Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run

Bruce Springsteen
Born To Run
CBS 69170
£1
Filed between Patti Smith 'Easter' and The Stranglers 'The Raven'.


I've never before owned a Bruce Springsteen album (the nearest I've come is the 12" of 'Dancing In The Dark'). There's always been something nagging at me that I should at least give some of his 70s output a chance, 'The River' in particular, but it was 'Born To Run' on the shelf and so here we are. On first play I haven't been too enthralled much beyond the title track and 'Thunder Road' (with its shades of 'Bat Out Of Hell' - surprised Springsteen never sued - which I know from Kevin Rowland's version, never officially released after it was pulled from his infamous album 'My Beauty'). At the same time I haven't been put off either; expect this post to be edited in the future ...

Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium I

Stevie Wonder
Original Musiquarium I
Motown 428009
£1
Filed between The Velvet Underground 'Loaded' and Wreckless Eric 'The World According to Wreckless Eric'.

Thanks to my age my early knowledge of Stevie Wonder places me in the era of ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’. They may have both been huge hits but they’re hardly classic/creditable and, even after appreciating the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover of ‘Higher Ground’ I’ve never really investigated his back catalogue any further.  

This collection carries further examples of schmaltz ('Isn't She Lovely', 'You Are The Sunshine Of My Life') but thankfully the four sides are handily arranged into loose themes with sides 1 & 3 being those most likely to trouble my turntable.

The Teardrop Explodes - Everybody Wants To Shag ... The Teardrop Explodes

The Teardrop Explodes
Everybody Wants To Shag ... The Teardrop Explodes
Fontana 842 439-1
£1
Filed between Matthew Sweet 'Inside' and The Velvet Underground 'Loaded'.

The 'lost' album, finally issued in 1990 and using the title the band originally wanted for 'Kilimanjaro'. Not quite on a par with the latter. For the full Teardrop Explodes experience check out Cope's autobiographies,
Head-On/Repossessed. Just don't try and play the sock game.

Sandie Shaw - The Golden Hits of Sandie Shaw

Sandie Shaw
The Golden Hits of Sandie Shaw
Marble Arch
£1
Filed between The Rutles (eponymous) and Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood 'Nancy and Lee'.

Last week a friend, working at the Meltdown festival curated by Ray Davies, said that he had been groped by Sandie Shaw. She liked his tattoos apparently. This was on my mind when I spotted this and probably influenced me to buy it. Another old slab of vinyl that's allowed me to (re)discover just how resilient it can be (it has surface marks aplenty but plays without any jumps), it does seem that Sandie only really had one song and style, re-released under different titles. However I must stress that both the song and the style are very, very listenable.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Greatest Hits

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
Greatest Hits
A&M AMLS 985
£1.00
Filed between The Matadors (eponymous) and Naz Nomad And The Nightmares 'Give Daddy The Knife Cindy'.

Not an LP I anticipate playing too often but which could be the soundtrack should we decide to host any lounge-music parties ...

Otis Redding - Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

Otis Redding
Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay
Stax
£3
Filed between Redd Kross 'Teen Babes From Monsanto' and the Rolling Stones 'These Satanic Majesties Request'.

Damn you Otis for forcing me to use a cliché, but here goes ... you wait for one Otis Redding LP to come along and two arrive at once. Right, that’s that out of the way ... and indeed, no sooner have I secured a copy of ‘Otis Blue’ (which I haven’t owned for approximately 25 years) do I then stumble across a copy of this 1968 post-death cash-in collection on the mighty Stax label. One of several 60s vinyls I’ve bought recently where a visual inspection suggested I should leave well alone – plenty of surface marks, some that look like they could be genuine scratches but which when played, bar some background clicks, are absolutely fine.

An 80s or 90s pressing in similar condition would be one to avoid. The last ‘new’ release I previously bought on vinyl was ‘The Second Coming’, the no-longer-hotly-anticipated second album from the Stone Roses. Despite being issued across two discs (both rather flimsy) the sound quality was appalling  - feel free to make your own joke there - and it was clear that the industry had stopped trying to produce decent vinyl pressings. A decision now seemingly reversed with the rise of 180 gsm pressings as standard, one wonders when the humble cassette tape will re-capture people’s imagination ....

The Ramones - Leave Home

The Ramones
Leave Home
Mau Mau MAU 602
£2.99 (+£3.50 p&p)
Filed between 'Quadrophenia (Original Soundtrack)' and The Real Kids (eponymous).


For some reason I was often offered records at school, usually ones that belonged to the seller's older brother. One such offer was the first two Ramones albums. Aged about 14 at the time, I'd only ever heard 'Bonzo Goes To Bitburg' on a Beggars Banquet sampler LP, but keen to hear more and knowing that the friend was an Ultravox fan I offered him my copy of their Quartet LP. I thought this was slightly cheeky (it was 2 LPs for 1 after all) but he couldn't agree quicker.

The next day the swap was made. A mutual friend urged me to reconsider, citing examples from the lyric sheets that he thought would put me off. Knowing that Quartet was a terrible album I of course had nothing to lose and the deal was sealed.

(A later deal I made from a different person's older brother's collection saw me acquire a copy of Ultravox's 'Young Savage' single from their pre-Midge Ure-era - if you've never heard this I suggest you trawl download sites for it immediately - or buy Ha! Ha! Ha! - as it's a bona fide new wave classic that will make you wonder how they 'progressed' to Vienna is less than two years.)

My first reaction to listening to the two albums was to be amazed at how fast the songs seemed, both in terms of tempo and in the way they just kept coming, one after the other. 20+ years on they no longer have that effect on me, though my toddler-aged son has developed a keen ear for the band, particularly 'Blitzkreig Bop' - I think it's the simple 'Hey Ho Let's Go' refrain that sees him stop and restart the CD - and 'Rockaway Beach'.

Shame to have replaced my original Sire copy with a reissue, but that's my stupid fault for selling it in the first place! But then again it does have 'Carbona Not Glue' on it ..

The Beatles - A Collection Of Oldies

The Beatles
A Collection Of Oldies
Fame FA 41 3081 1
£1
Filed between The Beatles 'Help!' and The Beatles 'White Album'.

Not sinking quite as low as Marc Bolan's K-Tel release, a handful of Beatles LPs were re-issued on EMI’s budget-price Fame and MFP labels – none of the key albums, but certainly the two ‘Rock & Roll Music’ compilations, ‘Live at the Hollywood Bowl’ and this collection, first issued in 1966. In each of the three preceding years the Beatles had managed to release two albums; with only ‘Revolver’ in 1966 EMI must have been feeling the pinch.

Mark Bolan & T. Rex - Best Of The 20th Century Boy

Mark Bolan & T. Rex
Best Of The 20th Century Boy
K-Tel NE 1297
£1
Filed between The Beatles 'Rarities' and David Bowie 'Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars'.

Poor Marc Bolan. So low was his stock in 1985 that he was subjected to a best-of on the K-Tel label. If it had flopped the next one would presumably have been released by Ronco. This was six years before its title track was used on a Levis ad and a resurgence in interest. On the plus side you do get a genuinely comprehensive collection nicely spread over two discs.

Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

Buzzcocks
Singles Going Steady
Liberty LBR 1043
1979

99p  (+£1.99 p&p).
Filed between David Bowie 'Aladdin Sane' and The Byrds (self-titled best-of).

I can pin-point my introduction to the Buzzcocks to April 1989. The Rockit Dolls had played their first gig and we were told by local legend Pete Murphy (who we later immortalised in song) that we sounded like them. Funnily enough the band we were most trying to resemble were Soho Roses and once our singer, Mark, picked up a copy of Singles Going Steady it became apparent that Paul Blitz and co were Buzzcocks fans and that we’d acquired the similarity second-hand.