Record Collecting #2

6-30-08 Record Collecting #2

Towards the end of the 60’s, I began getting the inexpensive Warner / Reprise ‘loss leader’ double LP samplers – which inspired further numerical wonderment. Why was RS 6355 (Mephistopheles – “In Frustration I Hear Singing”) the sole Warner / Reprise title in the 6300 series that wasn’t available as an 8-track tape? Around the same time, I got the inclination to write to British record companies, requesting catalogs.

Decca UK sent me a lovely full-color Rolling Stones booklet; EMI UK sent me a full-color catalog of available 8-track tapes (I wonder why – I hadn’t asked for one!) – but best of all – EMI forwarded my name to an exporter, who sent me loads of British record catalogues, circa 1970. The first big UK label I tried to work out was the Island Records ILPS 9000 series. I liked so many of the LP’s in this series, I wanted to know what all of the other Island UK releases were!

A quick letter sent off to Island Records, Basing Street netted a great 1971 catalog – a tiny little book, but it had all the numbers in it! By the time I wrote to Track Records UK, they were merely being administered by Polydor Records UK – so I do not remember receiving a response from them. No matter – I could seek out British music publication such as Sounds, Melody Maker and the New Musical Express! The advertisements were even more interesting than the music writing!

My older brother is responsible for turning me into an “import LP snob” – in 1967. He brought home a British pressing of The Beatles “Sgt. Peppers”; I asked to see it – he told me to wash my hands first (I was 9 years of age – it was a justified request!). It didn’t take long for me to understand that British records were ‘desirable’ – the debut Jimi Hendrix Experience LP had 3 different songs than the US copy; there were numerous Rolling Stones “England only” things – the “Come On” b/w “I Want To Be Loved” 45 on Decca UK, for instance. Certainly the British-manufactured LP covers looked better (most were nice & shiny, on the front – even if the paper of British LP covers seemed a bit flimsy, when compared to US-manufactured covers).

The two places that my brother told me about that had import LP’s were up in Los Angeles – “Lewin’s Record Paradise” on Hollywood Blvd., and “Ray Avery’s Rare Records”, on Broadway in Glendale, CA. I got my dad to take me to both places – numerous times. I loved the display wall in Record Paradise – with all those British import LP’s lined up – a full set of British LP’s & EP’s by The Who, The Stones, The Beatles etc. Long Beach had it’s own hippie record stores – Licorice Pizza, Platterpuss, Phineas, Wheatstone, Mundae…but it took them all a while to get on the import LP bandwagon – perhaps in 1970 or so. I had already been going to L.A. with my dad, in search of import LP’s since 1968! But I eventually patronized all of these stores – Platterpuss on 7^th Street in L.B. had import LP’s and used records! Certainly there were other Long Beach 60’s & 70’s record stores – Revolver Records on 4^th Street, Larry’s Records^th Street…ah, the places of my youth! on 7

Birdwatching and Record Collecting

6-27-08 Birdwatching and Record Collecting

Leisure activities, hobbies – call ‘em whatever you like – I am interested in birdwatching and I am a life-long phonograph record / music collector.

The big difference between these two hobbies is that I am an expert at one of them, and a geeky novice at the other. Cards on the table: I do not know what hardly any birds are called – I have a few books – but – I think I have only successfully identified one or two birds at most – exotic stuff I saw at the San Diego Zoo (Lady Ross Turaco and Asian Fairy Bluebird). From my back-yard, I think I have nailed down that it’s a Mourning Dove that I thought was an owl (by it’s coo-ing). I saw an Egret at the South Coast Botanical Gardens…at least I think it was an Egret! And that’s about it, for my bird expertise.

Oh, I have owned some BBC bird fancier LP’s for decades – “Woodland & Gardens Birds” (a double LP!) and “Wildlife of East Anglia”. I think I have them because of getting a BBC Record catalogue and being told by an exporter, “We can get anything in this catalogue for a very good price” or thereabouts. At the same time, I got some of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop LP’s (which are now very highly regarded!).

I started collecting phonograph records about 40 years ago. I had heard the Bee Gees on the radio and liked them – so one of the earliest purchases I motivated was of “Bee Gees’ First” – my dad bought it for me (at Wallach’s Music City). It was probably a year old when I got it (1968, I guess). The Thrifty Drug Store had a “cut-out” bin with really cheap LP’s in it – 47 cents, or 59 cents or 2 (3?) for $1. I found the next two Bee Gees LP’s (“Horizontal” and “Idea”) in the cheapie bin. As these were U.S. pressings on Atco – we all know by now that the inner-sleeves had little photos of the other LP’s on Atco – mysterious records I’ve never even seen – “The Best of Chickenman”, “Tom Sankey Sings Songs from ‘The Golden Screw’” etc.

My brother had Schwann record catalogs (he retained 2 per year, starting in 1965); I sat in my living room on the floor and wrote out on a yellow legal tablet a numerical Atco Records catalog, beginning with 33-101 (“The Coasters”) – then I numbered the next 300 or so lines – and what I couldn’t see on an Atco inner-sleeve, I tried looking up in a Schwann record catalog. For some reason, generating a numerical discography was very interesting to me. If there had been a book that one could’ve bought with this information already assembled, I was it’s intended audience – but, of course, no such book existed then…or now (But one can look at the Both Sides Now Publications website, where they have a dandy Atco discography posted!).

My other favorite discographies that I worked on were Sire Records SES 97000 series, Elektra Records EKS 74000 series, Deram Records DES 18000 series, Probe Records CPLP 4500 series, Atlantic Records 8000 series, Reprise Records RS 6000 series etc. A music geek was born! But I didn’t have computer. I had pens and pencils, yellow legal tablets, a Smith-Corona typewriter and Rolodex cards.

Time

6-26-08 Time

Oh, I’ve been having a lot of fun writing about hypothetical amount of time it would take to listen to everything. I remember that The Firesign Theatre put on their LP “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus” something to the effect of “This record will take 38:49 out of your future”. Once upon a time, I used to track how long my CD’s were in a database – I never did this with LP’s, but I did used to time my LP’s (with a stop-watch). Can’t account for variants – pitch / speed of turntable etc. So, I relied on CD lengths as being accurate – but we all know that sometimes, when the time is counting down on a CD, it goes to zero before reaching zero. Not a problem with the Mini Disc format – it’s timings do not lie!

As my pre-recorded Mini Disc collection is relatively small (109 titles?), it was easy to rank things by length…shortest single disc pre-recorded MD I own is George Jones “Super Hits” (Epic US EM 40776) at 28:20 (10 tracks). The longest single disc pre-recorded MD I own is Genesis “Turn It On Again…The Hits” (Virgin UK GENMD 8) at 78:58 (18 tracks).

I’ve got a couple of over 80 minute (factory made) CD’s – one of them is by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, on Rykodisc, I believe. I have some Japanese compilation CD’s in the “Café Apres Midi” series that clock in at 79:59 – and my CD burner won’t copy ‘em! No, I’ve never adjusted my CD burning capacity to “over-burning” – I always figured that compatibility would be an issue (as in, I bet not all CD machines would play ‘em).

I remember an LP album side that was 36 minutes – by Ariel Kalma. I also recall a 7” single that had a mere 15 seconds on one side (by Fred Dagg, NZ comedian John Clarke). I bet there are plenty of 8 or 9 track country & western ‘best of’ LP’s that clock in at only a little bit over 20 minutes – for the entire album!

All this music and record collecting is up to a matter of how we choose to spend our time. Time, the eternal master. More time! Time, gentlemen, please! There used to be a groovy record shop in Takadanobaba in Tokyo called “Time” – but it went out of business last year. I’d been taking my time to go there since 1994.

And thanks for taking your time to read my writing. I appreciate it. I appreciate your time (and the time it took me to write it). Time, time, time. I always thought a good way to drive someone nuts would be to set all the clocks in his / her life at different times – so you never knew what time it was. Remember that bit by Ken Nordine, “What time is it?”…time…down the drain…

How do I want to spend my time? Healthy. Being with my girlfriend. Listening to music. Taking photographs of birds. Being in Japan.

I do not get to take photographs of bird as often as I would like; and I only get to see my girlfriend for maybe 48 hours per week. And I’ve only spent a little over 100 days being in Japan, since 1994. But I get to spend my time listening to music. A lot.

How big...?

6-25-08 “How big is the perfect collection?”

After yesterday’s unusual rumination, I calculated that – at present – my record collection would take 59 years (and change) to listen to everything, if I only played 1 title per day. It would take a little bit of work to determine the exact ratio of full-length titles vs. singles / EP’s…and let’s not forget multiple disc sets! I have a 26CD boxed set (Sony’s “Music For A Century”) – it would certainly take more than a single day to get through that! Do the multiple disc sets cancel out titles that are merely EP’s?

I return to my idea of “The Perfect Collection”, an old chestnut. So, how big is that collection going to be? Certainly, it must be a ‘listenable’ size. But at only 3,650 titles per decade…I ask, “How big is the perfect collection?” I’ve tried to figure it out a few times, based upon my own meager collection – and the number of “perfect titles” always seems to fall at about 8,000 (i.e. it would still take 20+ years to play ‘em all, at one title per day!).

I have often complained about young, ignorant novice collectors bragging about their 25,000 title music collections. It’s taken me nearly 50 years to amass my 21,550 title collection. I am of the opinion that collectors pick the number 25,000 out of thin air – brother, if you had 25,000 records, you’d know it, buddy! They’d be all over your house, filling several rooms. Let me tell you, 25,000 titles is A LOT.

Without making the big commitment, how about if we swap a list of 365 “Perfect Collection” titles? You send me yours, I’ll send you mine. This sounds interesting – How many titles would be on both lists?

Yes, one must be a dexterous typist and devoted list-keeper to come up with an organized list of that size. The last big list I came up with was around 200 titles. When I have utilized the record-rating website, Gnosis2000, I only have 15 ‘perfect’ titles that rank 15 out of 15 – the majority of my rankings are at 10-13 out of 15. I tried to make 10 be the median, and have comparatively few rated below 10.

My list of 200 titles aired it’s dirty laundry in public as “This Website Has a Top 200”, so you can refer to that, if you wish – or I can send it to you.

I suppose the reason behind all this self-referential junk lately is realizing that I am about to turn 50 years of age. Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!

I did some math – taking into account multiple disc sets, singles etc…I have 9,723 full-length LP’s, 6,535 full-length CD’s…and 6,417 singles of varying formats (generally ranging from 1 – 4 songs, per disc). Further extrapolation: LP’s @ 40 min. per clock in at 6482 hours to play, CD’s @ 45 min. per clock in at roughly 4901 hours to play, and the singles rang from 4 – 8 minutes, generally speaking (@ 6 min per, 855 hours). Raw calculation, roughly 12,238 hours to play everything – 510 days! If I live to 50, I’ll have been alive 18,250 days – so maybe it isn’t unthinkable to listen to it all again?????????

Playlist

“New MD Deck!”

MICO WAVE – American Dream

XTC – Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down

BLIND FAITH – Can’t Find My Way Home

FAIRPORT CONVENTION – Million Dollar Bash

CARLIN, GEORGE – Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television

KARN, MICK – Buoy (feat. David Sylvian) (12”)

STRING DRIVEN THING – Two Timin’ Rama

NEW MUSIK – Planet Doesn’t Mind, The (12”)

GANG OF FOUR – Silver Lining

A CERTAIN RATIO – Wild Party (12”)

CALE, JOHN – Satellite Walk (12”)

CAN – I Want More (12”)

YELLO – There Is No Reason (12”)

BADAROU, WALLY – Chief Inspector (Vine Street) (12”)

DAHO, ETIENNE – Tombe Pour La France (Vers. Maxi) (12”)

L’AFFAIRE LOUIS’ TRIO – Chic Planete (Remix)

STRANGLERS – Uptown (Live)

CRISTINA – Is That All There Is? (12”)

First 4 titles from CD, the rest (sauf L’ALT) are from vinyl

Template?

6-24-08 Template

I will turn 50 in a little over a month. I feel like I would like to make conscious ‘change’ as regards my position to music. For years now, I have complained about my large, unmanageable collection of music – which becomes less manageable with each passing year. I am not buying much ‘new’ music – but I still bring over 1,000 (or more) new-to-me titles each year.

My over-collecting (uber-collecting?) has sort of resulted in me having tons of stuff – maybe I am anticipating a time when I am no longer able to peruse the inventories of record stores – so I wanted to have plenty of records at my house to look at? Couldn’t tell ya. But, I definitely want to “squeeze the sponge” – to get rid of some of the parts of collections that do not (necessarily) interest me – at this time. It would be great to try and plan everything – but…I’m not that organized.

Truth is, I might just go one crate at a time – “Does this title belong to a larger collection?” “Is this a preferable edition of this title?” – stuff like that. As of the beginning of June, 2008 – my ‘Main List’ is at about 21,550 titles. About 61/2 thousand titles too many! And, seriously – that isn’t EVERYTHING, either.

I have often considered a ‘listening program’ – but as I approach 50 years of age – I seriously doubt I will ever find the time and or inclination to listen to everything I have been able to amass in the ‘first 50 years’. Could I just throw away 22,000+ music videos? Maybe. I certainly do not have the time or inclination to sift ‘em (for desirable titles) anymore. But a couple of carefully chosen CD-R’s…and I bet the 6,500+ titles I want to get rid of would be somewhat ‘easy’.

For all of 2008, I have tried to listen to at least 1 record / CD per day (either 30 or 31 titles per month, as it were). Of my 21,000+ list, about 17,000 are, indeed, full-length (album) titles. About March, I noticed I wasn’t keeping up with my template – the “one per day” idea. 50 years is approx. 18,250 days. See what I mean about the odds against listening to EVERYTHING again? Yes, I could up the quotient – 2 or more titles per day, but…there are definitely days that I don’t want to listen to anything! And there are other days when all I seem to want to hear is “The Basement Tapes” by Bob Dylan & The Band. But I do not want my listening experiences to become meaningless – to become just a ‘numbers game’.

I just noticed that I ceased keeping track of my music video collection at 21,172 titles. Perhaps 21,000 or so is just my ‘magic number’? And not all that long ago, I realized that there is a limit to the number of titles you can enter into an Excel spread sheet – something like 65,536 titles lines.

Maybe people aren’t meant to ‘collect’ stuff numbering more than 21,000? I already have more records & CD’s than I had music videos. Time to forget about it? Time to massage everything down to a manageable level? Time to listen? (Time for me to shut up?)

George Carlin, R.I.P.

R.I.P., George Carlin. I have even read a book or two - funny stuff. Really.

I have George Carlin singles!

11 O'CLOCK NEWS (Part 1) / (Part 2) LITTLE DAVID US LD 720 7"

1972 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, promo

CARLIN ON CAMPUS EARDRUM US ED 1001 LP

1984 11 TRKS comedy

CLASS CLOWN LITTLE DAVID US LD 1004 LP

1972 8 TRKS comedy

EVENING WITH WALLY LONDO..., AN LITTLE DAVID US LD 1008 LP

1975 14 TRKS comedy

FM & AM LITTLE DAVID US LD 7214 LP

1972 10 TRKS comedy

GEORGE CARLIN promo LITTLE DAVID US EP PR 279 7"

1977 4 TRK EP; with pic sleeve

OCCUPATION: FOOLE LITTLE DAVID US LD 1005 LP

1973 11 TRKS comedy

ON THE ROAD LITTLE DAVID US LD 1075 LP

1977 9 TRKS comedy

PLACE FOR MY STUFF, A ATLANTIC US SD 19326 LP

1981 9 TRKS comedy

TAKE-OFFS & PUT-ONS CAMDEN US CAS 2566 LP

1972 5 TRKS re-issue

TOLEDO WINDOW BOX LITTLE DAVID US LD 3003 LP

1974 11 TRKS comedy

Godley & Creme

6-23-08 Godley & Crème

Today, we are only concerned with their initial LP releases.

LPx3 CONSEQUENCES MERCURY JPN SFX-10038/40

1977 19 TRKS 1st; booklet

CDx2 CONSEQUENCES MERCURY DE 848565.2

1977 20 TRKS ltd. edition

LP CONSEQUENCES promo MERCURY US MK-41

1977 8 TRKS U.S. promo sampler

CD L UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9172

1978 7 TRKS ('01 issue) kami sleeve

LP L MERCURY JPN RJ-7515

1978 7 TRKS insert, 2nd

CD FREEZE FRAME UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-93084

1979 12 TRKS ('06 issue) kami sleeve (4 x bonus tracks)

LP FREEZE FRAME POLYDOR UK POLD 5027

1979 8 TRKS 3rd

CD ISMISM UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-93085

1981 11 TRKS (06 issue) kami sleeve (3 x bonus tracks)

LP ISMISM POLYDOR UK POLD 5043

1981 8 TRKS 4th; aka "Snack Attack"

CD BIRDS OF PREY UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-93086

1983 14 TRKS ('06 issue) kami sleeve (5 x bonus tracks)

LP BIRDS OF PREY POLYDOR UK POLD 5070

1983 9 TRKS 5th

LP GOODBYE BLUE SKY POLYDOR US 835348.1

1988 11 TRKS 6th

CD GOODBYE BLUE SKY UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-93088

1988 16 TRKS ('06 issue) kami sleeve (5 x bonus tracks)

So, 6 albums from ’77 to ’88, after leaving 10cc. As the 80’s wore on, G&C became more famous for music videos that they were making for other artists – like “Rockit” for Herbie Hancock. They had some hits in England, but not really in the US. I don’t even think “Birds Of Prey” got a US release!

I recently found the promo sampler LP for “Consequences” – nice to have it distilled down to less than 30 minutes! Seems amazing that they put out a triple concept LP in 1977. The only one I went for when it was released was “L” – I must’ve heard “This Sporting Life” or something. I remember when “Goodbye Blue Sky” was in every $2.99 bin – now those CD’s all seem to have vanished

There are certainly a number of British groups that I have enjoyed collecting “after the fact” – G&C / 10cc one (two?) of ‘em. Thankfully, I’ve never had to pay very much for any of these LP’s or CD’s. Yes, I also have their 7” & 12” singles.

All of the 10cc members are still alive and active? Isn’t there even a touring version of 10cc at the present time? I wonder if there will ever be another Godley & Crème release?

= = =

How about that hot weather? How much longer will it go on?

New Zealand 80's!

6-20-08 New Zealand 80’s!

In the 1980’s, I went to New Zealand quite a few times. I was a big fan of their ‘local scene’ – groups like The Swingers, Toy Love, D.D. Smash, The Gordons, The Clean etc. A lot of other ‘scenes’ have come and gone – but I am still particularly fond of NZ 80’s music. Sadly, not everything from that era in New Zealand pop music is still available – many titles have never been released on CD.

So, revel with me in these world class records! Do you know them all? Would you like to?

Singles

Paul Agar & The Set – Look Into Your Eyes / Beat The Night
Androidss – Getting Jumpy / Auckland Tonight
The Bats – Block of Wood
Blam Blam Blam – Blam Blam Blam (EP)
The Chills – Rolling Moon / Bite / Flamethrower
Greg Clark & Mike Chunn – I’m So Up
The Clean – Boodle Boodle Boodle (EP)
Coup D’Etat – Doctor, I Like Your Medicine
The Crocodiles – Hello Girl / Romantic As Hell
Daggy & The Dickheads – Afternoon TV
Dance Exponents – All I Can Do
Dance Exponents – Sex & Agriculture
Dave Dobbyn – Lipstick Power
The Features – Victim (EP)
The Gordons – Future Shock (EP)
Hip Singles – Typewriter / So Strange
The Knobz – Culture?
Marching Girls – True Love / First In Line
The Mockers – Woke Up Today
Monte Video (Murray Grindlay) – Sheba (She Sha She Shoo)
Jenny Morris – Get Some Humour
The Narcs – No Turning Back (EP)
Pop Mechanix – Now
Pop Mechanix (as NZ Pop) – Holidays
Screaming Meemees – Stars In My Eyes
Sinclair Brothers (Citizen Band) – That Is The Way It Will Be
Sneaky Feelings – Better Than Before
Spelling Mistakes – Feels So Good
The Swingers – One Good Reason
The Swingers – Counting The Beat
Tall Dwarfs – Slugbuckethairybreathmonster (EP)
Tall Dwarfs – Louis Likes His Daily Dip (EP)
They Were Expendable – Big Strain (EP)
Toy Love – Bridge of Frankenstein
The Verlaines – Death And The Maiden
The Wastrels – The Jenner Affair (EP)

Albums

Blam Blam Blam – Luxury Length
Coconut Rough – s/t
The Crocodiles – Tears
The Crocodiles – Looking At Ourselves
D.D. Smash – Cool Bananas
D.D. Smash – The Optimist
Dance Exponents – Prayers Be Answered
Dance Exponents – Expectations
Dave Dobbyn – Loyal
Headless Chickens – s/t
I Am Joe’s Music – s/t
Phil Judd – Private Lives
Mi-Sex – Where Do They Go?
Alastair Riddell – Positive Action
Schnell Fenster – The Sound of Trees
Screaming Meemees – If This Is Paradise, I’ll Take The Bag
Split Enz – Coroboree (aka Waiata)
The Swingers – Practical Jokers
Tall Dwarfs – That’s The Short & Long Of It
Toy Love – s/t
Various Artists – AK 79
Various Artists – It’s Bigger Than Both Of Us (2LP)
Various Artists – Hits & Myths
Various Artists – More Hits & Myths
Various Artists – Hits & Myths ‘83
Zoo – Cowboys & Engines

This list was paired down from nearly 1,000 titles – literally 2/3 of my own NZ collection! I’ve listened to tons of music by New Zealand artists, and the above list is what I consider to be indispensable. Yes, I like NZ 60’s & 70’s – and even some 90’s music – but this list is 80’s-specific.

The other best albums by Split Enz and Mi-Sex are all 70’s LP’s. I continue to follow Dave Dobbyn and Phil Judd. I wish Fane Flaws would make some new music. I was always disappointed that there weren’t proper Pop Mechanix, Daggy & The Dickheads, Hip Singles or Wastrels LP’s.

pictured: "I Am Joe's Music" LP

I hope you are enjoying the solstice! If today isn't the longest day, tomorrow is!
The moon has been tremendous lately!

"Rare Tracks"

6-19-08 Rare Tracks

I have always been fond of ‘various artist’ albums. Sometimes, they are merely a marketing tool of record labels to promote new records they are releasing. Other times, they are a bit more interesting…

In 1975, Polydor England began to open it’s vaults up to the re-issue market with a curious collection called simply “Rare Tracks” (Polydor Special 2482 274):

Side One

THE SOFT MACHINE – Love Makes Sweet Music

CREAM – Anyone For Tennis (The ‘Savage Seven’ Theme)

KEVIN GODLEY – To Fly Away (10cc)

FAIRPORT CONVENTION – If I Had A Ribbon Bow

LINDA LEWIS – You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet

JETHRO TOE (aka JETHRO TULL) – Sunshine Day

NICKI HOPKINS & THE WHISTLING PIANO – Mister Pleasant

THE HIGH NUMBERS (aka THE WHO) – Zoot Suit

JACK BRUCE – I’m Getting’ Tired (Of Drinkin’ And Gamblin’ Etc.) (CREAM)

Side Two

JACK BRUCE – Rootin’ Tootin’ (CREAM)

STU BROWN & BLUESOLOGY (feat. ELTON JOHN) – Just A Little Bit

JETHRO TOE (aka JETHRO TULL) – Aeroplane

JOHN’S CHILDREN (feat. MARC BOLAN) – Desdemona

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE – Take My Advice

JIMI HENDRIX – Dolly Dagger (Live, Isle of Wight)

ALEX HARVEY & HIS SOUL BAND – Ain’t That Just Too Bad

THE SOFT MACHINE – Feelin’ Reelin’ Squealin’

I got this LP because of the Soft Machine cuts. I could never find their rare original 45, so this was a great way to get those songs. I was also aware that the Jethro Toe cuts were rare – but by ’75, I was sort of ‘finished’ with J. Tull. And I’d never even heard of the Jack Bruce solo 45! In 2008, my favorite cut is doubtlessly the Nicky Hopkins cut – wonderful UK EZ piano kitsch! I think this Kevin Godley cut turned up on either a 10cc LP or maybe the Hotlegs LP. Also, must remember to check out which cuts are stereo. Only real oddball on this volume is the helium-voiced Linda Lewis – simply not my style.

And the following year, Polydor England released “Medium Rare” (Polydor Special 2482 381):

Side One

FOCUS – Crackers

VAN DYKE PARKS – Come To The Sunshine

LEE DORSEY – When Can I Come Home?

GALLAGHER – LYLE – Trees

THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN – The Reason (single vers.)

BIRDS BIRDS – Daddy Daddy (Ron Wood)

GINGER BAKER’S AIRFORCE – Man Of Constant Sorrow (Denny Laine)

BOBBY THOMPSON – Foxfire

Side Two

LEE DORSEY – On Your way Down

FOCUS – O Avondrood

VAN DYKE PARKS – Number Nine

JOHN’S CHILDREN (feat. MARC BOLAN) – Sarah Crazy Child

GALLAGHER – LYLE – In The Crowd

MAINHORSE (feat. PATRICK MORAZ) – More Tea Vicar

LEE DORSEY – Freedom For The Stallion

BOBBY THOMPSON – Devil Dance (Banjo player of Area Code 615)

I didn’t get this volume until years later. The first volume just had such good stuff! Well, in 2008 – I am OK with this volume, too. Swank to have nice non-LP Focus cuts (“O Avondrood” is on a Dutch language sampler LP, “Zing Je Moers Taal”). And I think this is a different Birds cut than I have on those ‘See For Miles’ collections – were they really called Birds Birds or just ‘The Birds’? But, really!? The banjo player for Area Code 615???). Isn’t Lee Dorsey the guy famous for “Ya Ya” (that John Lennon so famously covered?).

San Diego Visit

6-18-08 San Diego visit

We went to San Diego last month to photograph birds at the San Diego Zoo. Turaco! Asian Fairy Bluebird! And I also bought some records and CD’s.

ANDERSON, JON / VANGELIS – FRIENDS OF MR. CAIRO, POLYDOR DE CD original edition

BOOM CRASH OPERA – HER CHARITY, WEA AUS 12” W/PS 1^st album single, non-LP B-side

CARROTT, JASPER – UNRECORDED, DJM UK LP comedy

COSA NOSTRA – GIRL TALK (Remix), BELLISSIMA JPN CD5 Japanese artist

CURRIE, BILLY – TRANSPORTATION, IRS US CD Ultravox member

FRAZIER CHORUS – WALKING ON AIR, VIRGIN UK 12” promo (test pressing)

KING CRIMSON – EPITAPH – Vols. 1 – 4, WHD JPN 5CD ’69 material, CD boxed set

LINDISFARNE – LINDISFARNE LIVE, CHARISMA UK LP Live ‘71

MANN SINGERS, JOHNNY – BEATLE BALLADS, LIBERTY US LP EZ mono

MR. OIZO – ANALOGUE WORMS ATTACK, MUTE US CD U.S. version

NELSON, BILL – DAS KABINETT, COCTEAU UK LP

SAKAMOTO, RYUICHI – #04, WARNER JPN CD Live

SAKAMOTO, RYUICHI – WORKS I – CM, MIDI/SCHOOL JPN CD (I have #2)

SHAKATAK – CHRISTMAS EVE, POLYDOR JPN CD Britfunk Xmas

SORRENTI, ALAN – ARIA, WATER US CD ‘72

SOUND FX – SOUNDS OF A RAIN FOREST IN AMERICA, FOLKWAYS US LP mono

SVT – NO REGRETS, RYKODISC US CD

TUBES – MILLENNIUM COLLECTION, A&M US CD

US 3 – CANTALOOP, TOSHIBA JPN CD5 single

V.A. – BEAT AT ABBEY ROAD, TOSHIBA JPN CD UK 60’s artists, mono

V.A. – GOING BACK IN TIME Vol. 4, MERCURY DE CD oldies

V.A. – STANDARD VOCALS FOR THE MEMORY, CBS/SONY JPN CD more oldies

V.A. – YAH! YAH! YAH! (Good Day Sunshine), TOSHIBA JPN CD Beatles’ covers

WONDER STUFF – CAUGHT IN MY SHADOW, POLYDOR UK 12” W/PS

ZAZOU – BIKAYE – M'PASI YA M'PAMBA, CRAMMED BEL 12” W/PS

ZAZOU, HECTOR / PAPA WEMBA – MALIMBA, CRAMMED BEL 12” W/PS

I never know what to expect, when I go on short vacations…but all of this was had between two stores, mostly. All of it fairly inexpensive.

These days, I have much better luck find interesting stuff when I visit the S.F. bay area than in L.A. – looking forward to my 4^th of July visit to the East Bay!

Playlist

WANDERLEY, WALTER – On the South Side of Chicago

KAYAK – Alibi

COHEN, LEONARD – By The Rivers Dark

NYMAN, MICHAEL – Cold Room, The (Main Theme) (O.S.T.)

COASTERS – Soul Pad

MICO WAVE – Instant Replay

VAUGHN, BILLY – Soul Coaxing (Polnareff song)

BONZO DOG BAND – Tent

AUDIENCE – Trombone Gulch

JOHN, ELTON – Grey Seal (’70 vers.)

DONOVAN – Music Makers, The

DARLING BUDS – Sugar City

WONDER STUFF – Who Wants To Be The Disco King?

XTC – Vanishing Girl

STRANGLERS – All Day and All of the Night

DAMNED – (Do You Know) I Know

BROOKER, GARY – Missing Person

MOTORHEAD – Hammer, The

HUMAN LEAGUE – Toyota City

JAPAN – In Vogue (Live)

PSYCHEDELIC FURS – Soap Commercial

MAGAZINE – Definitive Gaze

mostly from vinyl (first 5 or 6 from CD)

Hoarding

6-17-08 Hoarding

Been thinking about having hoarded stuff lately – I recently went through my music room, trying to find empty file folders – and about three dozen turned up. I do not own a computer printer – what I print, I print at work. So, I am not in the habit of regularly printing out everything I write. I am usually content with leaving it on my hard drive. But there was still a lot of file folders, from when I did print stuff out.

I kept looking, and I found several different types of envelopes that I have purchased; several sets of address labels; lots of boxes, packing material etc. In short, I have hoarded a ton of stuff that pertains to my hobby.

Not to mention the CD’s & LP’s – I have way too many.

When I do pull titles out of my collection, I must remember to remove them from my ‘big list’ – I update my list frequently, such as when I replace an old CD with a new re-mastered version (or a little paper album cover / kami sleeve CD). Sometimes, I just ‘give up’ on artists that I have tried – “that collection ain’t going to go anywhere, time to ditch ‘em!”. Some stuff gets given to friends, some gets taken to Amoeba in Hollywood (or San Francisco).

As I approach my 50^th anniversary, I try to think of how I can change for the better – should I keep less stuff? Re-use and re-cycle more stuff? My videocassette collection hangs around my neck like an albatross. I wouldn’t like it if it were ‘stolen’, but…I am not pleased at how much space it takes up. All I can see or think of is what I would do with that space, were it not occupied with cartons of videos.

When I moved to England in 1990, I packed an entire closet in my home (a fairly large one) – maybe it’s time to open it up and survey if it’s all ‘worth keeping’. And, yes, I am one of those Americans who pay to store stuff in a storage facility. If I haven’t seen the stuff in a year – should I really pay to keep it? (I went back to the storage place and retrieved my LP’s that were in storage – they weren’t going to get sold, hanging around in a locked storage place!).

I believe I am what William S. Burroughs once referred to as a “shit-hoarder”…

Does my book collection equate to my intellect? Is my massive music collection merely a more thorough road-map through my soul? Do I even have a soul?

I know, I know – scan everything in to the computer, burn CD-R’s of everything etc. More moments and less artifacts. Or thereabouts. I bet I could live for a year – in my home – without having to buy anything but soap / shampoo and food. I certainly do not need to buy any more paper. Or CD’s. Or LP’s. Or books. Or magazines.

…but I probably will buy more of all of the aforementioned items. For some reason.

Visiting Japan

6-16-08 Visiting Japan

I have visited Japan quite a few times now. I first really went in 1994 – but I had been on Japanese soil in the late 80’s, on my way to Singapore. I was encouraged to go to Japan by my friend Ken Heaton. He had visited Japan, when he was in the US Coast Guard. He loved it there. After visiting, I could see why!

I took my GF to Japan at the end of 1998; I think it was my 4^th visit and her first visit. We stayed in a ryokan in Ikebukuro. It was over the Christmas holiday – I remember eating salty ramen on Christmas day near Ikebukuro station.

The last time we went to Japan together was last summer – we stayed at the Tokyo Hilton in Nishi-Shinjuku. It was great. I loved waking up early and walking around the neighborhood. I also loved that (if it was raining) you could walk from the hotel to Shinjuku station via tunnels!

Using Google Maps, I had planned a walk from Nishi-Shinjuku to Nakano Broadway Plaza – it was successful! I remember one of the turns we had to make seemed like it was on a tiny street. But we did it! I’d love to plan a longer walk – this was about the distance of three JR train stations (heading west from Shinjuku). Could we walk from Nishi-Shinjuku to Kichijoji? It’s kind of a distance – but on the map, looks like a nearly straight shot!

Visiting Tokyo – so much to see and do – you invariably have to leave some of your old favorite places out, in order to accommodate all the new stuff! We didn’t go to Akihabara at all this time! But we did make it to the “Tokyo Toy Show” at ‘Big Site’ – it was a ton of fun. Very colorful!

It was such a good time – the US dollar was at US$1 = 124 JPY. It was like everything was “on sale”. Recently, it’s been more like US$1 = 103 JPY – so it’s not much of a bargain now. My big fascination last trip was little paper album cover CD’s (known as “kami sleeve CD’s”) – exact reproductions of the original LP package, as close as is possible in miniature.

I’d love to go back to Japan – but I think I already calculated that the next time I will be able to afford some out-of-the-country travel – and have a decent amount of time off from work – will be Christmas 2009. And probably, I’ll end up somewhere where the US dollar still has some legs – Kuala Lumpur, perhaps? I recently got a new digital camera – and I’m dying to go someplace where there is a lot of colorful flora and fauna!

So, sorry this hasn’t strictly been a music blog today – I guess I’ve been thinking about Japan a lot lately. I love Japan. It’s my favorite place on Earth, so far. There are many more places that I’d like to see before I die – I wish I spoke more languages than I do.

I’ll try to have some music rambling back on this blog tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Photo is Dorothy at Namjatown in Ikebukuro - near Gyoza Stadium

Faust

6-13-08 Faust

Let’s hear it for the finest German experimental band!

CD 71 MINUTES OF - THE LAST ALBUM RECOMMENDED ReRF1CD

1988? 13 TRKS 70's recordings

CD BBC SESSIONS + ReR US ReRF 5

2000? 8 TRKS 70's recordings

CD FAUST (#1) UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9259

1971 3 TRKS Clear cover ('03 issue) kami sleeve

LP FAUST (#1) POLYDOR DE 2310 142

1972 3 TRKS CLEAR VINYL, DE COVER

LP FAUST (#1) 80’s re-issue RECOMMENDED RR ONE

1972 3 TRKS CLEAR VINYL, UK cvr, re-issue

LP FAUST IV VIRGIN DE 87739 IT

1973 8 TRKS DE original issue

CDx2 FAUST IV (Deluxe edition) VIRGIN UK CDVR 2004

1973 16 TRKS (9 x bonus tracks) ('06 issue)

LP FAUST TAPES (#3) VIRGIN UK VC 501

1973 2 TRKS UK original issue

LP FAUST TAPES (#3) RECOMMENDED RR SIX

1973 2 TRKS '80 re-issue

CD OUTSIDE THE DREAM SYNDICATE (with Tony Conrad) TABLE OF T 5283

1973 3 TRKS ('93 issue) (1 x bonus track)

LP OUTSIDE THE DREAM SYNDICATE (with Tony Conrad) CAROLINE UK C 1501

1973 2 TRKS UK original issue

LP RETURN OF A LEGEND white RECOMMENDED RR 25

1986 6 TRKS white vinyl

LP SO FAR (#2) POLYDOR DE 2310 196

1972 9 TRKS booklet (inserts)

CD SO FAR (#2) UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9260

1972 9 TRKS ('03 issue) kami sleeve

LP SO FAR (#2) re-issue RECOMMENDED RR TWO

1972 9 TRKS 80’s re-issue

This is only the core of my collection – I have many variant issues (and singles) of the first four Faust albums. I got into them for a simple economic reason: In 1973, it was possible to find a copy of “The Faust Tapes” for under $1. That’s right.

It’s very wonderful, brash and unpredictable music – it sounded perfect to my 15-year-old ears. Almost nobody else has ever heard of this band? Even better.

I asked my brother (who lived in Germany at the time) to go out into the town and see if he could find me a clear vinyl copy of their debut album – no problem. In 1975, it was easily my most prized possession. I love the first four Faust albums to death.

Because of Faust, I also got into Slapp Happy, Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad, as Faust members appeared on all of those folks’ albums.

But they never came to America at that time, they broke up after “Faust IV” etc. - My youthful dreams had yet again been crushed. They reformed many years later – but the zeitgeist had already left the building. I am amazed at how many Faust CD’s there would seem to be in 2008!