Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy

Warren Zevon
Excitable Boy
Asylum K53073
£1
Filed between Young Fresh Fellows 'This One's For The Ladies' and The Zombies 'Odessey And Oracle'.

October 1995, close to Halloween, at the Engine Room in Camden for the famously difficult music quiz. Frequented by NME & Melody Maker journalists, the only time we ever won a prize was for best team name (on the day Britain’s biggest boyband split up we went for ‘Take That And F**k Off’).

On this particular night the themed intros round had so far included the likes of ‘The Monster Mash’ and ‘There’s A Ghost In My House’ when this mid-tempo, piano-led intro kicked in. To my surprise and confusion all my fellow team-mates immediately went for ‘Werewolves Of London’ by Warren Zevon, a song I’d never heard. I was convinced they were wrong – it was surely ‘One Of Those Things’ by Dexys Midnight Runners. No question about it. Okay, so it didn’t fit the theme for the round whereas their answer did but ... it WAS Dexys.

Once the answers were revealed they were proved right – and on subsequent re-issues of ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’, the Dexys track now carries a co-credit to Zevon (the lifting is also noted in Kevin Rowland’s sleevenotes for the Director’s Cut edition).  

I’ve heard ‘Werewolves Of London’ numerous times since, and back in 2004 a BBC poll saw its opening lyrics voted the best of all-time.

I still defend my answer though ...

The Who - My Generation

The Who
My Generation
Brunswick 05944
25p




You will note the disconnect between the sleeve and the record. I would have happily bought 'Long Live Rock' (for one of the b-sides, The High Numbers 'I'm The Face'). But inside I was surprised to see a well-played Brunswick-issued 'My Generation'. Despite the clear wear & tear I'm sure it would sound great on an old Dansette.

The Yardbirds - Roger The Engineer

The Yardbirds
Roger The Engineer
Edsel
Filed between Wreckless Eric 'The World According To Wreckless Eric' and Young Fresh Fellows 'This One's For The Ladies'.



Picked this up more from intrigue than anything. I used to have a Yardbirds best-of, all of which pre-dated this, and to be honest I was never that keen on them. However this album is often referred to as a 60s classic. Have concluded that it's not really my cup of tea ...

Talking Heads - Fear Of Music

Talking Heads
Fear Of Music
£1






Proof you should never give up hope when trawling through those bargain bins. One local charity shop carries, at a guesstimate, in excess of 1,000 LPs (predominantly classical LPs that will never, ever sell). This was the very last one in the last rack.

Blur - Vinyl box set

Blur
21 (21 CD set)
Blur (7 LP set)

Announced overnight, an extensive re-issue package will see remastered editions of Blur's back catalogue be released on July 30th 2012. As well as the 21 CD set (consisting of 21 CDs funnily enough, including 65 unreleased tracks) there will also be a 13 LP box set, available to pre-order now.

'Leisure' will appear as a single LP, with the subsequent six albums each spread over two discs, all pressed on heavyweight 180 gram, audiophile vinyl. The first five albums have been remastered by Frank Arkwright, overseen by Stephen Street.

Original vinyl editions command high prices - with LPs selling in neglible quantities through the 1990s they're very hard to come by. As well as celebrating Blur's aural greaness this could well be a canny investment. And with the Amazon 'price guarantee' you can pre-order now and, should the price drop, you pay the lower price. Can't say fairer than that.

David Bowie - Hunky Dory

David Bowie
Hunky Dory
£4
Filed between David Bowie 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' and David Bowie 'Aladdin Sane'

Another direct replacement for a previously sold LP, picked up after having the good fortune to have the first look through a freshly donated batch of vinyl at a central London branch of Age Concern. A cut above the usual donations (Geoff Love, Semprini and Manuel & The Music of the Mountains were nowhere to be seen) I wasn't able to buy there and then and was asked to return the following day when they'd priced it up. In some cases they went for crazy prices (can't fault them for trying) and so I only ended up with three of the ten LPs I'd originally ear-marked (this, 'Heroes', and Tom Petty's greatest hits).

On the one hand I'm up on my previous version as this is an early pressing bereft of any references to 'Mainman'. On the other it's been well-played (and possibly badly stored - quite a few of the other LPs donated had torn sleeves, most likely caused by damp, most disappointingly in the case of a copy of Leonard Cohen's 'Songs From A Room') and has noticeable background noise during the frequent quiet parts.

Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Dexys Midnight Runners

Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
EMI/Fame FA 3032
£1
Filed between The Damned ‘The Light At The End Of The Tunnel’ and Dexys Midnight Runners 'Too Rye Aye'


"I'm just searching for the young soul rebels, and I can't find them anywhere. Where have you hidden them? Maybe you should welcome the new soul vision, welcome the new soul vision, welcome the new soul vision ..."

Thanks for some fairly hefty recent airplay for Dexys our 5 year old can regularly be heard humming the main hook from 'Geno', so it's possible they've replaced the Ramones as his favourite band.

Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas

Leonard Cohen
Old Ideas
Columbia 88697986711
Filed between The Clash 'London Calling' and Cowboy Junkies 'The Caution Horses'




The last time I chose to buy a new release on vinyl was 'The Second Coming' by the Stone Roses. As well as sounding the band's death knell, this was also the end of the line as far as me and modern vinyl was concerned. Pressed across two LPs I anticipated a decent bit of product; leaving the quality of the music to one side, what I heard made it abundantly clear that record companies no longer gave a hoot when it came to pressing vinyl. After all, it was the same price as the CD, which was cheaper to both produce and transport and would have sold in greater quantities (though not as many as it would have if it had been released a few years earlier). Basic economics dictated that vinyl was not worth pursuing.

So almost 18 years on I've elected to spend the extra and buy Leonard Cohen's Old Ideas on LP. Many vinyl releases these days also include a code for downloading the album in MP3 format; here Columbia have included a CD (a basic edition in a plain white slip case). With a fold-out lyric insert separate to the picture inner sleeve this is a delightful reminder of former rituals, placing the album on the deck and then poring over the sleeve. Easily worth the additional expense.

The Kinks - Kinks

The Kinks
Kinks
Pye NPL 18096
Filed between The Hollywood Brats (eponymous) and Best of The Kinks 1964-65



It doesn't happen too often, but once in a while I'll be flicking through the records in a charity shop and something I've genuinely been looking for appears. I'd had this, along with other early Kinks releases, on my eBay watch list over the last few months and apart from placing a few insulting bids have never seriously tried to 'win' any of them. And so, inamongst what appeared to be someone's painstakingly built Cliff Richard collection, I came to find a mono pressing for 75p. There are some sticky marks on side two that I'm confident I can ease off (though they don't cause any jumps so I'm not too concerned). And I've used the bargain price to justify a rather more expensive purchase of 'The Village Green Preservation Society'.

Pink Floyd - Relics

Pink Floyd
Relics
Starline SRS 5071
Filed between Tom Petty 'Full Moon Fever' and Iggy Pop 'Lust For Life'



Found in the same charity shop as the first Kinks LP, enabling me to officially write off my other copy that's been in my brother's possession for about 10 years.

Chocolate Watch Band - No Way Out

Chocolate Watch Band

No Way Out
Sundazed LP 5306
£1.04 + P&P



Sundazed's tagline says it all: 'Kinda like a record company, except fun and run by music lovers'. With a keen eye (ear?) for authenticity, Sundazed specialises in 180gsm reissues, using original master tapes where feasible. This was listed on eBay as a reissue but with no mention of the label, and quite possibly went under the radar as a result.