The Kinks - Well Respected Kinks

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.

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy

John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Double Fantasy
Geffen K99131
£1
Filed between John Lennon 'Shaved Fish' and John Lennon 'The John Lennon Collection'



Despite not having heard of John Lennon at the time, I have some very clear memories from December 9th 1980 as the news of his death the night before came through from New York. I was 10 at the time and the only member of the Beatles I knew of was Paul McCartney – perhaps not surprising given that in the preceding years he had been the only one in the public eye, not least with 1977’s ‘Mull Of Kintyre’, with Lennon having only just emerged from his self-imposed five year hiatus and the solo careers of George Harrison and Ringo Starr peaking back in the early 70s (the latter had yet to take the narrator’s role on Thomas The Tank Engine, otherwise I may have known who he was).

Music was not that prevalent in our household and the impact on me cannot be understated, as a whole new world seemed to open up. That evening the BBC broadcasted the 1965 film ‘Help!’ and something was almost immediately triggered throughout our home. My dad bought Double Fantasy and my older brother invested in the Red and Blue albums. It was shortly after this that I also started to buy records, pocket money permitting (my earliest purchases incidentally were ELO's Greatest Hits and viral video star Kim Wilde's debut album). Music for me became an obsession and rather than waste my teenage money on cigarettes I spent more and more on records. In 1985 I bought my first guitar and by 1988 I had a vague idea of how how to play it. I stumbled onto a stage for the first time the following year.

This can all be traced back to that day thirty-two years ago - my musical epiphany if you must. Hardly a replacement for the world when compared to the loss of someone of Lennon's status, but hugely important to me on a personal level.

Mention of this LP on Twitter recently also led to a suggestion that the lyrics towards the end of 'Watching The Wheels' echoed the final pasages of 'Catcher In The Rye'. I knew this was the book Mark Chapman was carrying on that fateful day but was unaware of this other potential link - more can be read at http://www.dpdotcom.com/freebie/TTMGRexcerpt.pdf.

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.