Thursday, December 12, 2013

5 Holiday Gifts For The Vinyl Record Lover


Yes, it's that time of year, stores are bustling and overcrowded and parking is a nightmare. And finding gifts for everyone on your Christmas list, well it just seems that you will never get it all done in time.  Here's where we can help.  Have a music lover and specifically a vinyl record lover on your list?  Here are the basics to make a vinyl lover cry happy tears:


1. Turntable - Yes, a new turntable would certainly be tops on the list.  But, there are so many to choose from with varying prices.  Where can I get a decent set up that won't break the bank account?

Audio-Technica - AT-LP120USB Turntable is our choice and at under $300, it has all the bells and whistles.  This professional stereo turntable features a high-torque direct-drive motor for quick start-ups and a USB output that connects directly to your computer. Other features include: forward and reverse play capability; cast aluminum platter with slip mat and a start/stop button; three speeds 33/45/78; selectable high-accuracy quartz-controlled pitch lock and pitch change slider control with +/-10% or +/-20% adjustment ranges; and removable hinged dust cover. A selectable internal stereo phono pre-amplifier allows the turntable to plug directly to components with no dedicated turntable input. A USB cable and adapter cables are included along with Mac and PC-compatible Audacity software to digitize your LPs.

Get Yours HERE



2. Headphones - Can't keep the neighbors up all night, a good set of headphones would please even the most hard to shop for music lover.

Audio-Technica - ATH-AD700 (Open-Air Dynamic Headphone) is a great choice. With a lightweight honeycomb aluminum casing and magnesium frame structure, these open-air headphones produce no sense of pressure on the ears, offering a completely natural listening experience. The sound is smooth and relaxed, with deep resonating bass and vocal projection. The self-adjusting wing support automatically adjusts to your head size for easy-wearing listening comfort. A straight cord at the left earpiece terminates to a mini plug with included ¼" adapter.

Get Yours HERE



3. Vinyl Record Cleaning Equipment - No collector of new and used vinyl can do without an affordable machine to clean vinyl.  Sure you can spend thousands of dollars on other models, when you have an affordable option, why not try it?

What is the best way to clean vinyl records?  Spin-Clean® -- an easy, effective, and affordable way to clean your LPs, 45s, and 78 RPMs without using your valuable turntable as the cleaning device.  With the Spin-Clean® Record Washer MK II record cleaning system, you’ll add years to all of your equipment including your turntable, stylus (needle) and, of course, your record collection.

Get Yours HERE



4. Frames - No music room is complete without some quality, framed art.  And framing some album covers or picture discs will not break any budget, they are part of your budding collection.  We recommend the ones that are used in the Smithsonian, HGTV, Capitol, Sony and Warner Bros. Records and any more:  The Rock Art Picture Show Record Album Frame.  The patented frame DOES NOT use clips to press LP's into place, just slide your LP into our acrylic Record Album Frame to easily mat and frame your record album cover instantly.

Get Yours HERE



5. Vinyl Records - yes, that is the purpose and the vinyl record collecting world has taken off in the past few years and there are a slew of new online sites to buy vinyl.  Below, we recommend some of our favorites:

Insound
MusicRecordShop
Sundazed
Relapse
SoundStageDirect
Audio Fidelity
Amazon
Visit Feedbands.com


Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 9, 2013


DEAR JERRY: A few years ago you solved the mystery of when and who was the first American dee jay to play a Beatles record.

Perhaps in your research of that topic you came across something to shed some light on a part of Beatlemania that I have never seen discussed.

In 1964, several radio stations around the country devoted an hour each week to Beatles songs. Here, WABC and WMCA were both trying to be New York's "official" Beatles station, and did things like that.

But who really was first in the nation with an all-Beatles show?
—Thelma Wiggins, New York


DEAR THELMA: I was expecting the answer to be either New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, yet it is none of those. It is in fact a very small market station.

The American pioneer of the weekly Beatles hour is WEEL, in Fairfax, Va. (pop. 15,000), and they were airing it in mid-January, 1964!

One of the trade magazines reporting on this event was Billboard, and here is what they wrote in the January 25, 1964 issue:

"WEEL (AM-1310), Fairfax, Va., inaugurated what is likely the first series in the country revolving around the Beatles. Through the cooperation of Giant Music and Capitol Records, a weekly one-hour program, ('Beatles Bonanza') is offered on Saturday night. The Beatles' past hits, interviews with visiting Britons, and future merchandising of Beatles jewelry, wigs, and other promotional items fill out the hour."

Since this month is the 50th anniversary of the record that enabled the Beatles to conquer the music world, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" b/w "I Saw Her Standing There," let's stay with that theme:


DEAR JERRY: In the 1960s I lived in Blackpool, the next major city north of Liverpool. Naturally, we got the latest news about all the Merseybeat groups.

One of the BBC entertainment news shows back then reported that, for the first time ever, all the Top 10 hits on the NME (New Musical Express) survey were by UK artists. This was, and still is, hard to believe.

What's more, I have never heard this mentioned again, anywhere at any time.

Can you confirm this strange claim?
—William Bradford, Jacksonville, Fla.


DEAR WILLIAM: I can, but as you know, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. In this case, it speaks to the tremendous influence American music once had in the UK.

The NME singles survey debuted in Nov. 1952, and almost immediately (Nov. 22) the entire Top 10 was occupied by British label versions of U.S. hits by U.S. performers:

1. "Here in My Heart" (Al Martino)
2. "Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po)" (Guy Mitchell)
3. "Half As Much" (Rosemary Clooney)
4. "Isle of Innisfree" (Bing Crosby)
5. "You Belong to Me" (Jo Stafford)
6. "Somewhere Along the Way" (Nat King Cole)
7. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)" (Frankie Laine)
8. "Because You're Mine" (Mario Lanza)
9. "Take My Heart" (Al Martino)
10. "My Love and Devotion" (Doris Day)

Not a Brit in the bunch. Incidentally, those years were never referred to as an American Invasion, but it clearly was.

Over the next eleven years, most of their Top 10 tunes were by Americans, a trend that ended 50 years ago this month — thanks to the Beatles, and other English acts swept along by Beatlemania.

Although there were no American artists in the NME Top 10 in Dec. 1964, it was not yet exclusively British. Artists such as Los Indios Tabajaras (Brazil) and the Singing Nun (Belgium) prevented total UK dominance.

The U.S. rebounded briefly over the next few weeks, with Brenda Lee ("As Usual") and Gene Pitney ("Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa").

Finally, for the week of March 7, 1964, not just the Top 10, but the NME Top 14 consisted of homegrown artists to the exclusion of all others:

1. "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (Cilla Black)
2. "Bits and Pieces" (Dave Clark Five)
3. "Diane" (Bachelors)
4. "I Think of You" (Merseybeats)
5. "Not Fade Away" (Rolling Stones)
6. "Needles and Pins" (Searchers)
7. "Little Children" (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas)
8. "I'm the One" (Gerry and the Pacemakers)
9. "Candy Man" (Brian Poole and the Tremeloes)
10. "Boys Cry" (Eden Kane)
11. "5-4-3-2-1" (Manfred Mann)
12. "Over You" (Freddie and the Dreamers)
13. "Stay Awhile" (Dusty Springfield)
14. "I'm the Lonely One" (Cliff Richard)

Conspicuous by their absence here are the Beatles, they who opened the floodgates for all of these groups. Before their rise to stardom, with "Please Please Me" (Feb. 2, 1963), of these 14 acts, only Cliff Richard, and to a lesser extent, Eden Kane, enjoyed meaningful chart success.


IZ ZAT SO? Ironically, the Fab Four were MIA that week because "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was dropping out of the Top 30, and "Can't Buy Me Love" was just two weeks away from debuting at No. 1.

Meanwhile, advance orders for "Can't Buy Me Love" were well over one million, with some estimates as high as 1.7 million copies, the most for any record in British history.







Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column.  Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368  E-mail: jpo@olympus.net   Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com

All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition. 

Copyright 2013 Osborne Enterprises - Reprinted By Exclusive Permission