Vinyl Finds

 

New Order - 'Low Life'  

From 1985 on vinyl. Attempting to fill some gaps in my record collection. Specifically mid-1980's sounds. At the time, even though I was a huge fan of MTV, I was apparently too hung up on my old favorites from the 70's to notice much of what was going on that was different.

On the road yesterday, twenty miles out of town and had this in my hand, knowing that I've been wanting to add New Order for quite a while but still just not sure at the asking price. So, I put it back. It was ten minutes after returning home that I realized my mistake. I would have hit the road again had there not been a closing time. I had to get through todays time at work, speed back down the freeway, fretting the entire time, (knowing my kind of luck), the scary possibility that someone else just might not be as hesitant as I had been. 

It was still there!!! The ongoing issues of lack of 1980's Brit-synth sounds has been addressed for the moment.

I also had this in hand and foolishly returned it to the bins. 

Why can't I be more decisive?

John Williams Trio, self-titled album from 1955. Jazz piano. I loved the cover photo and had no hesitations or objections to the asking price. I was just unsure, having never seen this cover image before, of the musical quality. Again, a little research from home and I realized the errors of my ways, though I felt a little better about the likelihood of returning and it still being there. I made sure that it wouldn't be there tomorrow. 

I am of the opinion that there was much more thought put into album cover presentation and photography in the 1950's and 60's. Creating an impression through an image was more important in those days. The sounds within the cover photo and liner notes sometimes feels like ten bonus tracks.

Vinyl Finds Today

I've been attempting to increase my coolness factor (that may be a lost cause, I may be stuck in nerdsville), by updating my 1960's and 80's vinyl holdings. 

Towards that goal, I drove down I-5 a few miles to an antique mall in downtown Albany, Oregon, where I found and took home (after a stop for fish & chips):

• The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! (1966)
• Dexy's Midnight Runners - Searching For the Young Soul Rebels (1980)
• The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It (1980)

It's only taken fifty-plus unexplainable years but I've recently become a fan of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and this record was a recent addition to my mental 'holy grail' list for badly wanted records at an acceptable price. I had to stretch the limits of what is acceptable but .... What if tomorrow turns out to be my last day on earth? Then at least I'll have listened to and seen this spinning on my turntable. That's unless I burst tonight from the fish & chips.

I've been a fan since the mid-1980's of the band, General Public, with Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, after viewing on MTV, their video for the song, 'Tenderness.' 

Prior to General Public, both were in the Ska band, The English Beat. I've been hoping to come across this recording on vinyl in my record digging excursions and today, there it was!

The English Beat - 'I Just Can't Stop It.' From 1980.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

From 1980. I purchased their, 'Too-Rye-Ay' album back in the early 1980's when the video for the song, 'Come On Eileen' was being played all over MTV. I never gave much attention to The Dexy's after that. I came across this while flipping through the New Wave bins. I wanted it, even if I end up not caring for the music, for the cover photograph. But from what I've read, I expect the music to be great also.

Dexy's Midnight Runners - 'Searching For the Young Soul Rebels.'

Soul Mining

'Soul Mining' from The The. From 1984. A recent vinyl find for me. A grail!!! I literally was flipping through a bin of new arrivals in an antique store that I frequent. AND THERE IT WAS!!! I almost fell over.

What a great, original name for a band .... The The.

That early to mid 80's, synthesizer driven sound that was trending for a few years. Feels a little like the progressive side for that genre. The songs are a little more quirky, which is part of its fascination.

'This Is the Day' and 'Uncertain Smile' are the highlights. 

Synchronicity

From 1983 as I recall. 'Synchronicity' by The Police. Difficult to believe that it's now almost forty years later. The rare three member band.

I've always wished that I was one of the voices in the background on 'King of Pain' singing ...... "That's my soul up there."

I was never much a fan of The Police until this record came along. And then they broke up shortly later.

Their sound mixed pieces of Rock, New Wave and Reggae and also originally Punk.

I recall a college girl that I worked with for a short time and who I was attempting to impress by mentioning that I was a fan of the band, informing me that she hated their song from a previous record, 'Roxanne.'

Three Days In May

Solo piano on vinyl. Not really Jazz or Classical and far from Pop These types of recordings were sometimes called New Age for no good reason. I've always hated that label. It's not part of that way of life. It's just piano playing. There were a great many of these recordings (solo acoustic piano and solo acoustic guitar) made in the 1980's starting with the Windham Hill records but by the early 1990's the form had devolved into adding other instrumentation and slowly began to fade away. 

From 1984. This is a alternate version of the album cover. Not what was used on my copy. I couldn't find a better image of the actual artwork.

The Joshua Tree

It's difficult to realize that this album is almost thirty years old.

How did U2 come up with the ideas for this collection of songs? There's not a single song that could be thought of as just existing in order to fill space on the record. When finished, did they pause and wonder how they could ever match this effort?

As recalled, there was a huge build up leading up to its release in 1987. It seemed to be considered a masterpiece before it was released. You don't see that any more where the release of a record was a major event. A significant moment or landmark in cultural history. That's how I remember this record. It's differfent today and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's what I used to wonder about .... that you would reach a point in time where with a finite number of musical notes available to be used in the writing of songs, that eventually songwriters would run out of combinations of those notes to leep music truly evolving and original

I intially fell in love with side one of the record and rarely listened to side two. Maybe it was due to it being the height of the music video age on television and the anointed radio hits of the day were all on side one. It was years later before I truly listened to and discovered the beauty of side two. It's just as strong as the first side if not moreso.

All Those Years Ago

Another playlist from long ago. There's like a personal visual video snippet playing in my eyes, from a moment of my life that goes with each. Though I suppose that's true with most songs that will cause you to stop and listen every time that they are heard.

• The Eagles - King of Hollywood
• U2 - New Years Day
• Steely Dan - Doctor Wu
• Grateful Dead - Uncle Johns Band
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Listen To Her Heart
• Tom Jans - Gotta Move
• Neil Young - Like a Hurricane
• Benjamin Orr (from The Cars) - Stay the Night
• Jim Carroll Band - Day and Night
• The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays
• Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns and Money
• Big Country - Lost Patrol
• Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World
• Bruce Springsteen - Factory

Eleventh Confession

One of my favorites from the 1980's!!! I love the drums and percussion in this. I recall reading a magazine article or album review back then about his song, "This Father's Day." (I'm never quite sure of anything these days but I think it was in Rolling Stone.) His music was new to me at the time. I found a cassette tape of the album that it was on and discovered "Eleventh Confession."

Fading Into Oblivion

There's currently only a few still remaining but there was once a time when every decent sized city or town had several stores where you could shop for components to make up your dream stereo system. Speakers, turntables, receivers, tape decks, etc ..... And all manner of add ons that would better your sound quality and light up like a Christmas tree. And a dozen or more major brands with their lines of equipment. There were periods of fashion where silver was the preferred color. Black had its time as well. People would browse up and down the aisles like it was a record store, oooohhhhhhing and ahhhhhhing especially at the speakers, where size used to matter. Each visit was an adventure. These stores were popular hang out spots in the 1970's and 80's.

Many years ago, I purchased a graphic equalizer. I never really learned how to properly use it and never knew the proper verbiage. It had 16-20 different sliding knobs/levers where you could manipulate and play with the audio. All I knew was to experiment from the central setting of each slider ...... up, down, down, up ..... find a spot you enjoyed and leave it alone for a song or a day or a week, then experiment some more.

People would share and discuss the wattage of their receivers/amplifiers. I never got into that. I always had a little volume to spare if suddenly called for by changing situations ..... you know, in case your parents left home for awhile or you noticed that the neighbors were away. I recall once putting on the Eagles song,  The King of Hollywood, with its biting guitar riff and sleazy vocals and having both floors of the house shaking. It wasn't heavy metal or punk or even approaching such but it was rock!! And getting lost in the big sound!! Kids these days with all their headphone and ear bud wearing ways, never experience that. Unless they have some damned good, extremely caring, music loving parents or a old weird uncle like me.

Everything always looked so pretty on the store shelves. How does one choose? I used to think that if I ever were to get rich, I'd build a home with six or seven listening rooms and equip each with a different sound system. Instead of collecting classic cars, I'd collect stereo equipment.