The on-line forum is a strange beast. Often it is a series of blokes (the record collector groups are almost all male, you know) taking turns at “show and tell”. The bargain of the century, my latest rarity, the best, the worst; there is no real dialogue or any genuine discussion but there is lots of […]
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was released in the second week of September 1980. Preceded by the hugely successful single ‘Ashes to Ashes’, Scary Monsters hit #1 on the UK album charts on 27th September. It also made #1 in Australia and peaked just outside the Top 10 in the US. Bowie’s fourteenth studio album […]
Not long ago I wrote about an unscheduled month in the UK in the late 90s. A side trip to Wales was mentioned and that is where our story begins today. Every music tragic knows that it is not civic architecture or religious edifices that get the music hunter-gatherer’s pulse a-quickening; it’s record shops. We […]
CONTEXT Just in case it isn’t immediately obvious, music is a passion and hobby here at Vinyl Connection. There are several thousand titles in the collection and no imminent danger of a growth plateau. [Picture here, if you will, the crestfallen expression on Ms Connection’s face.] Close to the Edge sits high on my list […]
Leo Kottke “Chewing Pine” [1975] “My Feet Are Smiling” [1973] “Burnt Lips” [1978] “Live in Europe” [1980] B: September 11, 1945 in Athens, GA Happy Birthday Mr K. Leo Kottke [1971]
“JANGLY CHORD-RICH GUITAR ROCK WITH TIGHT HARMONIES OFF-BEAT LYRICS SING-ALONG CHORUSES AND A MIDDLE EIGHT TO DIE FOR (PERHAPS)” Sometimes you just happen to be in the right newsagent at the right time. So it was deep into the yuletide season of 1993. Hunting for a clutch of Christmas cards and hoping that there was […]
Back in the late 70s and early 80s television stations were not the all-night amphetamine driven beasts of today. They went to bed each night at a reasonable hour. Some, like Australia’s national broadcaster the ABC, often said goodnight well before there was any danger of turning into a pumpkin. Usually a piece of music […]
ONE Driving to lunch last week, the in-car entertainment was provided by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, the fabulously named Welsh band (b: 1991, d: 2006) recently featured by Mr 1537. It was the first album; a collection of EP material that – whilst not having the polish of later releases – shows their quirky creativity and […]
In the late 70s, I loaned a girl a record. It was never returned. And that, I confess with equal parts shame and defiance, was the last LP I ever loaned. Books? No problem. CDs? If you have references and are of good character. Vinyl? Forget it. In psychology it is called ‘one trial learning’. […]
Having already offered two pieces on the joys of ‘live’ albums*, it would probably be sensible to leave that topic alone for a while. But I re-acquainted myself with so many terrific recordings while writing those posts that I just had to bring out those that didn’t quite make the first two ‘Live In Your […]
Spectrum “Part One” [1971] Spectrum “Miles Ago” [1971] The Indelible Murtceps “Warts Up Your Nose” [1973] Spectrum / Indelible Murtceps “Testimonial” [1973] Spectrum / Indelible Murtceps “Terminal Buzz” [1973] From The Age, Thursday August 8, 2013, Melbourne “Bill Putt, a founding member of 1970s progressive rock group Spectrum, has died from a heart attack” Goodnight […]
A brief hum of feedback echo then a scuzzy crash of drums, a squall of guitar; “First Wave Intact” is crunching the gravel of my neural driveway with a heavy, insistent tread. the open way’s too dangerous listen close, they’re watching us Welcome to the opening song on “Now Here is Nowhere”, the 2004 album […]
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