad sloppy; Joseph Eger’s orchestral arrangements are just fine, but it doesn’t seem to meld together entirely. Perhaps I’ll edit down a version doing away with the overture or something. On Side Two, I always did like “One Of Those People” – a nice, snide pop song stuck at the end of the LP.

In the early 1970’s – it was fairly easy to find LP’s by The Nice in bargain bins – “Five Bridges” must’ve been deleted (cut-out) within a year of it’s US release – it was re-issued once Keith Emerson found his stride in Emerson, Lake & Palmer (for another label).

I took me a few years to hear the final Nice LP “Elegy” – but the Charisma (US) label “Autumn To Spring” LP was in every 99 cent bin; 35+ years hence, we can see that it’s a neat collection of proto-prog singles made in the late 1960’s – the British copy of this LP informs us that it’s autumn ’67 to spring ’68…one could guess that by the sound quality, performance etc.

There was a little bit more interest in The Nice after Keith Emerson teamed up with Atomic Rooster’s drummer and King Crimson’s bassist / vocalist. I wonder if it made Tony Stratton-Smith (Mr. Charisma) upset that once Emerson left the Charisma stable he got so famous / recognized etc.?

The CD of “Five Bridges” that was issued in 1990 has approximately ½ of “Autumn To Spring” as bonus tracks – you have to find the ’90 issue “Elegy” CD to get the rest of those tracks on CD. I feel sorry for people who scrambled to get the original (Japanese) issues of “Five Bridges” and “Elegy” that didn’t have bonus tracks.

In 2007, I have bought re-issued CD’s of things that I originally bought in the 80’s and 90’s – but I think the 1990 UK EMI / Virgin / Charisma CD of “Five Bridges” with it’s bonus tracks and decent mastering will suffice for me. Of course, I am keeping my original UK Charisma LP.

Apart from Emerson’s obvious destination – bassist / vocalist Lee Jackson went on to form Jackson Heights, recording LP’s for both the Charisma (“King Progress”) and Vertigo labels. Drummer Brian “Blinky” Davison had a band after The Nice who managed a sole LP for Charisma, “Brian Davison’s Every Which Way”. After a few years Davison and Jackson got together with Swiss keyboard wizard Patrick Moraz to for Refugee, recording a self-titled LP for Charisma. As far as I know, Refugee was the end of the line for Davison and Jackson in the music business – though I suppose it is possible that they may have re-formed some aspect of their previous glory for a crowd of fans in the UK (or Japan).

NME C-81

NME / ROUGH TRADE – C-81 (COPY 001) 1981

“This is the first release (catalogue number Copy 001) of ROUGH TRADE TAPES, the new Rough Trade tape cassette catalogue. The special care with which these cassettes are manufactured is your guarantee of optimum sound quality and of musical reproduction close to the master tape. All our cassette mastering and volume productions was handled by ALAN of TAPE TO TAPE DUPLICATING, phone No. 01-388-5392”

SCRITTI POLITTI – The Sweetest Girl

THE BEAT – Twist and Crawl Dub

PERE UBU – Misery Goats

WAH! HEAT – 7,000 Names Of Wah!

ORANGE JUICE – Blue Boy

CABARET VOLTAIRE – Raising The Count

D.A.F. – Kebab Traume (Live)

FURIOUS PIG – Bare Pork

PANTHER BURNS – Bourgeois Blues **

THE BUZZCOCKS – I Look Alone

ESSENTIAL LOGIC – Fanfare In The Garden

ROBERT WYATT – Born Again Cretin

THE RAINCOATS – Shouting Out Loud

JOSEF K – Endless Soul

BLUE ORCHIDS – Low Profile

THE VIRGIN PRUNES – Red Nettle

AZTEC CAMERA – We Could Send Letters

RED CRAYOLA – Milkmaid

TELEVISION PERSONALITIES – Magnificent Dreams **

THE MASSED CARNABY STREET JOHN COOPER CLARKES – The Day My Pad Went Mad

JAMES BLOOD ULMER – Jazz Is The Teacher, Funk Is The preacher

IAN DURY – Close To Home

GIST – Greener Grass

SUBWAY SECT – Parallel Lines

“This cassette began as a mail order only offer through the NME. Two tracks (marked **) are new, due to contractual obligations. Many thanks to the NME for their efforts”

A 'dig' at Mott The Hoople?

Are these lyrics a 'dig' at Mott The Hoople?

The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys (Winwood/Capaldi)

If you see something that looks like a star
And it's shooting up out of the ground
And your head is spinning from a loud guitar
And you just can't escape from the sound
Don't worry too much, it'll happen to you
We were children once, playing with toys
And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound of
The low spark of high-heeled boys

The percentage you're paying is too high priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams
But today you just read that the man was shot dead
By a gun that didn't make any noise
But it wasn't the bullet that laid him to rest was
The low spark of high-heeled boys

If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish
Would you ask for something like another chance?
Or something similar as this? Don't worry too much
It'll happen to you as sure as your sorrows are joys
And the thing that disturbs you is only the sound of
The low spark of high-heeled boys

If I gave you everything that I owned and asked for nothing in return
Would you do the same for me as I would for you?
Or take me for a ride, and strip me of everything including my pride
But spirit is something that no one destroys
And the sound that I'm hearing is only the sound
The low spark of high-heeled boys
------------------------------------------------------------------------
F.S. Music Ltd (PRS) & Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin by
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI)

Island Records - V.A.

ISLAND ARTISTS – Feb. 11, 2007 various artist MD

1. NIRVANA (U.K.) – The Touchables (from the O.S.T. “The Touchables”)

2. WYNDER K. FROG – Dancing Frog (from the O.S.T. “The Touchables”)

3. THE CLOUDS (U.K.) – I’LL Go Girl

4. TRAMLINE – Pearly Queen

5. BLODWYN PIG – Sing Me A Song That I Know

6. QUINTESSENCE – Gunga Mai

7. RENAISSANCE – Wanderer

8. IF – Reaching Out On All Sides

9. THE ALAN BOWN – Thru The Night

10. HEADS, HANDS & FEET – Song For Suzie

11. McDONALD & GILES – Tomorrow’s People – The Children of Today (short vers.)

12. SPOOKY TOOTH – All Sewn Up

13. JOHN ‘RABBIT’ BUNDRICK – Broken Arrows

14. VINEGAR JOE – Proud To Be A Honky Woman

15. MOTT THE HOOPLE – Death May Be Your Santa Claus

16. LUTHER GROSVENOR – Rocket

17. EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER – The Sheriff

18. TRAFFIC – Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory

The Records

The records - last night. It was the last snap on a roll, so I gave it a whirl. This is looking straight at the "Rock A-Z" - the stripey spine up top is likely a Brand X album, and the one on the middle shelf is a live Gong album. Just American and British artists in this shot - all the NZ, Aus, DE, FR, JPN, SWE, FIN, OST, jazz, EZ, C&W, comedy / spoken word - are all in a different room. In 1975, I could fill 9 crates, as I recall. I want to find the photo of my teenaged self, standing next to my 9 crates holding my first 'clear' Faust LP.

Playlist - Green

GREEN V.A. Feb. 5, 2007

1) CRAWLER – Stone Cold Sober

2) THE WORLD – Things I Could Have Said

3) RADIO STARS – Macaroni ‘n’ Mice

4) RICK WAKEMAN – I’m So Straight I’m A Weirdo

5) ALAN PRICE – Papers (’86 version)

6) THE STRANGLERS – Someone Like You

7) ROBIN TROWER / B.L.T. – Into Money

8) THIRD WORLD WAR – I’d Rather Cut Cane For Castro

9) MOUNTAIN – Crossroader

10) THE SPORTS – Boys (What Did The Detective Say?)

11) BONES – L.A. Isabella

12) JO JO GUNNE – I Make Love

13) ROY HARPER – Hell’s Angels

14) THE NICE – One Of Those People

15) JET – Fax ‘n’ Info

16) SLADE – Get On Up

17) THE ANIMALS – Boom Boom

18) THE YARDBIRDS – I’m Not Talking

19) THE ROLLING STONES – The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man

20) GRAHAM BOND ORGANIZATION – Spanish Blues

21) MANFRED MANN – The One In The Middle

22) THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN – Rest Cure

23) THE WHO – I Need You

February…onwards!

2-1-07 February…onwards!

On the last day of January, 2007 – I had “Jury Duty”. I took my MD walkman and listened to some sampler discs from 2004 – the stand-out track was The Rolling Stones “Dandelion” – a wonderful bit of psychedelia to hear when you’re sitting amidst a whole sea of people who do not want to be where they are. In the car on the way there and back, I was listening to Elastica (“The BBC Sessions” CD). The day really wrung me out, so I didn’t really listen to much once I got home.

This morning, I drove to work listening to The James Taylor Quartet, “Message from The Godfather” (2001) – lovely instrumental ‘acid jazz’ (think a modern day Booker T. & The MG’s or even The Bill Black Combo – but with a smokin’ Hammond organ up front!).

I’m planning a summer vacation – so I will likely not be buying many new LP’s / CD’s in the immediate future – but just watch! With both a PCC record swap meet and the twice-a-year Claremont LP swap meet coming up soon – more new titles may soon appear!

My summer vacation? Likely it will be Tokyo – again. It will be my 10th visit to Japan! Yes, I have a “Japanese domestic artist” want list.

On my playlists of late, there was been a lot of Britfunk – Shakatak, Level 42, Freeez. I still don’t know much about Shakatak, apart from the fact that their drummer (Roger O’Dell) used to be in C.M.U. (I love their 2nd album, “Space Cabaret”).

- Ron