I was up and out early this morning for a Doctor’s appointment so afterwards wasted no time coming to the conclusion that I needed to go somewhere and search for records.
Once at the Galleries bus station I decided to board the first bus that came in mainly because I couldn’t be arsed to wait for any specific bus, they’re so unreliable these days.
Therefore my destinations could have been Newcastle, Sunderland, South Shields, Chester-le-Street or Durham. The first bus into the station was the No. 50 so my record search would be in Durham today!
Durham has a plethora of charity shops, some more run-down and manky than others. Everyone appears to have at least one box of albums hidden in the backwaters of rows of cheap clothes, pots and pans, pottery and shelves of books.
Good news for me, but this morning I only found “A Melting Pot Of Hits” – Morgan Superstars. I have no idea what’s on this? Real group or session musicians having a rave up in the studio. It’s on Fontana so perhaps it’s a real find for £1.
The rest of my time was spent in Durham’s excellent indoor market where there are two record dealers selling some decent stuff. But I was mainly on the look out for budget label gear which is my new thing at the moment.
COMING HOME TODAY:
Morgan Superstars + Blue Mink – ‘A Melting Pot Of Hits” (Fontana 6438035) 1970 £1
Bert Jansch – ‘Sampler’ (Transatlantic TRA SAM 10) 1969 £5
Duane Eddy – ‘The Best Of’ (Camden CDS 1109) 1972 £1
Top Of The Pops – ‘Volume 20’ (Hallmark SHM 755) 1971 £1
Johnny Gregory & his Orchestra – ‘The TV Western Themes’ (Fontana TFL 5110) 1960 £1
Amen Corner – ‘The World Of Amen Corner’ (Decca SPA 33) 1969 £1
Hot Hits – ‘Volume 6’ (MFP 5214) 1971 £1
Thunderbirds Are Go – ‘TV Themes For Grown Up Kids’ CD (Pulse) 1996 £1.50
MY NEVER ENDING QUEST FOR RECORDS
I failed in my attempt to obtain a copy of “Foolish Seasons” LP by Dana Gillespie on Saturday. This item was a ‘Record Store Day’ exclusive with two unreleased tracks, “Goin’ Round In Circles” and “Come To My Arms.” Unfortunately, ‘Hot Rats’ in Sunderland didn’t order any copies from the supplier.
This of course meant that I needed to seek out a copy somewhere before the prices went ballistic. For instance, The Damned album “Strawberries” is already selling for £50+ on eBay!!
So, the only answer was a trip to Newcastle first thing on Monday morning.
I checked out ‘Windows’ and ‘Reflex’ without any luck. They had no Dana Gillespie LPs left. There was still hope of course. I knew that three other record shops in Newcastle were participating.
My next visit was ‘Beyond Vinyl’ on the outskirts of the Toon, they had advertised it on their Twitter page so I was hoping that I’d be in luck. And sure enough, they had one copy left for £24. Hurrah!! the grenades can go back in my cupboard for another day. No need to kick off now.
Whilst checking out the racks in ‘Beyond Vinyl’ I noticed that they had hundreds of records hidden away on the bottom shelves in a neglected alcove. Lots of tatty old second hand singles and LPs from (mainly) the 1970s. Of course I was bound by my instincts to investigate.
None of the records were priced but I found a hand full of items and took them to the shop owner who informed me that he was so busy working the shop on his own, he just didn’t have the the time to research, examine and price those pieces of vinyl history.
There was nothing major, apart from original pressings of Beatles and Animals discs.
COMING HOME TODAY:
Dana Gillespie – ‘Foolish Seasons’ (Decca 450 313-5) 2022 £24
England’s 12 Top Hits – ‘Various’ (Avenue AVE-059) 1970 £3
Top Of The Pops – ‘Volume 32’ (Hallmark SHM 830) 1973 £3
Francoise Hardy – ‘Best Of’ (Golden Hour GH 830) 1974 £5
Hot Hits – ‘Volume 7’ (Music For Pleasure MFP 5236) 1973 £3
Bay City Rollers – ‘Rollin'” (Bells 244) 1974 £3
Chart Busters – ‘Volume 3’ (Pye PCB. 15002) 1972 £3
It’s been almost five months since I ventured out into the wild looking for records in actual record shops or dealer market stalls. My concentration over the past couple of months has been to invade the backs of charity shops looking for vinyl junk and has-beens.
Today, I got the bus into Durham, mainly for a look around the place. I’ve not been since thee Covid Chinese bat-virus struck the world into lockdowns.
So, here I am, looking around the charity shops in Durham. I did find a few bits ‘n’ pieces, but nothing tempted me dip into my pockets to buy them.
The indoor market proved a success though, all-be-it unexpected! Two record dealers in close proximity were selling vinyl. I bought a handful of items at the “Music Box“, all ’60s pop and blues.
I was especially pleased to add an original “Diversions” LP by Marty Wilde. I’ve got a copy on CD but really . . . well you know . . . record collectors prefer the real deal! I wrote about Marty’s psych / baroque pop years here.
I then spent twenty minutes or so looking through the racks of records in Oxfam. Most of the items were classical but there were some interesting pieces, but priced a little high!
A copy of Del Shannon the single “Mind Over Matter” / “Led Along” housed in a Direction company sleeve was for sale for £15. I already have a copy though. As a matter of fact, there was a lot of Del in the racks.
I came away with a mono Turtles “Happy Together” LP on London in terrific condition. This will sound full and vibrant, I’m sure of that. It will be record-cleaning day tomorrow!
COMING HOME TODAY:
Marty Wilde – “Diversions” (Philips SBL 7877) 1969 £10
The Turtles – “Happy Together” (London HAU 8330) 1967 £12
Chart Busters – “Various” (Marble Arch MAL 776) 1968 £4
Chris Farlowe & the Thunderbirds – “Stormy Monday” (Music For Pleasure MFP 1186) 1968 £5
The Rascals – “Star-Collection” (Midi K30049) 1974 £5
The Equals – “Doin’ The 45s” (Astan 20047) 1984 £5
The World Of Blues Power – “Various” (Decca SPA-R 14) 1969 £5
The search goes on – As well as visiting as many charity shops as I could find in Chester-le-Street, and there are half a dozen, I also checked out ‘Sound And Vision’, a music and book shop at the top of the main road.
It’s quite sparse at the top of the road, the footfall isn’t as great and several of the shops have closed. Indeed one of the main indoor shopping areas was recently pulled down to make way for car-parking spaces.
‘Sound And Vision’ doesn’t appear to be that well known, the owner has a Facebook presence but his posts are woefully irregular. I’ve just had a look at his timeline – no post since March 2021. With a little bit of promotion I’m sure record collectors would start galloping to his shop. The selection of vintage records, albums and singles is impressive and well cared for.
I was surprised to find a copy of Pink Floyd “Stockholm ’67” in the racks. It was priced up at £35 but I got some discount off it. The owner claimed that he had recently bought three copies from a visiting dealer and had one copy left.
I’ve seen both the Dave Dee albums in his shop for the past couple of years, no one appears to want DDDBM&T albums anymore! I decided to take them off his hands. “If Music Be The Food Of Love” didn’t have a price ticket but there was no need, I got it for free!
COMING HOME WITH ME TODAY:
Pink Floyd – “Stockholm ’67” (no label) unknown release date
DDDBM&T – “If Music Be The Food Of Love” (Fontana TL 5388) 1966
DDDBM&T – “Together” (Fontana SFL 13173) 1969
The search goes on – I was off to Newcastle
this morning to spend some loot on records and obscure European
coffee brands from Europe. If you dig decent coffee, make a bee-line
to
TK Maxx, they sell great coffee obscurities.
Well, the bus to Newcastle was late. And what happened? Two of the fuckers turned up at the same time. I should have known right there that things may not turn out too good today regarding local transport. More of that later!
I did the usual Record Shop visitations. RPM Music, Beatdown Records, Beyond Vinyl, Windows and Reflex. Nothing new burst out from the shelves in each of these shops, I was mainly on the look-out for late ’80s indie jangle and shoegaze but the pickings were few and far between.
I did pick up a couple of worthy items and at £26 probably paid too much for The Telescopes ‘Altered Perception’ double album. My Bloody Valentine 2CD compilation of their early singles, EP’s and 12″ records 1988 – 1991 was very good value at £12. I was pleased with both additions.
I walked through Grainger Market on the way to Windows Music shop and was disgusted and very sad to see a murdered adult pig on a Butcher’s slab, it’s trotters had been hacked off, blood was weeping from it’s mouth and internal organs had been ripped-out.
A small eatery was next door to the Butchers and a group of useless neanderthals were scoffing their lunch and sipping cups of coffee, sitting within a table’s distance from the murdered pig. Did they have no conscience? Were these people empty human shells of nothingness? Why would anyone want to sit next to a murdered animal? I worry about things like this every day.
With my day ruined by the sight of the pig carcass I made my way to the bus stop. Half an hour went by and still no bus. I then overheard another person waiting in the queue mention that there was a huge delay and the next bus to Washington wasn’t going to turn up for another ninety minutes. The bus Company had a bus-driver shortage and their buses were experiencing horrendous delays.
I decided to cut my losses and walked the couple of miles to Gateshead bus station. My journey was quite a pleasant one actually! It was lovely to walk across the Tyne Bridge from Newcastle into Gateshead, it’s been several years since I last ventured across on foot.
Fortunately for me, just as I reached the bus station, my bus to Washington turned up. A stroke of luck because my plan was to hop on a bus to Concord and get home from there. That journey would have taken forever and how long could I take, tucked in like a tin of sardines with potential Covid-19 riddled passengers on a bus going nowhere?
COMING HOME WITH ME TODAY:
My Bloody Valentine – ‘EP’s 1988 – 1991’ (Domino)
The Telescopes – ‘Altered Perceptions’ (Space Age Recordings)
MY NEVER ENDING QUEST FOR RECORDS
The search goes on – It was all systems go this morning because I sold something over-night on eBay that needed to be wrapped and sent on it’s way via the local Post Office. We had planned the night before to get the early bus to Sunderland to check out the Museum.
The bus journey to Sunderland usually takes about twenty minutes but there are so many road works going on at the moment that we seemed unable to dodge any traffic light stoppages. So the bus jaunt took in a different route and an extra fifteen minutes. Everyone was wearing their face masks except the usual plebs, one can only hope these fuckers get Covid and die.
We wandered ’round some of the streets and passageways off the beaten track but all we found were broken-down shop buildings and areas of rubble that looked like post-war building sites. Hopefully these shops and vacant plots of land will be re-generated into something useful. Sunderland badly needs it.
We decided to visit Sunderland Museum, a place I’ve been going to since the late ’60s when I was a pre-school infant. I can remember most of my visits over the preceding years. There is usually something new and interesting. This time it was a gallery of art by T.S. Lowry and Sir Antony Gormley’s Earth Drawings.
After a Gregg’s Vegan roll and a cup of black
coffee whilst sitting in the Park, taking photos and watching a
rabbit running around the rose beds it was off to Hot Rats
Records, I’d rather give the owner my money for records than
HMV.
I kept repeating in my head “Hope he has something
worth my time,” as I walked the short distance from the Park
to his shop on Stockton Road.
And indeed he did! There were several albums that
I was tempted to buy but didn’t, The Spacemen 3, The Boys, The
Undertones and others, but now jobless, I was hesitant to spend more
than £50 so I kept my hot wax additions to ‘Beat Behind The
Dykes – Volume 2’ and a re-issue of Television
Personalities debut album.
I got chatting to the owner
about how I missed out on the Dutch Beat compilation in Newcastle
yesterday and he knocked a couple of quid off the shop price for me.
Now, things like this never happen in HMV.
Use your local
independent dealers!
The search goes on – We planned last night to have a look around the Quayside area of Newcastle, so this morning after breakfast we got the early morning bus from Washington but instead of going all the way into the Toon we got off at Gateshead and walked the short journey down to the Quayside.
We were on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne so decided to have a look inside the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. I’m not quite sure what I was looking at, it appeared to be a load of modern art installations. Although not really my scene it was still cool to know that such a building was in my region.
The panorama from the viewing gallery, looking down onto the River Tyne, the Tyne Bridge, the Sage and the Quayside on the Newcastle side of the river was impressive and memorable.
After crossing the river via the Millennium
Bridge we walked along the quayside on the Newcastle side. It wasn’t
that busy although I’m sure if the weather was a little warmer and
we weren’t still living through the pandemic, the area would have
been crowded and perhaps a little hectic.
I decided to visit one of my old haunts throughout the ’80s and into the ’90s, a pub called the Barley Mow. Sadly, the place was a shell of broken walls, boarded-up windows, a decaying roof, urban art and tangles of buddleia.
This used to be the go-to pub for the alternative types, punks, goths and drop-outs. So many memories, so many faces and friends that I’ve never seen for decades. where does everyone go when they become ‘grown-up’ and ‘mature’ ?? Answers on a postcard c/o Newcastle Lost & Found.
I decided to walk into the City Centre by wandering past another old haunt from yester-year, The Riverside Club. I saw several rockin’ bands here back in the ’80s such as The Fuzztones, The Rain Parade, The Hoodoo Gurus, Doctor & the Medics and others. It was also a place to go for a beer, do a wrap of speed, drop acid and mix with friends and weirdo-types. they’re all just shadows in my mind now though.
The area has been made all posh and clean, just like the Quayside. The Riverside Club has had a facelift and is called something different. I haven’t got a clue what it is now. Too sad to think so I just walked on to the City Centre for a cup of coffee and a scone.
Anyway, it was only right that I checked out a couple of record shops before going home. I decided to visit Reflex. Last week they had an album I nearly bought but decided to refrain because money was a little tight. Sadly someone had bought “Behind The Dykes – Volume 2” – it just goes to show that I’m not the only fan of ’60s Dutch Beat and Psychedelia.
So, it was off down the road to Beatdown Records where I found a couple of albums worth my investigation. decent prices too which is always a bonus.
The Courettes – “Here Are The Courettes”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “The John Peel sessions 1979-1983”
The search goes on – This morning dawned, it was a warm sunny start to the day and after breakfast my decision was made. I needed to go to Newcastle to spend some money on records. I buy hundreds of records online but this is a series of posts I write on ‘Yellow Paper Suns’ detailing my finds ‘in the wild’ at local record shops in the North East of England. Today, it’s Newcastle. What will I find?
My first stop was at Beatdown Records, a monumental shop catering for all tastes, from Folk to Blues, Hard Rock to Heavy Metal, Punk Rock to Garage Punk, some Psychedelia, Industrial, Indie, Soundtracks, World Music. I would estimate that ninety odd percent of their stock is new pressings, not a great deal of original records from the fifties through to the seventies for instance.
I had my sights on a couple of albums by The Courettes I saw the last time I was in here earlier this month. Only ‘We Are The Courettes’ was in the racks. what a shame, but I don’t think it will be long before I grab a copy of ‘Here Are The Courettes’, there are still plenty available online.
In the same rack marked “Garage Punk” was the album by Wild Evel & the Trash Bones ‘Digging My Grave’ – I’ve heard a couple of numbers by this rockin’ garage band in the past but have never listened to one of their long-players. Will they last the course over an album’s worth of material? Time will tell. I decided to give them a chance! They create music that’s not for the faint-hearted. I have a black heart, a dark mind and a ruthless streak. I prefer my noise to be untamed.
Now I’m a complete novice to the sounds of ’70s underground group Suicide. I recently bought the Record Store Day release of “Cheree” and thought it most beautiful. Not a style I usually go mad for – synth and no guitars, but I’m less fussy nowadays and I’m on a voyage of discovery.
I had a quick look in Reflex Records but only had temptation once which waned quickly when I saw the price for “Behind The Dykes”, a double LP of beat music and psychedelia from the Netherlands in the ’60s. I love Dutch Beat and recommend anyone to investigate this scene. So many top quality bands releasing fabulous gear. But at £32 I gave it a miss for now! Maybe next time.
Windows in the Arcade was another disappointment. I was looking for the remastered Spacemen 3 LPs but they didn’t have anything in their racks. HMV in Eldon Square have lots of worthy records, all new pressings of course and all with extremely high prices. I rarely see anyone buying items here. How do they survive?
Today’s purchases and fifty quid lighter in the pocket:
Wild Evel & the Trashbones – “Digging My Grave”
The Courettes – “We Are The Courettes”
Suicide – “Suicide”
The Search goes on – It’s a Friday morning and I’m two months into retirement. How much money have I got spare until my next monthly pension payment? And do I need more records?
I quickly did some workings-out and of course I had some spare loot for records and of course I needed MORE records. So what am I waiting for? Let’s get on that bus to Newcastle!!
I arrived in Newcastle just before 10:00am and called at the Post Office which is now situated on the top floor of WH Smith’s. I had a package of CDs to post to an eBay buyer, I raked in £42 yesterday. Next stop was Nat West on Northumberland Street, I needed to withdraw some cash. I was unfortunately stood next to a boisterous Geordie charver who’d just had ‘his’ card rejected.
“How man, giz me money. Av got neen man, howay” – I felt a little bit sorry for him. Fancy not been able to get his money . . . and off he toddled up Northumberland Street looking like a male Peacock garishly dressed in his cheap trackie bottoms and scruffy trainers. I only bothered to look down, never look these types in their eyes . . . hehehehe
HMV in Eldon Square was close-by so I decided
to check their racks first. I’ve not had much / any luck finding
anything worthwhile here for decades, apart from a Blu-Ray disc every
now-and-again. But I’m persistent if nothing else. Could I come
away with anything today?
I read so much about Spacemen 3 in the late eighties but never bothered to investigate their music. I recall a piece on them in an obscure magazine called ‘Strange Things’ which was the ‘zine published by the Bam Caruso record label, or at least it was linked with them.
Spacemen 3’s ‘The Perfect Prescription’ was for sale in HMV so I decided to take a chance. I have no idea what this will sound like but I believe it’s trippy guitar music / drones without drums? I may love it, I may hate it. But that’s the nature of the beast for avid record collectors, sometimes you’ve just gotta take the chance / risk.
Windows has been ‘hit and miss’ for me in recent years but today was a miss. Absolutely nothing in here for me today. I checked out the ‘Record Store Day’ boxes but they looked exactly the same as they did a month ago when I was last in. Message to owner: Lower your prices and your stock will sell.
I checked out ‘Beyond Vinyl Records’ on Westgate Road and they had a couple of decent items but on this occasion I didn’t pull the trigger, as they say. An original 1977, Television ‘Marquee Moon’ German import LP was up for grabs, but at £40 I thought it was a bit too much. Maybe next time, if it’s still there.
They also had a 7″ Record Store Day re-issue of “Nothing But A Heartache”, the Northern Soul banger by The Flirtations. And at £12 it was worth a gamble but I decided against it. At this moment in time I was thinking to myself that maybe I’d become a little bit tight with my pension money / savings.
Oh well, there’s always the YouTube video to play whenever the temptation persists. I was really on the hunt for punk records but there was a distinct lack of anything worthwhile. For instance, no where had any Sham 69. What the fuck has Jimmy Pursey done to deserve this lack of interest? Have Sham 69 had any of their albums re-issued recently?
I discovered an old / new record shop via the internet a few weeks ago. I say old because BeatDown Records now use the premises where Spin Records were situated for many years in the late ’70s and all of the 80s. I bought tons of ’60s garage punk records for Spin back in the day. All re-issues or bootleg copies on Eva Records and other dubious labels ranging from The Chocolate Watch Band, The Standells, The Moving Sidewalks and We The People etc etc . . . the list is endless.
Anyway, Spin Records are now long-gone and BeatDown Records have moved in. They had a masses of vinyl and CDs. I really needed a few hours in here to go through all of the racks. I kept to the racks that were marked ‘Punk / Hardcore’ and ‘Garage Rock’ – stick to what you know, I thought to myself.
I came away with a couple of albums, a sealed re-issue of “Rev-Up” by The Revillos and the latest disc by Muck & the Mires. The combined total was £41 which I know is a little ‘hot’ but the prices for new vinyl nowadays is ridiculous. But it’s better than buying them cheaper online and perhaps paying a fiver for shipping. I’d rather give my loot to local record shops – they deserve it.
Spacemen 3 – “The Perfect Prescription”
Muck & the Mires – “Greetings From Muckingham Palace”
Revillos – “Rev Up”
Here are a few snaps of Newcastle, some of which were taken on the top deck of the bus. At this point I took off my ‘Gimp Mask’ a.k.a. Thee Kung-Flu Resistance Covering.
The Search goes on – On Thursday I decided to visit Sound & Vision in Chester-le-Street. Fast becoming one of my ‘go-to’ shops to hunt for records. There is always something to find and the other day was no exception.
I wanted to add some ’70s punk / new wave items. I’m constantly trying to fill the gaps in my archive. So I had a quick flip through the ’60s section of albums but nothing really was essential. A couple of Searchers originals were there for the taking and a Lee Hazlewood with Nancy Sinatra were possibles but I decided I’d leave those for another day and hunt for 70s punk.
I had a brief chat with the shop owner who let me know he’d just bought a big punk collection and most of it had been priced and was now out in the racks and boxes. He pointed to a box full of punk albums, promising I thought to myself. Time to delve in.
Most of the albums were standard punk items and the majority I already owned. Still, though. . . any new collector would have a great time flicking through this lot. The condition of the records were all at least excellent. Nothing ragged and torn, the sleeves all looked fresh and well looked after.
I picked up Sham 69 and Magazine albums. £30 for the two.
There were loads more new punk additions in the single boxes. Most of them were from the second wave of punk from the early eighties. Not a scene I know much about. Loads of Discharge 7″ records in sleeves for instance.
I stuck with items and period I know more about and basically it’s this era of records that I want to research and write about on ‘Yellow Paper Suns’. I’ll list them below. Nothing particularly rare but I needed them to fill the gaps. Total spend (including the albums) was £75. Vinyl condition . . . tip top.
Sham 69 – “Tell Us The Truth” LP
Magazine – “Real Life” LP
Lurkers – “Ain’t Got A “Clue” (including the gold flexi bonus single)
Jilted John – “Jilted John” (with picture sleeve)
Skids – “Circus Games”
Exploited – “Dead Cities”
Sham 69 – “If The Kids Are United”
Hugh Cornwell – “White Room”
THE EAGLE NEVER HUNTS THE FLY
Searching for records in Chester-le-Street and Newcastle – I’ve been very busy since last Friday working on the maintenance of this website. I’ve bought a two-year subscription / plan and went ‘Business’ which means it’s much more expensive to run but the bonus is the ability to apply plug-ins.
The plug-in’s I had in mind were a new ‘Theme’ for my site, I wanted one that was quite simple to look at, something that was easy on the eye and easy to read for visitors. There are hundreds more themes available for the wordpress Business Plan’ user.
NEW THEME
I decided to go for a theme called Apostrophe 2. Here’s the blurb that tempted me in.
When you’re looking to get straight to the point, Apostrophe 2 is the theme for you. Simple and clean, Apostrophe 2 shines in the little details: bold type, bright color, and big images.
Apostrophe 2 is a fully responsive magazine theme that’s a pleasure to read from any device. It offers clean typography paired with a modern design. Choose from a single-column layout, or make use of multiple sidebar and footer widget areas. Highlight your best posts to add variety and interest to your homepage, and showcase your social media links at the top of the page.
So, after three days of updating images and post descriptions to fit this new theme, making everything so much more easier to read etc, I decided to concentrate on my site’s search engine optimization. This is better known as SEO. There’s an impressive plug-in to help website creators with this task called Yoast SEO.
YOAST SEO
This is their blurb.
Since 2008 Yoast SEO has helped millions of websites worldwide to rank higher in search engines.
Yoast’s mission is SEO for Everyone. Our plugin’s users range from the bakery around the corner to some of the most popular sites on the planet.
Making every post SEO friendly and maximising my web presence in Google is very time consuming but hopefully worth it as the months / years go by. Because there is no point having an information based website / blog like ‘Yellow Paper Suns’ if no-one can find it!
That being said, I did spend some time last week visiting records shops in Chester-le-Street and Newcastle. As long as I’ve got spare money in my pocket I’ll always have that urge to find missing pieces for my archives.
OFF TO CHESTER-LE-STREET
Last week I paid a visit to ‘Sound And Vision’ at the top of Chester-le-Street. I’ve talked about the place on here before. Well worth checking out if you’re in the area. I overheard the owner moaning that few people are coming into the shop and buying his items for sale. Records, CDs, DVDs or books. They’re all here!
I think his problem is his lack of marketing skills. It’s obvious to me that more advertising and an online presence is needed. There is a Facebook page but it’s rarely updated. What a missed opportunity.
Anyway, here’s my findings from the visit. A tidy little bundle of punk for £50.
The Troggs ‘Contrasts’ LP with silver cover. Virtually impossible to photograph with the flash
Weirdly I was thinking of buying an original 1977 copy of The Sex Pistols ‘God Save The Queen’ with the silver logo on dark blue label. The one I own is a 1980 re-issue. Record Collectors always prefer the original versions!
Chuffed to find the X-Ray Spex ‘The Day The World Turned Day-Glo’ – this was marked up at £25 but no-way did I pay that when it came to pricing my bundle. I bought it for something more like £15.
I couldn’t leave without adding the Generation X single either. ‘Friday’s Angels’ was not one of their hits and they were kind of in decline by the time this was released in June 1979.
Tenpole Tudor is a great find too. I love this band and have all of their singles but was never tempted by the album back in the day. I’m looking forward to giving this a Spin-It clean then getting it on the deck. I’ve never heard it before!
Seriously, there was a ton more items I could have bought but I realise that I no longer have a job (recently retired) so need to spread my pension and savings out more throughout the month. This restraint wasn’t a problem when I was working with a higher income.
NEWCASTLE HERE I COME
Saturday was ‘shop in Newcastle’ day. I’m getting back into the habit of going to Newcastle and long may it continue. It’s a wonderful City and there are several very good / interesting record shops too.
My first port of call was HMV but I came away empty handed. I was tempted to buy a few items but decided to look elsewhere first. The market stall in Grainger Market was a disappointment. I couldn’t find anything today. There was a rack of records and some boxes I could have looked in but someone was already raking around in them.
With this social distancing requirement there is no way I could have muscled in (like the good old days) and gone ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with a fellow vinyl freak.
Next stop Windows. I’ve mentioned previously that their prices are a little on the high side but at £15 I thought ‘Inflammable Material’ by Stiff Little Fingers was a record I needed. I know this one from my teenage years. I even saw them at Newcastle City Hall back in 1981/82. Great punk band back then.
But for some strange reason I never picked this album up. I suppose being a schoolkid money wasn’t the easiest thing to have. I made do a lot of the time listening to records my mates had. Most of ’em had ‘Inflammable Material’
After shopping in Windows I walked over
to Reflex, not too far away, just ’round the corner actually.
They stock mostly new release records, plenty of indie and Record
Store Day stock. There were plenty to thumb through but nothing
really jumped out this time around.
Moved over to their CD racks and found The Rose Garden. I know all about the Rose Garden and have their releases from the late ’60s. What is interesting with this CD though is an abundance of previously unreleased tracks and live material. This one should be interesting.
RPM Music on High Bridge Street was a
disappointment. There was nothing for me in here today. I almost
bought a Dr Feelgood album and at £8 the price was good but I
decided to keep my money in my pocket.
LOSERS AND JUNKIES
I checked out some charity shops in the less salubrious part of Newcastle, saw a few losers and junkies. A tramp was sitting on the ground by a shop entrance counting his ‘chump change’. Not the best area in town to be walking around with a few hundred quid.
The good thing though is that I stumbled upon a new record shop (for me) called ‘Beyond‘ on Westgate Road – this is one of those old style record shops with plenty of vintage vinyl, boxes of singles, cases full of books and racks of posters. My kind of shop. I’ll come here again that’s for sure.
Found a couple of items, the quality and prices were fair. Overall, a good experience and well worth a visit.
I was pleased to find an original X-Ray Spex ‘Germ Free Adolescence’ album with the inner sleeve. The record is in decent shape but will need a clean before in hits the deck. Same with The Searchers album, this was their 1979/80 come-back release. A much better looking sleeve than the original one from a few months earlier. The track listing is slightly different too.
The Searchers were probably in their thirties at this point in their career. Great moody shot and a classy jangle pop return. Well done boys, you never let me down.
Another search for records in Chester-le-Street and Newcastle is over. Next time I’m sure to add more pieces to my archive. Sunderland also beckons.
Searching for records in Newcastle – I checked my bank account this morning and my final monthly salary for May had been deposited overnight. After thirty years working for the Civil Service (DWP) it was all over for me. I handed in my notice in January confirming to Management that I was applying for early retirement.
The Department For Work & Pensions should be renamed the Department for Woke & Pensions. The last couple of years have been horrendous for many reasons but what finished me off was the daily grind of emails and updates about diversity, mental health and wellbeing.
Even Black Lives Matter reared it’s ugly head, now I don’t have a fucking clue why their political agenda should be shoved down the throats of Government workers.
Anyway, I had money to spend and the weather was warm and sunny. I decided to go to Newcastle and search for records. This will probably be my last blow-out for some time.
My plans for the next months / years will be focused on selling records and retail arbitrage. Buy low and selling higher. Any profits will be invested in new records / CDs.
THE HUNT IS ON
My first port of call in Newcastle was TK Maxx. I wanted a few new T-Shirts and a few bags of obscure filtered coffee. Cheap and cheerful, already £20 down. Where next? A fleeting visit to the City’s branch of Oxfam.
Last time I was in here I found a Ready, Steady Go hardback book for a quid. I was so guilty paying the asking price that I gave the shop assistant £2. That made me feel a whole lot better. I would have had no objection paying £5 if that was the sticker price. Nothing today though. All the albums were classical music.
My next venture was to Grainger CDs in Grainger Marker. Last time I left behind Zombies and Steppenwolf singles. They were in a box on the floor along with common ’60s beat records that are ten a penny. You know, Shadows, Billy J Kramer, Lulu, Cilla, Sandie Shaw.
The Zombies “Friends Of Mine” was still there for £8, obviously grabbed it this time. That particular 45 is not exactly growing on trees and is possibly the most difficult Zombies record to find. It’s a promo disc too. Steppenwolf “Magic Carpet Ride” was still there for £3.
A further rake around was rewarded by finding an ultra rare disc by The Secrets. “Infatuation”. Again, only £8. I checked on eBay and a copy sold recently for £240, which gives an indication of it’s rarity and sought after appeal.
The group was the starting point for hitmaker Cliffort T. Ward. I also came away with Don Fardon‘s album “Lament Of The Cherokee Indian Reservation” for £14 which seemed a decent enough price to take a chance on. Never heard it before. It’s the American GNP Crescendo release.
I briefly had a look in the window of Reflex,
didn’t go in though. Their prices are a bit steep and I’m not
Rockefeller. Last time I picked up some good albums. Ancient Record
Store Day stock that obviously didn’t sell and were probably hard
pressed to sell. That didn’t alert them to lowering the prices
though.
I then had a wander down to High Street West. Oh yeah, my last time in Newcastle was three weeks ago and I was hobbling around on a badly sprained foot / ankle which was beyond painful.
Today though, I could march to various destinations dotted around Newcastle like a Roman Centurion. I’m still feeling aches and pains but hopefully I’ll be walking around the scenes like the cock of the North again sooner rather than later.
This time RPM Music didn’t have anything that really jumped out at me although I was tempted to buy a cheap Shangri-Las album and one by The Blue Things.
I have the Blue Things already but it has a pressing plant error on bother sides, which are scratched and the record jumps higher than Daly Thompson when he was doing the pole vault at the Olympics in the eighties.
Windows was a carcass of unwanted new releases and bins of old Record Store Day albums. Where do they get the prices from? And is anyone buying these?
It was now midday and I was hungry. My sprained foot was starting to ache too. It was time to split.
I had a week off from work, using my flexi-time and annual leave up before I quit my job next week with early retirement. A huge gamble because my disposable income will diminish and I’m going to have to shop smarter. So, this week was my last blow-out, spending spree, call it what you will, on records.
Last Tuesday I got the bus to Sunderland aka searching for records. It was pissing down and I wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather so got wet and cold. Didn’t really enjoy the experience.
First stop was HMV, inside the Bridges shopping centre. The usual over-priced albums on offer, racks full of DVD’s and computer games. One day I’ll go in there and actually buy something.
I visited a few charity shops and came home with a vintage stationery tin box large enough to house 45s. At £4 I would have been a mug to let this go without bringing it home.
In a former life this box was probably used to store important documents, statements, invoices and bills etc. Now, it’s full of my original Beau Brummels, Jefferson Airplane, Love, Doors, Turtles and Monkees 45s.
My last port of call, and it was a rush job because my bus was due in fifteen minutes, was “Hot Rats” on Stockton Road. I always find something worthy to buy here and today was no exception.
CRAZY ABOUT FUZZ PEDALS
I’ve seen the Nucleus album before but never bought it until now. I have no idea what Nucleus sound like but I’m guessing my ears will be sore with West Coast influenced psychedelia. They were from Canada and those Canadians were seemingly crazy about fuzz pedals so I’ll be a bit disappointed if they don’t create a fuzztoned mess on at least one number.
The other record I brought home with me was ‘Lows In The Mid Sixties’, a Record Store Day limited release from a few years ago. This is a compilation of demos, full of inept teenage beat, the track list offers cover versions galore.
I don’t mind this in the slightest, as long as the versions of ‘The Last Time’, ‘Heart Of Stone’, ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’ and ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ are raw, savage and laden with scuzz and attitude.
On Wednesday I inconveniently sprained my ankle. I could barely put any weight onto my right foot a few hours after the event. I went to bed with my foot tightly strapped and swallowed a handful of pain killers. “It will be alright tomorrow”, I convinced myself. How wrong I was. My foot was worse! I had to call off a next day trip to Newcastle and spent most of the morning and afternoon resting horizontally.
I was still in a lot of pain on Friday but made the effort to venture out to the bus stop. . . . . destination, Newcastle. HMV and a market stall in Grainger Market were fruitless. The latter had a few interesting singles I was tempted to buy, they were quite cheap too. A decent copy of The Zombies ‘Friends Of Mine’ for £8 and Steppenwolf ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ for a three spot. Man, in hindsight I regret not buying those.
Close to Grainger Market is a record shop called “Reflex” who have been around for many years and mostly sold CDs back in the nineties and beyond. They’re now stocking most of their racks with records, mainly new releases, Record Store Day artifacts and a lot of indie gear.
HEAVY PRICES
I couldn’t resist coming away with an album full of music used in the TV series ‘UFO’ and I was more than a little surprised to find a copy of The Valentines collection. They were fronted by Bon Scott who found fame with AC/DC. The albums were a bit pricey but remember, this is probably my last records blow-out as a full-time employee. I’ve got to make the most of it!
“RPM Music” was my next scheduled stop. It’s a cracking little record shop which never fails. Their racks were full of interesting stuff but I’ve been collecting garage, punk and psychedelia since the early eighties and I’m finding it difficult nowadays to chance upon records I don’t have in my archives.
One such album was the collection of Kingsmen
recordings, released on Decal in 1986. I was oblivious to this fact
and obviously missed out back in the day. So for £14 the record was
coming home with me. I also came away with one of those old school
plastic record bags. I’ll file that away within the sleeve of The
Kingsmen album.
By now my right foot was giving up, the metatarsals were individually shouting at me to go home and rest up. One last stop, “J.G. Windows” music store in the Central Arcade. Their items are notoriously over-priced, at least that’s my experience.
I checked out a few racks of records and didn’t find much for me personally until I saw Brian Jones on a record cover. What was this all about? A collection of rare Stones recordings, alternative takes etc.
ATTENTION ON THE BLUES
One way of tempting the new breed of trendy record collectors into focusing their attention on the Blues is to compile a double album of Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Slim Harpo, Muddy Waters, Elmo James and others . . . . then sticking a photo of a Dandyfied Brian Jones on the cover. Well, that tactic worked on me and for £15 too.
On Saturday I took a short bus journey to Chester-le-Street and paid a visit to a record and book store called “Sound And Vision”. I’ve written about the place before and it’s well worth a trip if you’re in the area. Price stickers are stuck on the covers (which I hate) but that’s the dealers way and who am I to argue.
Fortunately for him I’m not too fussed about having perfect / mint covers anyway. I’m more concerned about the quality and state of the vinyl and here I can’t complain.
SCOUTING THE RACKS
The owner give me around a 20% discount on the priced items so I came away, once again, happy with my bag of records which were as follows: The Damned ‘Best Of’, Sham 69 ‘The Adventures of Hersham Boys’ and a Del Shannon LP I’ve been meaning to purchase for years. There were many more albums I could have easily picked up but my money was running out after a week of scouting the racks of record shops in the North East.
I’m also filling missing pieces in my punk
collection so was happy to add a couple of Skids 45s and an early
Adam & the Ants single. I also came home with the classic Del
Shannon record ‘Runaway’. The Angelic Upstarts single pictured in
the scan dropped through my letter box last week too, so added here.
And there we have it. A week in the life of a record collector comes to an end. I don’t know when my next vinyl hunt will be. My last day at work is next Thursday, then I’m on annual leave until the end of May. My last day of service in the Civil Service is on the 1st June, then after thirty three years my time is done and I’m free, but without a salary.
A search for records in Chester-le-Street – It’s a Saturday morning in late April, the weather is chilly but bright and sunny with no wind, we’re also out of lock-down and I’ve got a spare £60 in my pocket to last me a week until payday.
Next stop Chester-le-Street and to check out the numerous charity shops, the Market (if it’s on) and a record shop I discovered about a year ago.
We decided to walk the five miles from Washington to Chester-le-Street, a very pleasant walk along a disused railway line turned into a cycle path. Along the way I was also keeping an eye out for bird nests.
I spotted numerous but my best find appeared to be a neatly made nest, shaped into a ball with a tiny entrance hole. The height of the nest was waist high and from my decades of birding knowledge I deduced it to be a Wren’s nest. Shame it had no eggs.
There were some good finds in charity shops, no records though. I’m now studying everything I see with a keen eye because I’m planning on ‘retail arbitrage’ when I quit my job in June. But for now, I’m just checking out the kind of things on sale with my aim to buy and re-sell at a profit.
THE PLACE IS OVERWHELMING
The record shop was open! It’s called ‘Sound & Vision’ and is more or less at the top of the road near to the old cricket ground at Ropery Lane. The place is overwhelming. So many records, CDs, books and DVDs.
There is now a modernised bridge along the cycle path that’s been in progress for well over a year, perhaps two. It appears to be finished now and the surrounding area has been landscaped. There appears to be even more bat boxes high up on the tree trunks.
The cycle patch continues onto Beamish and beyond, it’s the Coast to Coast route, Sunderland to Whitehaven. But we got off the pathway and walked along the ‘Roman Road’ into Chester-le-Street.
Sadly the market wasn’t on today, although further up the street there were some sellers flogging their bits of unwanted tat in the car-park. Nothing for me there. I wonder where ’50s throwback record dealer Dave disappeared to. I haven’t seen him for a couple of years.
I could spend all day in here but I only had sixty quid, so picked a few records, including The Jam 5CD and hardback book ‘Direction, Reaction, Creation’. Everything I bought came to £45 and I left feeling that I got a bargain. The shop-owner was happy enough and so was I.
Nothing rare or particularly sought after but they’re discs I’ve seen over the years but never pressed the trigger. Today was the day. So, The Searchers, The Easybeats and Nancy & Lee were coming home with me.
Latest purchases from State Records – One of thee most annoying things about the National lock-down in Britain is my inability to go record hunting in some of the dens of iniquity that I inhabit from time to time. I’ve written about some of my previous record finding jaunts in the past. But what about my online orders?
I’ve decided to put that right and examine some of the bulk buys I partake in online from time to time, especially from my regular dealers. One of the best for me personally is the official State Records store. They sell a host of ultra-cool contemporary vinyl & CD releases, reissues and repros.
My latest four record haul arrived this morning and one of the benefits of home-working is that when the postie pressed my doorbell I was in to receive my treasure.
Here’s a list of the jewels within the best packed and lovingly prepared package on the market you will find. Each record is neatly divided with records taken out of their sleeves to limit the possibility of cover damage during transportation from State Records to EXPO67 HQ.
VOO-DOOMED
THE VOO-DOOMS – “Step Inside The Doom!” (Spinout Nuggets SN020)
Brand new limited edition 6-track mini-LP on RED VINYL —only 300 copies pressed, in hand-numbered sleeve with printed inner bag. The Voo-Dooms purvey a trash, rockin’ voodoo, garage punk sound, perfect to get any bone-a-shakin’- and-a-twistin’, sending mummies into a frenzy throughout the land.
Somewhat a supergroup, The Voo-Dooms feature garage punk veterans Bruce Brand (The Pop Rivets, The Milkshakes, The Headcoats, The Masonics, etc), Dan Whaley (The Dustaphonics, The Charles Napiers, The Diaboliks, etc), Dave Prince (The Sundowners, The Untamed and The Hi-Fis) and Mick Cocksedge (The Untamed, Cordwood Draggers and The Dead Bone Ramblers), each carving their own name on the musical hall of Doom!
2018 saw the The Voo-Dooms release their first long player, titled ‘Destination Doomsville’, through Trashwax, followed by the four-track EP titled ‘And It Goes Like This..’ the following year, on Spinout Nuggets. The last six months has seen The Voo-Dooms appear on two compilation albums – Spinout Nuggets Chapter 1 : From The Ashes and Rebel Rousers Vol.1.
Step Inside The Doom’s Side A groove fires straight into ‘Stop Haunting Me’, followed by ‘You Will Never Know’ and ‘She’s Gonna Cry Tonight’, while Side B’s groove runs through ‘If I Can’t Have You’, ‘The Girl Wouldn’t Harm A Fly’ and ‘Is She (Dead Or Alive)?’. Doomettes Mary Tee and Jo-Jo A Go-Go add backing vocals, ghostly shrieks and a little theremin here and there!
THE EVENT – “San Diego Underground
Files Vol. 2” (Bickerton Records BR018)
Brand new limited edition 9-track vinyl 10″—only 400 copies pressed!
Here you’ll find rare and unreleased early recordings by legendary mod band The Event! The Event were a unique band tagged as part of the 80s mod revival though their sound had really nothing to do with the power-pop sound that was usual among their colleagues but with British 60s R&B, freakbeat and pop-art.
Their 1989 LP on Bomp subsidiary Voxx remains as one of the most outstanding albums of the 80s both for its quality and its audacity. Now it’s time to dig up their unreleased stuff for your listening pleasure—includes great versions of legendary tracks by John’s Children, The Birds, The Game and The Eyes!
Factory-sealed from new with insert featuring liner notes from Bart Mendoza.
THE PARAGONS – “Abba” b/w “Better Man Than I” (Altercat Records ALT45-001)
Brand new limited edition vinyl 7″.
At last, the MIGHTY “Abba” by North Carolina’s Paragons gets a long-overdue official reissue, done with the cooperation of band members Pat Walters and Danny Huntley. A classic mix of 12-string jangle, teen harmonies and youthful exuberance, backed with a spirited rendition of the Yardbirds’ “Better Man Than I”, the single sadly disappeared amongst thousands of others on its original release on Bobbi Records, back in ’67…
Fast forward over 50 years, and the single is now in extremely high demand, regularly selling for around $1000, so this sparkly new edition is especially welcome. Expertly mastered by garage legend Tim Warren, and with a superb 12-page booklet with liners from celebrated author/musician Mike Stax, featuring many previously unpublished photos, this has to be THEE reissue of 2020!
KEITH KESSLER – “Sunshine Morning” b/w “Don’t Crowd Me” (Mapache M45-001)
Limited edition vinyl 7″—only 400 copies pressed!
Keith Kessler’s “Don’t Crowd Me” is an anthem to garage-punk fans, with a sound to match the intensity of the lyrics. Keith Kessler recorded “Don’t Crowd Me” at Kearney Barton’s Audio Recording Studio (home to The Sonics, Wailers etc) in Seattle in 1966, using musicians from Keith’s group, the Impulses.
DON’T CROWD ME
“Don’t Crowd Me” wouldn’t be released for two years, and it was only with some luck that it was issued at all. During the summer of 1968, Mike Wing, a Bellevue musician and aspiring record producer, liked one of Keith’s original songs “Sunshine Morning” enough to set up a publishing company and finance the recording, pressing and promotion of the record.
Keith’s 1966 recording “Don’t Crowd Me” filled in for the b-side. “Sunshine Morning” didn’t hit, but “Don’t Crowd Me” deserves to be ranked among the top examples of the tough Pacific Northwest sound.
Searching for records in Sunderland – Today, I was on Annual leave so decided to take a trip to Sunderland in search of records. Another early start, bus arrived at Lambton village centre and I was in Sunderland just after ten in the morning.
Bitterly cold day, I wore my gloves for the first time this Winter, I needed them to warm my carpal tunnel fucked hands.
First stop was HMV in ‘The Bridges,’ and just as a couple of weeks ago, I came away empty handed. The prices they have placed on their vinyl albums is way too high. I was after the recent Felt single box set release but sadly no luck. I know they had it in stock last year, some indie collector must have snagged it. Damn him / her.
HMV, you have failed me yet again. Who are your buyers in the Sunderland branch? Your stock is not a patch on the beautiful array of records the store in Newcastle have to offer, especially ‘Box Sets’.
Next stop was independent shop ‘Hot Rats’, despite it’s small size they have an interesting selection, and more importantly for me (at this moment in time) old Record Store Day stock.
This time around I came home with a couple of Television Personalities albums, a 10″ re-issue of the ancient eighties compilation “The Magic Cube” and an obscure 10″ album of Het numbers. The liners are in Dutch, so I need to do a little research, but I believe they’re their single sides from 1965/66. So pleased to find this!
So there it is. My last record finding search for 2020. Because of the Covid-19 virus I hardly ventured outside my house, let alone into the surrounding Cities to visit my regular vinyl nests. I’m hoping 2021 will prove to be more fruitful.
The North-East has just entered Tier-4 category from Midnight, so all Record Shops will be, unable by Law, to open anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment