Well, not quite. More a case of six 7" singles picked up over the years from charity shops which were either unexpected (prototype NY punk in E17?) or unknown to me. But perhaps between them they are the answer to the ultimate question.
Seems only right to start with this, a fresh acquisition that rather stood out amongst the Smokie and Racey singles in my local Cats Protection shop. The stamped labels with their minimal information screamed DIY but I had no idea what the grooves might contain. I took a look online before parting with my 50p and was able to quickly gauge that it was one of only two singles released by Industrial Accident Records, and with a run of 500 copies. On playing it The Institution revealed themselves as a band that tapped into a new wave / reggae sound, not quite ska but also not The Police either. Mrs DGW commented, quite fairly, that it sounded a little like The Libertines. The Discogs listing for Jane And Jon didn't provide much additional information but on clicking through to the label's only other release, Don't Go Away by Sonic Tonix, I found that both bands featured members that went on to form cult indie legends The Jazz Butcher. Nice to find an early slice of that band's history.
I had no difficulty identifying this single. The very song that famously saw the New York Dolls derided as 'mock rock' by smug looking, sorry, Whispering Bob Harris, it was a surprise find in a Walthamstow charity shop, sometime back in the early 1990s. Note the songwriting credit with unnecessary apostrophe. When your record company does that you know they're not wholly supporting your band.
Another purchase from the 90s. Given its release year (1978) and the image of the band, No Dice, on the back of the sleeve I figured this would probably be an underwhelming single from the footnotes of the post-punk era. Instead Why Sugar is the best record the Faces never made.
As discussed in the BBCs 'The Joy Of The Single' documentary, sometimes the b-side of a single is where it's at. Here, the Casinos put out a pretty inoffensive ballad, Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye as the a-side but flip it over and I Still Love You, although not ground-breaking, has one hell of a hook in its verse.
The contribution of The Birds to 60s pop history rests on two things. Firstly, not being The Byrds and secondly, having Ronnie Wood in their ranks. I was aware of their existence and the rarity value of their few releases so I wouldn't have expected to find this in a pile of otherwise junk sleeveless singles. But there it was, far from mint and its over-sized hole suggesting it had spent some time waiting patiently in a jukebox. It's crackly but no worse for it.
I can't claim to have known who I Giganti were. But they looked like they were worth a punt. And again it's the b-side, La Bomba Atomica, that stands out. Curiously I was in a local independent Italian pizzeria recently that was playing 60s Italian guitar pop and I joked that maybe some I Giganti would come on; mid-meal the a-side, Tema, duly made an appearance. When occasionally DJing at a friend's club in the 1990s, La Bomba Atomica was the only song that was allowed to breach its 'nothing pre-1970' rule. Not even the first Stooges album, or the likes of Beggars Banquet or Let It Bleed, got a look in.
MELODY MAKER November 4 1978 Cover: Keith Richards Lead album review: 'Dub Housing', Pere Ubu Lead live review: The Clash Single of the week: 'Nothing New', Bethnal The chances are that any TV show setting itself at the tail-end of 1978 would be using punk/new-wave music and imagery to help set its scenes, with maybe some disco elements thrown in for good measure. One look at the front of this issue of Melody Maker paints a very different picture, featuring as it does Keith Richards, Rod Stewart and Mike Oldfield. The Clash & Third World get a look in next to a piece referred to as 'Kraftwerk The Movie'. No such film exists as far as I know but instead ties to an article written in the style of a film script. The lead piece on Keef relates to him taking to the stage in New York after his trial following his legendary drugs bust in Canada, which ultimately triggered him finally kicking heroin. I used to have a poster of photos of Keef from 1962 through to around 1990 and it always seemed to be that his appearance changed significantly around this time; it was almost as if the heroin had been slowing down his ageing process. There's a gallery here where you can judge for yourself. Richards has also claimed that he never had a cold during his heroin years, and that governments knew full well it was the cure for the common cold but didn't want to admit it. It can be assumed then that Eddie & The Hot Rods weren't users as p3 reveals they were cancelling a short run of Scottish dates as various members of the band had flu. I was pleased to see an ad for Our Price inside the front cover, having worked there over a couple of stints a decade or so later. I was there when they were a fully-fledged national chain and opened their 300th store; in November 1978 they had 10, all with 01 telephone numbers. Alongside a Top 60 rundown ('Grease' at #1), the ad prominently features the Fabulous Poodles. From flicking through this pile of issues they, along with several other bands I'm not familiar with, crop up quite a lot although my route to them was via seeing their singer (Tony de Meur when he was a Poodle; Ronnie Golden when I saw him; his website reveals more on his various personas) provide the musical backing for 'Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen' (downloadable here). Johnny Rotten may have worn a customised 'I Hate Pink Floyd' t-shirt but Melody Maker were happy to give keyboardist Rick Wright a platform to discuss his recent solo album while also dropping hints about a new project Floyd were about to start work on: "I can't say what it is .... it's Roger's baby, his thing ....it is a very strong idea .... a very involved thing and we're doing a film as well. It's a film based on the idea of the music that Roger has written for the album". The elongated recording process of the resulting album, The Wall, would see Wright leave the band albeit remaining as a session musician for the record and as a hired hand on the subsequent tour.
Paul Weller reviews the singles, name-dropping that he's a "personal friend of the band" before saying that Blondie's 'Hanging On the Telephone' just "doesn't do a lot for me". That's certainly not the only new release he dismisses, but the fact that he says on three occasions that he prefers the b-side shows he was pretty thorough. His appearance in the office doesn't prevent All Mod Cons from getting almost as good a kicking as the man who was down in the tube station at midnight; "If Paul Weller were to be a little less enthusiastic, a little less concerned with churning out singles like a bottle factory, and a little more selective in his approach, The Jam would not be in danger of becoming tiresome".
All the way through to its merger into the NME, Melody Maker was the go-to magazine for musicians wanted ads. Assorted tales exist of careers that owe their existence to those pages. Given he was born a few weeks after the ad to the right was placed, it's a fair guess that Mike Skinner didn't take almost a quarter of a century to go from a manager-less hopeful 'ready to roll' to the man behind Original Pirate Material. Whether Iver's Sledgehammer found themselves a vocalist, or Fanni from the Stillettos took any worthwhile calls from drummers may never be known. At a different level, a Mr Luigi was seeking a synth player to accompany a drummer on Friday & Saturday evenings, from nine until one pm in an Italian restaurant. Given that reads to me as a 16 hour shift I'm hoping the money was extremely good.
But my favourite ad has to be this one. I'm not entirely convinced this would be acceptable under current-day equal opportunities legislation. Is the 'warning' paragraph a description of their predecessor? Though it should be noted that to be (r)ejected you'd have to be all of those things and it's a pretty niche list. So if you're still determined you know what to do.
It's been easy for me to avoid getting caught up in Record Store Day. Without a dedicated independent record shop in Cambridge it's not really been on my radar. Heffers, predominantly a bookshop, has maintained a small offering but for 2015 they have been joined by two vinyl-only retailers in the city - Relevant and Lost In Vinyl. I can cycle (this is Cambridge after all) to the former in under 5 minutes and so I took more interest in this year's releases than ever before.
Thankfully there wasn't too much on the list that appealed and so I wasn't tempted to join the queues that reportedly started forming outside Relevant at 4.15am. Sure, I could see some good titles on there - some that I already had (Otis Blue; L.A.M.F; Roger The Engineer; Don't Stand Me Down), some that I could see the appeal of should you be so inclined (the Creation Artifact boxed set; and the album that went on to top that week's vinyl-only chart, The Holy Bible) but there was only one title on the list of 550 exclusive products that truly caught my eye: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake by the Small Faces, predominantly due to the fact that it came with the circular sleeve.
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - Record Store Day 2015
This is something I've kept half-an-eye out for a while and I wasn't going to get an original copy on the cheap. Buoyed by the fact that I'd just picked up some bargains in local charity shops (amongst them Bowie's Young Americans; Madonna's Immaculate Collection; a few Nancy Sinatra singles and a selection of new wave 7-inches such as Jilted John and Rock Lobster) I felt I could justify picking it up.
In doing so I was reminded that my brother had this, and if I recall correctly had bought it at Tower Records somewhere around 1985. Which in itself surprised me - that far after its release they were still producing the, presumably expensive, circular sleeve? Checking on Discogs I can see a 1980 reissue and expect it was that, but bear in mind this isn't something that was solely released as a tie-in to a one-day event. It was released in that sleeve as someone presumably decided it should be available again rather than just re-issuing the rather unsatisfactory square sleeve with the circular image.
On further reflection and again in the mid-80s, I bought The White Album in my local Our Price and it came with the inserts. A few years later I was on the other side of the counter in that exact same shop in my first full-time job; vinyl sales were tailing off and we had a gradually dwindling range but I can confirm that The White Album still came with the inserts as late as 1990. Maybe EMI over-printed back in 1968. I can't say the same for Sgt Pepper, and although we did still stock New Order's Blue Monday 12" it was no longer being produced with the die-cut sleeve. I don't recall Their Satanic Majesties Request being stocked but if it was I'm certain it would have been in a similar sleeve to the copy I picked up cheaply around four years ago.
By the time I moved to Cambridge it was an independent record shop free zone. We had a HMV and a Fopp, both of which survived when HMV entered administration in 2011; Zavvi until its demise on Christmas Eve 2009 (coincidentally the only day I ever bought anything in there, completely unaware that it was about to shut for good) and a branch of Head briefly operated in 2012/3. Visual evidence of past emporia still exists, such the Hot Numbers mural on Kingston Street (right), the name having more recently been brought back to life in the form of a thriving coffee shop - and more - on parallel Gwydir Street.
Photo: found0bjects.blogspot.co.uk
At the other end of the latter street can be found the seemingly abandoned store front for Roll On Blank Tapes (left), where a hand-written price list reveals that a C30 Ferric tape would have set you back 55p; an extra 10p would have got you an upgrade to Chrome. A MiniDisc sign in the window shows that the shop did try to diversify but it was too little too late.
Nearby Mill Road also saw the first permanent branch of independent chain Andy's, its founder Andy Gray, having previously traded at Cambridge market. Gray currently runs BGO records, a reissue label named after Andy's sister store, The Beat Goes On, which focused more on second-hand and rarities. King Street was also home to numerous record shops; as I understand, Parrot was, to steal a phrase from Graham Jones, the last shop standing on that particular street, closing in 2002.
And it's Mill Road where the Relevant Record Cafe has taken up residence. As the name suggests its more than just a record shop, with a cafe on the ground floor and the all-important vinyl in the basement, Note: vinyl. There's not a CD to be seen, and if you don't have anything to play vinyl on panic not, as Relevant stock a range of turntables (only this morning I saw a couple walking along Mill Road, each carrying a freshly purchased Steepletone turntable). The vinyl is split roughly 50/50 between new and second-hand. The 'new' is a healthy split between recent releases and back catalogue. The second-hand section would have made my own quest to rebuild my collection far simpler, spying as I did things such as the Quadrophenia soundtrack for a very reasonable £9. And not a tatty sleeve to be seen; all the second-hand LPs would by my reckoning be graded as VG at the very least; and unlike buying online you can see & feel exactly what you get.
They've included a small seating area in the basement - a nice panoramic shot can be found here, courtesy of @ChrisRandWrites - which doubles-up as an in-store performance area (and for such occasions you can make use of the cafe's alcohol licence). And rather brilliantly Relevant is operating extended opening hours, meaning that after spending much of Black Friday scoffing at videos of people fighting over 40" TVs I was able to drop in at 7pm that evening to pick up the 'Morrissey Curates The Ramones' RSD release.
Welcome to the area Relevant - not least for encouraging me to write a blog post for the first time in over a year!
Relevant Record Cafe, 260 Mill Road, Cambridge Facebook Twitter
The Kinks Well Respected Kinks
Marble Arch MAL612
50p
Filed between The Kinks 'Best of 1964-65' and The Kinks 'Village Green Preservation Society'
There's a charity shop that can't seem to make its mind up when it comes to pricing up vinyl. I assume it comes down to whoever is there on the day. For example on one visit they had Prince's '1999' LP available for a very optimistic £25; at the same time they were putting out a large collection that had presumably just been donated and I left the shop with half-a-dozen Northern Soul compilations for 95p each and a tip-off that they were putting more out later in the day.
For over a year I kept an eye on a copy of 'Silver Missiles & Nightingales' by the Suicide Twins, which they had priced up at £8.95 (actually about right judging by eBay), in the knowledge that I was probably the only person in Cambridge likely to buy it. It eventually made it to the 50p section and subsequently into my possession.
This was one of a handful of 60s LPs that I picked up for 50p, although on my next visit the 50p section had suddenly risen to 95p. That's inflation for you.
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
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 ...
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.
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'.
Filed between The Damned ‘The Light At The End Of The Tunnel’ and Dexys Midnight Runners ‘This Is What She’s Like’.
Good little compilation, in that amongst its limited number of songs you get the original 'Dance Stance' (later 'Burn It Down'), a pre-fiddle 'Plan B' and a smattering of b-sides that replace those lost when I sold a few of their singles.
The Kinks Best of The Kinks 1964-65
Hallmark SHM 3265
£2
Filed between The Hollywood Brats (eponymous) and David Kusworth 'The Bounty Hunters'
Picked this up a local street party - ironically I sold my long-owned 'Golden Hour Of The Kinks' LP at the previous year's party. Further evidence of classic artists that for a while saw their body of work demoted to cheap compilations and reissues, this 1989 collection was on a Pickwick subsidiary label and would almost definitely have been confined to the bargain racks. I think that only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones escaped such downgrading (although as previously noted, some Beatles collections did turn up on budget priced labels, and certainly in the early 1990s The Rolling Stones back catalogue was available as mid-priced reissues).
Original Soundtrack Quadrophenia
Polydor 2625 037
£1.99 (+£3.00 p&p)
Filed between Primal Scream 'Loaded' and The Real Kids (eponymous).
Having lent out my original copy never to be seen again, this was one of the first LPs I hunted down. I wasn't too fussed about the Who's contributions, and mainly wanted it again for side four: James Brown 'Night Train', Booker T & The MGs 'Green Onions', Kingsmen 'Louie Louie' and more. Makes me miss Alfredos though.
The Birds No Good Without You Baby
Decca F.12257
30p
Filed between The Beatles 'All You Need Is Love' and The Blow Monkeys 'Digging Your Scene'.
Now this is definitely not something I expected to find languishing in a charity shop ... The Birds featured one Mr Ronnie Wood and their brief career in the mid-60s was over-shadowed by the battle for the band name with the rather-better known Byrds. This was one of a handful of singles the band released and is very much of its time - quite resemblant of the Small Faces, which is no bad thing.
Bearwood. The Little Nibble. 'You weren't talking about me were you?'
From the album that killed off their career (the Stone Roses should have taken heed when they similarly disappeared into the wilderness) but is now lauded as a classic, 'This Is What She's Like' is, well, what can I say? The Italians have a word for it ...
I had the album (Don't Stand Me Down) back in 1985 and it pretty much went straight over my head. It was a long way removed from its predecessors, which was no big surprise as Kevin Rowland had a tendency to re-invent himself. It wasn't an album aimed at 14 year olds (such as I was at the time) but even so I knew there was something in there. 'Listen To This' had the most in common with the Dexys I knew and although at the time I didn't appreciate aspects of 'This Is What She's Like' I immediately liked the latter parts of it.
It was an album I would go back to over the years. And as I got older more and more of it made sense. By the time the band (or a new incarnation of it) surfaced in 2003 it was a staple part of my collection and something that I would merrily force people to listen to.
; and the album that went on to top that week's vinyl-only chart, The Holy Bible) but there was only one title on the 
