Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Silent Beatles film fails to sell

A film of the Beatles in Scotland in 1964 is auctioned in Berkshire

A silent two-and-a-half minute film of the Beatles has failed to sell at auction in Berkshire.


The rare footage was shot in 1964 during the band’s tour of Scotland and was expected to fetch up to £12,000.

But the lot, which was up for sale at Cameo Auctioneers in Midgham, failed to reach its reserve of £4,800.

The 8mm colour film features clips of the band and their entourage at the Four Seasons Hotel in St Fillans on the banks of Loch Earn.

The Beatles stayed there for two nights in October to play a show in Dundee after travelling from Edinburgh.

‘Shocked and stunned’

They had just topped the charts with A Hard Day’s Night, and I Feel Fine was to follow a few weeks later.

Cameo Auctioneers said the film was thought to be the only surviving footage of the band’s stay at the venue.

Auctioneer Jon King said: “We are all shocked and stunned. We have no idea why the film did not sell.

“We have always sold things like this in the past and they have sold really well.

“For some reason today we did not get the interest we expected, despite the fact that this is a really unique and unusual piece.”

The footage had the highest guide price of any of the lots to go under at the sale.

It was to be sold with copyright as part of an auction which also saw vinyl records, autographs and original artwork up for sale.

Source: BBC

Cyberguides Keeps The Record Collector Up-To-Date



Using the technology available today, vinyl record authority Jerry Osborne has created a new service called CYBERGUIDES, ensuring that anyone who signs up for the service will never have to use an out dated record price guide again.

Now, as a record collector, I am ecstatic about this service. Sure, I will still have the published guides in book form, they are portable and great to read and look at.

But, when I want the most up to date record prices that are available, I just go to my computer and the Jerry Osborne Cyberguides, which is updated on a weekly basis. You see, each day, Osborne Enterprise revises, corrects and updates the database and every weekend Cyberguides is delivered via email to your home. You then have the most up-to-date record price guide on the planet!

This from the Osborne website (Jerry Osborne.com):

Now in its seventh year, CYBERGUIDES is the landmark service from Jerry Osborne that means never again using an out-of-date price and reference guide.

For over 30 years we have published the guides in book form, and we still do — especially for those who want the information portable, to tote wherever they go.

Still, most printed guides can be outdated to some extent before the ink is dry. This is because the market is constantly changing and, to keep pace, we revise, correct, and update our database daily!

In the printed format, you would not know of these many changes until the next edition — which may be one or more years depending on the title.

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1. ROCKIN' RECORDS BUYER'S - SELLERS REFERENCE BOOK & PRICE GUIDE

2. MOVIE/TV SOUNDTRACKS & ORIGINAL CASTS REFERENCE BOOK & PRICE GUIDE

3. VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATION ALBUMS PRICE GUIDE

Also includes an important FOURTH book: COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR, AND CAST INDEX (FOR MOVIE/TV SOUNDTRACKS & ORIGINAL CASTS).

It is important to understand that you receive all four books in their entirety — from A to Z. It is NOT just the latest revisions and additions. They are the complete editions!

CYBERGUIDES is delivered directly by e-mail EVERY WEEKEND! Come Monday morning, you will have the absolute most current record guide data on earth.

Because of CYBERGUIDES we now receive far more updates and feedback from buyers and sellers. Since the information provided by readers becomes part of the database and in worldwide distribution in just days, our advisors contribute more than ever before.

CYBERGUIDES is VERY affordable — only $5.00 per month. That boils down to just $1.20 a week! All this updated information for so very little makes this deal downright essential.

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Visit Jerry Osborne's great site for more information, online appraisals, Mr. Music, the Elvis Presley Collectors Guide, Osborne Collectibles and much more!Jerry Osborne.com

Classic Rock Videos

The Beatles I'm A Loser

Rock & Roll Tidbits

In 1980, Texas rockers ZZ Top wrote to NASA and formally requested that they be booked as the lounge act on the space shuttle. NASA actually responded saying that the band’s request would, “receive all due consideration.” Unfortunately, the band did not get the gig.

A popular fad of the 50's, the jukebox used to be known as 'the nickel in the slot machine'. The first of these were created when a coin operated slot was added to an Edison phonograph in San Francisco in 1889. In its first six months of service, the Nickel-in-the-Slot earned over $1000.

In 1966, a record company actually hired Frank Zappa and his band, The Mother’s of Invention, to cut a record with Burt Ward, who portrayed Robin on the TV series Batman. The result was a single appropriately called, “Boy wonder, I Love You.”

One night in 1968, while Gary U.S. Bonds was playing at a club in New Jersey, he thought he'd give a local kid a break and invite him up onstage to do a number. That kid turned out to be rock superstar Bruce Springsteen.

Prior to becoming rock and rolls most notorious lip synchers, Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli tried their hand at modeling. Alas, they were not tall enough, so they switched to ‘singing,’ well, sort of.

Elvis Presley's 1958, number one smash, "I Beg Of You" took 34 takes to get it right.

As a youth, Billy Joel once contemplated suicide. “I went into the closet and said, ‘I’m gonna fill myself.’ There was chlorine bleach and I said, ‘Nah, that’s gonna taste bad.’ So I took the furniture polish Pledge- all I ended up doing was farting furniture polish.”

While we are on the subject (farts that is), it’s reported that comedian Sandra Bernhard was once romantically involved with Madonna, although the affair probably had more to do with publicity than passion. The ‘couple’ had a very public breakup with Bernhard stating: “Every time Madonna farts, the press picks up on it. They want to see how it smells. I hate to break the news, but it smells like everybody else’s farts.”

At the Argentina/Brazil border in 1981, while Queen traveled through Latin America on their “Gluttons for Punishment” tour, a customs official suffered a heart attack when he saw Queen’s equipment- all 110 tons of it.

At the end of a 1992 tour, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett lowered his pants and mooned a TV camera shouting, “that’s what I think of the Guns N’ Roses tour!”

In 1970, Jeff Christie offered his composition "Yellow River" to the Tremeloes. They recorded it to release as a single, but when they changed their minds, they allowed Jeff's own band to use the backing track themselves. The result was a UK number one hit in May 1970 and subsequently #23 in the US.

When Angus Young of AC/DC first started performing he wasn’t quite sure what to wear onstage. He tried a gorilla suit, then a Zorro outfit, when his sister suggested that he don an Australian schoolboy’s outfit- and a rock start was born!

Rod Stewart was always known as a ladies man. But his girlfriend Britt Ekland had a very stern warning for the loose lover: “If you screw another woman while you’re with me, I’ll chop your balls off.” We can only presume that the overly friendly Rod was on his best behavior while with Ekland.

It was rough going in the beginning for Axl Rose. In fact, in 1985, Axl and his band mates rented a small apartment in Los Angles. To cook dinner, the resourceful rockers had to set fire to a set of drum sticks and proceeded to roast hamburgers over the improvised flames.

Before joining the Monkees, Davy Jones was both a stage actor and a racehorse jockey.

Joey Dee, who had a US number one hit in January, 1962 with "Peppermint Twist" was surrounded by future recording stars at various stages of his life. He attended Passaic Highschool in New Jersey at the same time as the Shirelles. A female trio that was part of his act at the Peppermint Lounge went on to become The Ronettes. When he opened his own club, his backup band included Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish, and Eddie Brigati, who would form the Young Rascals. After Joey sold the club and went on the road, his guitar player was Jimi Hendrix.

After his short fifteen minutes of fame, former Partridge family actor Danny Bonaduce landed a gig as a DJ. So he had the call letters and the name of the station tattooed on his rear end. His thinking? He was under the impression that it would help him keep his job- it didn’t work.

Music News & Notes

Jennifer Hudson Super Bowl lip-synching explained

Show's producer says 'it was the right way to do it'

The producer of Jennifer Hudson’s performance at Sunday night’s Super Bowl has an explaination as to why the Oscar-winner lip-synched instead of singing live.

The singer, who recently suffered the tragic loss of three members of her family in a triple-shooting, sang the national anthem at the opening of the game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and producer Ricky Minor says miming was the “right way to do it.”

"This was such an important performance, because it's the first time everyone has seen Jennifer," Minor said. "But she's in such a great place, with such great spirits, and time can heal her wounds. She's on fire right now and totally grounded."

"That's the right way to do it," he said. “There's too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live, because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance."

Minor also said that she got many calls and messages directly after the performance, including a text message from actor Jamie Foxx which said “Amazing. It brought tears to my eyes."

=============================

Flamin' Groovies Reunite

Flamin' Groovies principals Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney have decided to reunite for the first time since 1971, at the eighth Ponderosa Stomp festival, to be held April 28-29 at New Orleans' House of Blues.

The Flamin' Groovies formed in San Francisco in 1965 and set a template for the power pop movement with their 1969 debut, "Supersnazz," and the 1970 follow-up, "Flamingo."

Loney left the Flamin' Groovies after the album "Teenage Head," and the Groovies were largely dormant until 1976, when Chris Wilson replaced Loney. That year's album "Shake Some Action" spawned a cult classic single of the same name, and was the group's only release to ever reach the Billboard 200 (No. 142).

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Record Store Day 2


With the rest of the economy joining the music business in a perilous free fall, independent record stores are getting hit hard right now. But help is on the way in the form of the second annual Record Store Day, which will be celebrated April 18 at independent record stores around the country. And, as an incentive to get customers back into the shops, Matador is releasing several great limited edition vinyl specials.

There's a 7" with Sonic Youth covering Beck's "Pay No Mind" on the A-side and Beck doing SY's "Green Light on the flip, a previously unreleased LP of a 1997 Pavement gig from Cologne, Germany and another 7" with Jay Reatard's "Hang Them All" on the top and Sonic Youth's "No Garage" on bottom.

Only 2,500 copies of each record will be available at participating Record Store Day spots.

Matador Record Store Day Limited Edition Vinyl:

Pavement: Live in Germany [Cologne, 1997]

Pay No Mind 7"

A1: Sonic Youth: "Pay No Mind" (Beck cover)
B1: Beck: "Green Light" (Sonic Youth cover)

Hang Them All 7"

A1: Jay Reatard: "Hang Them All"
B1: Sonic Youth: "No Garage"

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Cursive set release date for "Mama, I'm Swollen"

Cursive have announced the details and release date for their forthcoming album. The record is titled Mama, I'm Swollen and is due out March 10, 2009.

The band notes that due to the extremely short turnaround between today and the release, vinyl will not be ready for a simultaneous release on March 10th. The band is promising "180 gram vinyl and cool deluxe packaging." The album was also described like this:

Mama, I'm Swollen finds Kasher at his literate, lyrical best, where references to both Poe (“Going To Hell”) and Pinocchio (“Donkeys”) are intertwined seamlessly within his own tales of characters grappling with the moral quandary of being human, adult, and playing a role in ‘civilized’ society. Musically, Cursive is as smart and sophisticated as ever, the songs’ rousing, cerebral content complemented by moments alternately hushed and exhilarating (the cathartic “From The Hips,” the noisily melodic romp “I Couldn’t Love You”), eerily moody and jaunty (the almost prayer-like “Let Me Up,” “Mama, I’m Swollen”) – moments that often occur within the very same song.

From the charging bass lines of album opener “In The Now” to the quiet first chords of confessional closer “What Have I Done?”, Mama, I'm Swollen is a natural progression that remains distinctively Cursive: a fluid amalgamation of the band’s sound past, present, and future – a band that both your punk kid sister and English lit grad student best friend can call their own.

Album Cover Art

Another interesting cover, I love the concept.

High Strangenes-by Houseguest


Houseguest is a band from Akron, Ohio. Houseguest plays music in the Neo-Mannerist fashion. The members of Houseguest are BFFs, and total bad boys! They like to hang out at the mall, drink Dr. Pepper, eat at Chipotle, and shop at Hollister! They also like to take their Hollister shirts off when they get excited, which makes the girls flip out! Houseguest has a bad-ass record out on Audio Eagle/Fat Possum Records, and is working on a new one for Spring 2008. Keep a lookout for these cuties!

“Houseguest is Akron, Ohio’s band du jour. Deservedly so. But what adds weight to the hope that they will get over that local hump is their journey so far. In their five years together they have already lost a close friend, busted up the band and reformed, and grabbed a Northeast Ohio super-group label of sorts for their roster’s pedigree.

“Now, they have overcome the novelty of their live show reputation (where the band and half the audience often seem to end up on stage and in various stages of undress) and released their first full-length release on the Audio Eagle label, founded by old friend and Black Key Patrick Carney. And while the abandon of their stage presence is something to behold, what they are capable of committing in the studio is staggeringly beautiful, skewed pop. 8 out of 10.”

-Adam Besenyodi, Pop Matters.com

Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales

Week Ending 01/31/2009


1. 12" - U2 "Out Of Control" #407/1000 - $3,381.00 - Start: $1000.00 - Bids: 18

2. 45 - Salt & Pepper "Man Of My Word" / "Linda" Heatwave - $3,310.00 - Start: $6.95 - Bids: 31

3. 45 - Elvis Presley "self titled" EP RCA SPD-23 - $3,151.00 - Start: $19.99 - Bids: 16

4. 45 - The Harp Tones "A Sunday Kink Of Love" / "I'll Never Tell" Bruce - $2,552,89 - Start: $9.99 - Bids: 14

5. 78 - Perry & His Stomp Band "Ash Can Stomp" / "Muddy Water" Black Patti - 2,500.00 - Start: $999.99 - Bids: 3

#1 on the list this week is U2's original 12" record, commonly known as "Out Of Control" or just "Three", selling for close to $3.4k. This is the numbered copy that the band themselves sold at a swap meet in Ireland. Next, a Northern Soul 45 by Salt & Pepper on Heatwave records sells for a little over $3.3k.

The RCA give-away 45 EP set from Elvis makes the list for the second time this year, bidding more than halfway over $3.1k for the #3 spot. This copy, described in what would be VG condition, sells for more than $1k less than the Near Mint copy of two weeks ago.

A Doo-Wop 45 makes the #4 spot, "A Sunday Kind Of Love" on Bruce closing at well over $2.5k. And last, a hillbilly 78 from Perry and his Stomp Band, one of five known copies, sells for exactly $2.5k.


As always, I want to thank Norm over at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com/ for this great data.

Audiophile Audition Review

I want to thank John over at http://www.audaud.com/index.php for the exclusive rights to reprint this great review!



AUDIOPHILE AUDITION focuses on recordings of interest to audiophiles and collectors, with an accent on surround sound for music, and on all hi-res disc formats. Over 100SACD, DVD Video/Audio and standard CD reviews are published during each month, and our archives go back to January 2001.



Goldring NS1000 Active Noise Reduction Headphones

They really do their job, but phones without the noise reduction circuitry can produce better sound for less money.

Goldring NS1000 Active
Noise Reduction Headphones
$300

Distributed in the United States by Music Hall
http://www.musichallaudio.com/
516-487-3663 (voice)
516-773-3891 (fax)


Description

Dynamic closed-ear headphones with active noise reduction that operate on a single AAA battery; detachable 1.8m QED cord; .25” adapter; double-prong airplane adapter and hard travel case; 40 hour battery life; .5 pound with cable; >21 dB noise reduction; rated 15Hz – 23kHz bandwidth; THD <.3% (1mW @ 1 kHz); Max input power 260mW; 330 ohm impedance; 2-year warranty.


Associated Equipment

Marantz CC4001 CD Changer, Marantz SR5002 Surround Receiver, Apple iPod Nano (portable), Lexar Digital Music Player (portable), Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones (also $300) and Grado SR80 ($95) headphones for comparison.

The Basics

The manual with the headphones is two pages long—pictures of what comes with the package, how to replace the battery, how to plug in the cord, how to turn them on, and a small section on troubleshooting should you need it. One of the nice things about the Goldring headphones (in comparison to many others) is that the cord only attaches to one side meaning a lot less chance of getting it caught in something. When the noise reduction is on a small blue light on the side is illuminated. Changing the battery is cool—you just twist on the headphone face and it opens up to reveal the hidden battery. The fact that the battery is AAA means you can replace it without too much trouble (seeing as there is no charging function).

I found out quickly that the headphones didn’t sound all that good when they weren’t turned on. Apparently the specifications also change when they are not in active mode. Impedance goes from 330 down to 100 ohms and rated SPL is reduced from 101 dB with 1mW to 93 dB. At first I thought there was something wrong, but then I realized that turning on the noise cancellation improved the sound dramatically (and I conducted all the further listening tests with the ANR on).

Even with the headphones unplugged and turned off they manage to form a tight seal over the ear that blocked a lot of extraneous noise. The pads are a soft vinyl and not felt like some other headsets although they were comfortable.

Listening Tests (vs. Bose)

My first listening was with the song “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias. The NS1000 had good high frequency response and air, bass wasn’t overbearing or muddy and the music was balanced and clean. The Bose headphones are physically much lighter with smaller pads (as opposed to cups), so they didn’t fit as tightly on the head. They are also more efficient, so it was necessary to readjust the volume during the tests. Though they were easier to drive there was almost too much bass and a slight muffling of the sound. I asked a friend to listen after me and without trying to influence him find out which ones he liked. At the end of the listening tests he agreed that the Goldrings sounded better.

With Nina Simone’s “My Baby Don’t Care For Me” I was more impressed with the Bose headphones than I thought I’d be. My friend described the sound of the Bose as cloudy. They tended to warm up the voice with a resulting tradeoff in resolution. My guess is they would be a good match for those listening to a lot of spoken voice (like books on tape, conferences, etc). The NS1000s had more definition, but weren’t nearly as airy as you’d get from electrostats or open ear headphones. Still, they are a good set of ‘phones.'

Listening Tests (vs. Grado SR80s)

I wanted to find out how competitive the NS1000s would be with a wired set of headphones lacking any kind of noise cancellation with music. The Grado set is almost the opposite of the Goldring in that they are open ear so not only is outside sound audible, but the sound from the headphones is audible to others. Many believe this is still the best sounding design. If you haven’t heard the difference, then it is essential before deciding on a set for straight listening. The closed ear sets sound much more “closed-in” and typically have more bass output, while the open ear designs usually sound lighter, more spacious, open and airy.

I listened to music from both the Lexar and the iPod to compare the sound of these two headphones from artists like Madonna, Bruce Cockburn, Knarls Barkley, and Bob James. I had the volume all the way up on the Lexar and it wasn’t loud, but loud enough with the Goldrings. This device doesn’t have a lot of output, but worked with the NS1000s well enough. The equivalent volume on the Nano was about 2/3 up. I could turn it up so that the music was quite loud and still not at the loudest setting on the device. From these tests I would say that the NS1000s will work fine with portable devices (and should work fine with laptops, portable DVD players and other devices).

On the Marantz CD player I listened to track 4 and 6 from Shieffeld’s My Disc. The Goldrings have a richer sound and punchier bass while the Grado’s have more highs and air, but sounded more natural. On guitar and acoustic instruments the Grado’s sounded more realistic, while the Goldrings pushed the voice a little giving me the feeling they would be better with spoken word and dialogue.

These two sets sounded different, but weren’t out of each other’s league yet the Goldring NS1000 are three times the price. If noise cancellation is merely a novelty, then it would be worth investigating less expensive headphones (even from Goldring—like the DR150 at half the price), before paying the extra expense for noise cancellation. Whether the style is open, closed, on or over the ear, there is something available that should give comparable performance for less or better performance for the same price as the NS1000s.

I didn’t compare any earbud designs (in the ear), because even the most expensive ones I’ve heard don’t sound competitive and there is a tendency for the listener to turn these up rather loud and risk hearing damage. [Right - as audiophiles we should all Boycott Buds!...Ed.]

Listening Test (with Dolby Headphone)

I was curious to try out the Dolby Headphone output on the Marantz receiver as I’d never tried this before. I used a couple of chapters from Gladiator - especially chapter four. Turning this feature on and off I can say that listening with Dolby engaged was a more enjoyable experience. I didn’t try the feature with music because my experience is that favorable sound from simulating surround with two-channel music is very listener and recording dependent.

Airplane Listening and Extraneous Noise Tests

I wasn’t sure when I was going to be able to try the headset on a plane, so I did some experiments with noise in a typical home environment. I used track one from The Kinks’ Live To The Bone set playing in the background and turned the cancelling switch on and off (with no music playing through the headphones). As noted before, just by putting the headset on there is a reduction in external sound. With the noise cancelling engaged midrange and bass was reduced and external high frequency output was reduced. The Bose set I had did not block as much sound because the physical connection between the headset and the ears was not as tight as with the Goldrings.

I finally got to try out the headset on a flight to and from Utah. I used the headphones for about two hours in each direction. Even with no music the advantages of the noise cancellation were immediate. I turned the set on and off and heard the lower frequency rumble and high frequency hiss caused by the plane drop down in level tremendously. With the music playing (from the on-plane radio) I could hardly hear anything around me. The fact that the NS1000s come with an adapter was awesome. Unfortunately pilot announcements interrupt the radio, so it would have been nice to have some sort of external player to use. The noise reduction offered by the NS1000 helped calm me down and made it much easier to fall asleep (as I’m not the most relaxed flier). On the flight over for some reason the jazz station was only coming out in mono—I wished there was some sort of mono switch on the headset, but I haven’t seen this feature on other sets either. The bulkiness of the headphones made wedging me up against the window with a pillow not the most comfortable, but it was a tradeoff between good isolation and size of the ear piece.

Comfort

In my years of selling headphones I discovered that headphone comfort is somewhat subjective. Some people like the feel of different materials on the ear, some like in-the-ear phones, some like over-the-ear (as opposed to on the ear), and different shapes and sizes feel more or less comfortable from one person to the next. Of the three sets I tried I’d rate the Goldring in the middle in terms of comfort for me. The Bose was lighter weight and didn’t push as hard up against the ear; unfortunately they also sounded the worst. I would recommend trying any headphone set before committing to it. Headphones are a lot like sweaters in that, once you find one you like, you’ll keep it for a long time. I would have preferred the felt pad like that used in the Goldring DR150 or many of the Sennheiser headphones, but perhaps there is a sound reason (pun intended) why Goldring chose to use the other material. In any case, try it before you buy it!

Conclusion

Having had a positive experience at least 15 years ago listening to headphones with noise cancellation, I was curious to hear what could be done these days with technological improvements moving at a rapid pace in hearing aids, computers, room correction, etc. When it came to the noise cancellation aspect of the NS1000 headphones I was very impressed. In the place where it was most important (on the plane), they were a winner. As for use as normal headphones they worked very well, but couldn’t offer the same price/performance ratio as a typical wired headset (even from Goldring). So, if noise cancellation is not important, I would look elsewhere. They did offer an improvement in dialogue (voice) intelligibility, so if this is an issue, then they will be a good match. For portable use the cord length is more than enough, but in a home environment a longer cord (or extension) might be a good investment.

In a lot of ways headphones are just small speakers and every speaker is a compromise in one way or another, so personal preference will always come into play. Not only for comfort is an audition important, but to make sure that the NS1000 headphones offer the type of sound that the purchaser will like. In my estimation, they offer a fine value in a headphone that can be utilized with both portable and home equipment and block out external sound.

-- Brian Bloom