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July 1980 Cassette

7-1-13                         July 1980 Cassette

On 7/1/67 the Cream 45 “Strange Brew” charts at No. 17 in England.

I apologize for not having detailed the cassettes I made over 30 years ago.

MISC ETC 7/80 A

THE DAMNED – Probably a new single, “History of The World” or is it too soon for that?

GRUPPO SPORTIVO – Perhaps the “Sleeping Bag” 45?

JACQUES PLAFOND – Don’t Do That (from his CBS NL LP)

CRISTINA – Is That All There Is 12” (which got withdrawn, as I recall)

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY – Could be from the “Hee Haw” 12” EP

DALEK I – Debut 45?

AARDVARK – Very Nice Of You To Call (from their 1970 LP!)  Took me 10 years to get this LP!

HUMAN HANDS – Maybe the “Trains vs. Planes” 45?

PETER HAMMILL –

THE ROLLING STONES – A contemporary 45, likely

MEIKE TOUW’S TUTTI FRUTTI – Probably the 45 from their album, ex-Sportivo

ARTURO STALTERI – Something from the “Andre Sulla Luna” LP

JOHN OTWAY & WILD WILLY BARRETT –

THE CURE – Unless it’s “Charlotte Sometimes”, it’s still from “17 Seconds”

KATE BUSH – Doubtlessly a 45

NEW MUSIK – Perhaps a single from the debut album?

JOE JACKSON – Likely a UK 45

THE BUDDY ODOR STOP (Gruppo Sportivo) –

LUCIO BATTISTI –

THE BUGGLES – Still flogging the Buggles bandwagon, so probably a latter-day ’80 45?  And not something from the 2^nd album…yet

MI-SEX – Gotta be from the 2^nd album or a 45 thereof

THE HUMAN LEAGUE – still from the first album, or a later single?

Smash Hits Vol. 2, No. 13

6-26-13                     Smash Hits (Vol. 2, No. 13) June 26 – July 9, 1980

On 6/26/60 the Johnny Kidd & The Pirates “Shakin’ All Over 45 charts at No. 3 in England.  On 6/26/65 the Yardbirds 45 “Heart Full Of Soul” charts at No. 2 in England.

Undertones on the cover, and a nice color photo of Jona Lewie on the reverse!  Open the issue, and you get lyrics for “Who Wants The World?” by The Stranglers, “Wednesday Week” by The Undertones, “The Bed’s Too Big Without You” by The Police…”2-Tone Reunion Plans”; It says that John Foxx’s “Twentieth Century” B-Side is to be used for a London Weekend Television series called “Twentieth Century Box”, a show presented by Danny Baker – in black & white!  The Attractions release a single without Elvis Costello (“Single Girl”).  Basement 5 sign to Island Records.  Big UB40 article, with a nice color photo.  “Great Rock & Roll Swindle” color centerfold.  Big Peter Gabriel article.  Splodgenessabounds (on Deram Records).

45’s:

Ultravox “Sleepwalk” (Chrysalis Records) their label debut

Mari Wilson “Love Man” (GTO Records)

Human League “Empire State Human” (Virgin Records) re-issue

Pink Military “Did You See Her?” (Eric’s Records)

Clive Langer & The Boxes “It’s All Over Now” (F-Beat Records)

LP’s:

Dalek I “Compass / Kum’pass” (Back Door Records)

Klark Kent – s/t (A&M Records, 10” LP)

Toyah “The Blue Meaning” (Safari Records)

In the gigs section, New Musik, Psychedelic Furs and Dexy’s Midnight Runners are all slogging up and down the U.K.

I was nae so fond of an Ultravox minus Mr. Foxx.  I didn’t know there were Mari Wilson 45’s before The Compact Organization!  I remember Human League being flogged, without much success – that came later.  I did buy this (debut) Pink Military 45, for some reason – the cover?  I put 2 and 2 together to realize that Clive Langer was all that was left of Deaf School, but…F-beat did not know how to attractively package his new 1980 works.

I did, in fact, buy the Dalek I LP as a new release; some Dutch friends had recommended them to me.  I noted the Klark Kent 10”, but only ever saw US issues.  For artistes on the Safari label, I preferred Wayne / Jayne County to Toyah Wilcox.

It would be right around this time that I began to pay attention to the new wave music of New Zealand, forever to alter my direction of approach.

The Kinks

6-25-13          The Kinks

6/25/83 Yello “I Love You” 45 charts at No. 61 in England.

Listening to Steve Goodman right now, “Lincoln Park Pirates”.

Played “The Kinks’ Greatest Hits” recently (Reprise RS 6217), 10 songs – this US concoction only runs bout 24 minutes in total!  Insult to injury: Most (all?) are in re-processed stereo!

Looks to me that Reprise Records were a tad early to the barbecue.  I mean, this LP was released before “Sunny Afternoon”!  Was there even an original 60’s Kinks GH LP released on Pye Records in England?

I am equally amazed at another Reprise US Kinks’ LP – “The Live Kinks” (subtitled “An orgy for ears”)  Approx. 31 minutes, liner notes by Andy Wickham.  I wonder, is this the same LP as “Live at Kelvin Hall”?  Despite the “over a minute” of cheering, clapping on Side 1, at least it’s actually in stereo!  (I do detect reverb).  This one included a version of “Sunny Afternoon”, but not the 45 version of it, alas (they do play it live with a certain amount of ‘gusto’).

I think the first album I ever got by The Kinks was “Face to Face”, which remains my favorite (I think it’s in mono, as well – Shel Talmy) – known to US fans are the album where you could find “Sunny Afternoon”.

I was likely pre-occupied with The Who when it would’ve been time to buy late 60’s Kinks records.  Not certain that my “Lola” 45 says ‘coca cola’ instead of ‘cherry cola’ (I do have that lyric variant on a Japanese collection LP!) But the “Preservation Society” and “Money-go-round” would have to wait a long while to reach my ears.  After progressive rock, after punk rock, after new wave, after grunge, after electronica etc.

I don’t necessarily buy into the whole ethos of Ray Davies – I read a Kinks book that said he married his eastern European girlfriend and that was that.

And after The Kinks left Pye / Reprise – they lost me for good, in the early 70’s.  They even made SA-CD’s of those albums, and I can’t be bothered!  And never mind the Arista albums, please.

When Pye got sold (80’s?), it spawned an international clump of bizarre Kinks’ re-issues.  And the CD era definitely brought in much: paper sleeve CD’s, Japanese compilation CD’s, all their EP’s released as CD’s, boxed sets etc.

I’d still probably buy Kinks UK LP’s, 45’s and EP’s – if I could find them!  I’ve got some of them already; I misplaced some of my UK Pye 45’s, but they’ll turn – everything eventually does!

6-24-13

6-24-13

On 6/24/67 the Turtles 45 “She’d Rather Be With Me” charts at No. 4 in England.  On 6/24/72 the Gary Glitter 45 “Rock & Roll Part 2” charts at No. 2 in England.  On 6/24/78 the Magazine “Real Life” LP charts at No. 29 in England.  On 6/22:  Happy birthday Hermeto Pascoal! (Born 1936) 6/22:  Happy birthday Green Gartside! (Scritti Politti) (Born 1955)  On 6/22/82 the LP “Avalon” by Roxy Music was No. 1 in England.  6/23/73, the LP “Living In The Material World” by George Harrison charts at No. 1 in the US.  Also on 6/23/73 the Edgar Winter Group 45 “Frankenstein” charts at No. 18 in England.  On 6/20/70 the Free 45 “All Right Now” charts at No. 2 in England.  On 6/21/69 the Thunderclap Newman 45 “Something In the Air” charts at No. 1 in England.

I doubled up on the “music fact-ettes” today; it takes in all of last weekend.  Kind of boggling, ain’t it?

Today would’ve been my mom’s 93^rd birthday.

Pot-Ent (1972)

6-19-13          Pot-Ent (1972)

On 6/19/71, the LP “Tapestry” by Carole King charts at No. 1 in the US.

This is a delightful German sampler LP from approx. 1972.  I’ve owned it since at least the end of the 70’s.  Unlike many colored vinyl discs of the day, this one is reasonably high quality (see below).  Nice gatefold cover, what would’ve been called a Unipak in the US (LP loads from the inside, once you open the cover).  Somewhat obviously catering to the “Progressive” crowd, of the day – yet not going too crazy.

Pot-Ent (Polydor Germany 2482 027)

Side 1

The Who – Young Man Blues (from “Live At Leeds”)

Golden Earring – The Wall Of Dolls

Sabicas with Joe Beck – Inca Song

Steeplechase – Lady Bright

Ten Wheel Drive with Genya Ravan – Stay With Me

Eric Clapton – Let It Rain

Side 2

Eric Burdon and War – Tobacco Road

Sweet Thursday – The Dealer

Stone The Crows – Blind Man (first album!)

Armageddon – People Talking

Ginger Baker’s Airforce – Doin’ It

So, a fairly ordinary set of contents.  I never knew Steeplechase were produced by Eddie Kramer!  Or that Sweet Thursday was produced by Hugh Murphy (and originated by Tetragrammaton Records; weird cover shown, too).  And I guess this Armageddon is different than the British group – “People Talking” is written by “Frank Diez / M. Galatik” and the label is designated as Kuckkuck Records.

Inside the cover is all of the album covers of the material described above, and a sort of  catalogue of Polydor Records’ products of the day; I see stuff that I want to buy that isn’t represented on this LP (both are sampler LP’s – but are they colored vinyl?):

“Blues News” (Polydor Germany 109 577) (DM 10.-)

“Pop Sound 70” (Polydor Germany 2482 001) (DM 10.-)

Mute Records sampler “Vorwarts”

6-18-13          Mute Records sampler

On 6/18/66 The Beatles 45 “Paperback Writer” charts at No. 1 in England.  Also on 6/18/66 The Kinks 45 “Sunny Afternoon” charts at No. 1 – a good summer record.

I recently got a Mute Records sampler LP / CD set that looked OK to me – “Vorwarts”, a 2011 release.

1)     Junip – In Every Direction (White Sea remix)

2)     Big Deal – Locked Up

3)     Josh T. Pearson – Singer To The Crowd

4)     Liars – Greyscale

5)     Can – Millionspiel (Edit)

6)     S.C.U.M. – Summon The Sound

7)     Moby – Be The One

8)     Mick Harvey – The Ballad of Jay Givens

9)     Polly Scattergood – Silver Lining

10)  SFT / Espen J. Jorgensen – Noise Activity (extra track on CD only)

Very neat that they give you the CD with the purchase of the LP!

This was purchased for the exclusive Can cut (from 1970) and the Mick Harvey track.  I simply do not recognize anything else here; but if it’s on Mute Records – it has a chance it could be interesting!  Daniel Miller used to release records by Boyd Rice, after all!

When I wrote to The Birthday Party 30 odd years ago, it was Mick Harvey who wrote back.  Nice guy; got to meet him when The Birthday Party came to L.A. in approx. 1983.  I always found it odd that he made 2 x albums of Serge Gainsbourg songs.

The Can song is from a film; I guess they were trying to get film placement work (remember the album “Soundtracks”?), as it is an additional source of publishing money; money that could be used to further their experiments – towards whatever end they saw fit / necessary.  Cool.

Quiet Sun – “Mainstream”

6-17-13          Quiet Sun – “Mainstream”

6/16/84 Nik Kershaw “I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” 45 re-charts at No. 2 in England.  6/14/80 Yellow Magic Orchestra “Computer Game” 45 charts at No. 17 in England.  On 6/17/72 the double LP “Exile On Main Street” by The Rolling Stones charts at No. 1 in the US.  On 6/17/67 the Young Rascals 45 “Groovin’” charts at No. 8 in England.

Like most Roxy Music fans, I, too, puzzled at the arrival of the Quiet Sun LP.  Was Phil Manzanera leaving Roxy Music?  This record was unashamed progressive rock – a bit ‘out of place’ in 1975.  Great cover, too!

It was difficult to find an Island UK LP of this release, as a lower cost US version was busily being flogged, by the Island Records US “Antilles” label.  At some point, I opted for a Japanese LP of it, probably a re-issue.

Phil Manzanera’s label, Expression Records, recently did a new 2LP re-issue of this wonderful album, adding some of their demo tracks!  Yes, it’s also a re-mastered UK CD in a book-looking package – that will cost a few bob.  I found the 2LP version a short while ago, and have enjoyed playing it, listening to it once again.

Of particular interest are the demo tracks:  “Years of the Quiet Sun” (cover says “Original demo”), “Trot” (“Original demo”), “R.F.D.” (Warner Brothers demo) and “R.F.D. Part 1” (an out-take from the “Mainstream” sessions.  These are the tracks I am listening to as I type this.  Wow, great mellotron on the “Trot” demo!

So, this album was recorded during the sessions for Phil’s first solo album “Diamond Head”, while he remained a member of Roxy Music.  It’s all sort of a “million miles” from Roxy Music, ain’t it?  An instrumental album, progressive rock – as previously stated.

Seems to me in 2013 that this album isn’t far off from, say, Gilgamesh or National Health – distinctly “Canterbury” in feeling, presentation etc.  This record will appeal to fans of The Soft Machine!  No Bryan Ferry here!

Moving

I received notice that this blog site may be moving soon!  I will obviously keep you fully informed.

Das Bleiben Hits II

6-13-13          Das Bleiben Hits II

On 6/13/64 The Dave Clark Five 45 “Can’t You See That She’s Mine” charts at No. 10 in England.  On 6/13/70, the LP “Let It Be” by The Beatles charted at No. 1 in the US.  On 6/14/69 the Jethro Tull 45 “Living In The Past” makes it’s first run up the charts, at No. 3 in England.  On 6/14/75 the Van McCoy 45 “Do The Hustle” charts at No. 3 in England.

I recently stood and looked at all of the LP’s in the Rock vinyl at Amoeba Hollywood!  This is some feat, I must say!  For one thing, you have all of the Johnny-come-lately record collector guys standing in my way.  Or a guy who is looking at something, but won’t move when I stand there staring at him.  So, it took a while.

I spotted “Das Bleiben Hits II” in the “Various Artist” bin, a German Warner Brothers (3-68009) triple LP for $4.99 – that’s right, 36 tracks – downloaded straight from the bin @ Amoeba Hollywood to my collection.  Well, as you can see by the cover, it’s gorgeous – yet I don’t see any credit for the cover art.  Could it be Wandrey’s Studio?

In addition to some fairly standard ‘rock oldies’ being present, I spot:

King Curtis & The Kingpins – “Games People Play”; Jerry Green – “Seasons In The Sun” (and not Terry Jacks!); Osmosis – “She”; Joy Fleming – “Half Breed” (and not Cher!); Fancy – “Wild Thing” (always up for more Fancy material!); The Albanies – “Waterloo” (an Abba cover!); The Sweepers – “Harlem Song” (huh?)…this is a 1974 release, after all!

So, this one came to my collection via the beautiful cover / packaging, and a handful of perverse Euro tracks, circa 1974.  If the packaging was less beautiful, I might have to insist on some Frank Zappa being present, as he is on so many Euro 2 and 3 LP compilations!